Historical Writings

Christian witness Adrianus is thrown to a lion in Palestine and afterwards slain with the sword.

Archbishop John sallies forth from Ravenna with crosses, the Gospels, and a retinue of monks, falling at the feet of Theodoric and suing for peace - which the invader grants.

The Third Lateran Council opened under Alexander III. It was attended by 300 bishops who enacted measures against the Waldenses and Albigensians. Lateran III also mandated that popes were to be elected by two-thirds vote from the assembled cardinals.

Erasmus sends a copy of Martin Luther's Ninety-Five Theses to Sir Thomas More, a vigorous opponent of the Protestant Reformation.

Zurich authorities commence a trial which eventuates in sentences of life imprisonment for the Anabaptists Conrad Grebel, Felix Manz, and George Blaurock. Two weeks later the three manage to escape.

French-born Swiss reformer John Calvin wrote in a letter to Philip Melanchthon: 'It behooves us to accomplish what God requires of us, even when we are in the greatest despair respecting the results.'

Hungarian officials behead and quarter Sigmund Zimmermann, Caspar Rauscher, Andreas Keczer, and Franz Baranyay in Eperjes [Prešov, Slovakia]. In a complex political situation, animosity to oppressive Hapsburg policies had led to a revolt after which Catholic leaders of the Holy Roman Empire cracked down on all opposition, cruelly oppressing Protestants and their pastors and inspiring another revolt. These four are the first to die as martyrs when the second revolt was quelled in Eperjes.

Death in London of Bishop William Beveridge. He had preached profoundly and lived peaceably amid the controversies of his day. He will be remembered for his book Private Thoughts upon Religion and a Christian Life (1713), published after his death. It sets forth resolutions such as, "I am resolved, by the grace of God, to be always exercising my thoughts upon good objects, that the devil may not exercise them upon bad."

In Boston, editor Thomas Prince published the first issue of his weekly, "The Christian History." It was the first religious journal published in America.

Henry Nott and a large missionary party, which includes artisans, arrive at Tahiti's Matavai Bay. Sponsored by the London Missionary Society, they are to settle on the islands of Tahiti, Tonga, and the Marquesas to teach the gospel and useful arts. While the others die, go mad, or desert, Nott remains steady. It will be twenty-two years before he sees his first convert.

Birth of Daniel B. Towner, American music evangelist. An associate of D.L. Moody, Towner composed over 2,000 hymn tunes, including AT CALVARY ("Years I Spent in Vanity and Pride"), MOODY ("Marvelous Grace of our Loving Lord") and TRUST AND OBEY ("When We Walk With the Lord").

Death in Wiltshire, England, of Maria Grace Saffary, who had been a Baptist hymnwriter and wrote "God of the sunlight hours!" as well as hymns about baptism, including one that begins "’tis the great Father we adore in this baptismal sign."

Evangelist Sam Jones opens a crusade in Toledo, Ohio, where the mayor is also named Sam Jones. The mayor welcomes the publicity until Jones says, "If the Devil were mayor of Toledo, he wouldn't change a thing." Nonetheless, Mayor Jones will be reelected by a wide margin.

The religious program "Circuit Rider" debuted over ABC television. The broadcast featured music selections and biographies of evangelists, and was produced by Franklin W. Dyson.

Death in Abeokuta, Nigeria, of James Tanimola Ayorinde, who had been a Baptist pastor, chairman of the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation, and a respected and beloved leader of the Baptist World Aliance.