Events relating to christianity
John Bunyan is convicted of unlicensed preaching and spends the next eleven years in Bedford Gaol
The Cavalier Parliament begins to pass a series of acts, known as the Clarendon Code, containing punitive measures against Presbyterians
The Act of Uniformity demands that Anglican clergy accept all the Thirty-Nine Articles, costing many their livings
The Conventicle Act restricts worship in England to Anglican churches if more than a few people are present
The Five Mile Act prevents Nonconformist ministers in England from coming closer than five miles to any town where they have ministered
The Jesuits establish a mission at Sault Sainte Marie which becomes the starting point for French exploration south of the Great Lakes
Charles II issues a Declaration of Indulgence, suspending the restrictions on Catholics and Nonconformists
Parliament in England passes a Test Act excluding Catholics and Nonconformists from public office
The Popish Plot, an invented Jesuit conspiracy to kill Charles II, results in the execution of about thirty-five Roman Catholics
Louis XIV persecutes the Huguenots by means of dragonnades - the billetting of unruly dragoons in the homes of villagers
William Penn approves the Great Law, allowing complete freedom of religious belief in Pennsylvania
Mennonites and other from Germany (later known as the Pennsylvania Dutch) begin to settle in Penn's liberal colony
James II succeeds to the throne in Britain and immediately introduces pro-Catholic policies
400,000 Huguenots leave France after Louis XIV deprives them of their rights by revoking the Edict of Nantes
James II, landing in Ireland, is acclaimed as king in Dublin by enthusiastic Irish Catholics
The Church of Scotland finally wins recognition as an independent Presbyterian body
In the years after the battle of the Boyne, Catholic ownership of land in Ireland is reduced to just 14% of the total
The Act of Settlement declares that no Catholic may inherit the English crown
John and Charles Wesley form a Holy Club at Oxford which becomes the cradle of Methodism
A revivalist movement in America, led by Jonathan Edwards, becomes known as the Great Awakening
American revivalism is inflamed by Jonathan Edwards' vivid sermon Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God
In Freedom of Will American evangelist Jonathan Edwards makes an uncompromising defence of orthodox against liberal Calvinism
The Portuguese expel the Jesuits from Brazil, beginning a widespread reaction against the order in Catholic Europe
Franciscan missionary Junipero Serra begins work at San Diego de Cala, the first of his nine California missions
Responding to pressure from the Catholic monarchs of Europe, Clement XIV abolishes the Jesuit Order