John Huss, known for his radical approach to Christianity, is put in charge of the Bethlehem Chapel in Prague

The Council at Pisa elects a new pope, Alexander V, without persuading the other two to resign - bringing the total to an unprecedented three

A council is called at Constance, to consider the radical views of John Huss and to deal with the present excess of popes

John Huss, invited to Constance under a promise of safe conduct, is arrested, tried and burnt at the stake as a heretic

The Council of Constance, having done its best to dispose of the three existing popes, elects a new one - Martin V

A peasant girl, Joan of Arc, hears the voices of saints urging her to relieve the siege of Orléans

Joan of Arc wins her way into the presence of Charles VII at Chinon and persuades him, eventually, to trust her

Joan of Arc leads French forces in the successful relief of Orléans

Joan of Arc stands nearby while Charles VII is anointed at Reims, then kneels before him and for the first time calls him her king

Joan of Arc is captured in a skirmish with the Burgundians, who subsequently hand her over to the English

Joan of Arc, tried by the Inquisition on behalf of the English in Rouen, is burned at the stake as a relapsed heretic

The Compacts of Prague, agreed with the papacy in 1433, allow the Hussite laity to receive the sacrament in both kinds

The French clergy pass a resolution at Bourges, limiting the power of the papacy within France, which is adopted by the king as a 'pragmatic sanction'

Florence acquires first-hand experience of Greek culture when Greek Orthodox priests join in a debate on theology, in particular the question of Filioque

With Constantinople in Turkish hands, Moscow begins to see itself as the centre of Orthodox Christianity - or the third Rome

Tomas de Torquemada, from a family of converted Jews, is appointed Spain's first Grand Inquisitor

Savonarola, the new prior of San Marco, is a stern critic of both the pope in Rome and the Medici in Florence

Torquemada persuades Ferdinand and Isabella to expel from Spain all Jews (about 160,000) who will not convert to Christianity

Rodrigo Borgia, elected pope as Alexander VI, already has four illegitimate children and possibly sires three more while pope

Savonarola, in the carnival before Lent, urges the people of Florence to throw playing cards and lewd images on a great bonfire of vanities

The Florentine mob, weary of puritanism, attacks the convent of San Marco and drags Savonarola away to be hanged and burnt

Erasmus publishes an influential edition of the New Testament in its original Greek

The local sale of indulgences by Johann Tetzel outrages a friar teaching in Wittenberg, Martin Luther

Martin Luther nails his 95 Theses to the door of the castle church in Wittenberg

Philipp Melanchthon joins the Wittenberg university to teach Greek and inspires Luther to translate the New Testament