767 A.D.
Death of Pope Saint Paul I, 93rd successor of Peter, who encouraged a deeper union with the Greek Church and made it a habit of visiting prisoners and freeing those who had been incarcerated because of debts. It was Paul who discovered the remains of Saint Petronilla, considered the daughter of Saint Peter.
1243 A.D.
Cardinal Sinibaldo Fieschi of Genoa becomes Pope Innocent IV, 180th successor of Peter. His election took place in Anagni, Italy afater a two year vacancy. He convened the 13th Ecumenical Council, instituted the Feast of the Visitation, and undertook the Fifth Crusade with Saint Louis IX, King of France.
1476 A.D.
Birth of Giampietro Carafa in Naples. He would go on to become the 223rd successor of Peter as Pope Paul IV and reopen the Council of Trent, bringing it to a successful conclusion.
1476 A.D.
Birth of Henry VIII who would go from being Defender of the Faith to Apostate, turning his back on Rome and putting into motion terrible persecution of Catholics throughout Britain.
1519 A.D.
Charles V is elected Holy Roman Emperor. He would be thrust into the middle of the Protestant revolt and be tossed to and fro as a political "football" by the Protestant princes of Germany, spurring retaliation by the Catholic League and the beginning of the all-out religious wars of the sixteenth century.
1544 A.D.
Protestants turn Kelso Abbey in England into a fiery inferno as the purge against Catholics and religious loyal to Rome intensifies.
1794 A.D.
Death of Blessed Madeleine Fontaine, a Sister of Charity nun who was framed by anti-Catholics who planted treasonous documents against France in her cell. She was wrongly accused and sentenced to die by the fate of the guillotine. Before she was beheaded she prophesied that the persecution would end eventually and the Catholic Faith would be restored to its glory with the reopening of the churches after the French Revolution.