Showing posts with label 15th Century. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 15th Century. Show all posts

Sunday, December 13, 2020

Swiss Guard


We just learned about the Bonfire of the Vanities.

Another part of early Christianity is the Swiss Guard.

In 1505 AD, the Pope asked for the Switzerland to send guards to help protect the Pope and where he lived.
For hundreds of years, the people that guard the Pope have been a group of soldiers from Switzerland, making up the Swiss guard.

Their uniforms are blue, red, orange and yellow, and they usually carry a long staff called a halberd, and also some other weapons.


(from: wikipedia - swiss guard)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Gregorian Chant

Sunday, December 6, 2020

Bonfire of the Vanities


We just learned about Christianity in the New World.

Another part of early Christianity is the Bonfire of the Vanities.

In 1497 one of the church leaders named Friar Girolamo Savonarola said that there were a lot of things out there that might make people sin, and he wanted to get rid of them.

Some of these things were like mirrors, makeup or pretty dresses that might make someone be vain, or think about wanting to be pretty instead of thinking about God.

Other things were like paintings, games, musical instruments or books.

He thought they were bad because if someone played a game, sang a song or read a book and it wasn't about God then it must be bad and should be destroyed.

So he made a big fire and had thousands of these things burned up.
Some things were just owned by people who lived in the town, but other things were famous paintings and sculptures that were destroyed by this fire.


(from: wikipedia - bonfire of the vanities)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Christianity in Britain

Sunday, November 29, 2020

Christianity in the New World


We just learned about the Spanish Inquisition.

Another part of early Christianity is Christianity in the New World.

After Christopher Columbus had gone across the Atlantic Ocean and discovered new lands, he came back to Europe to Spain.
The Pope Alexander VI told him to go back to the new world, and to bring priests with him to try and tell people in the new world about God and Jesus and see if they would be Christians.

On this trip Columbus brought 17 ships, and visited Cuba, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico.


(from: wikipedia - christopher columbus)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Pope Gregory I

Sunday, November 22, 2020

Spanish Inquisition


We just learned about the Italian Renaissance.

Another part of early Christianity is the Spanish Inquisition.

We learned before about the Medieval Inquisition that the churches started to try and help make sure people were following the right laws from God.

During the Spanish Inquisition in 1478 AD, the rulers of Spain wanted everyone in Spain to be Catholic.

So they said if someone wasn't Catholic they had to either leave Spain or become Catholic.
And if they found out someone was not following the rules, they would put them in jail and ask them questions to try and make them prove they were good or bad.

Later on things got very bad and the inquisition would hurt or kill people if they thought they were not following the rules from the Bible or from the King.

The inquisition went on for hundreds of years and wasn't over until the year 1834 AD.


(from: wikipedia - spanish inquisition)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Anno Domini

Sunday, November 15, 2020

Italian Renaissance


We just learned about the Sistine Chapel.

Another part of early Christianity was the Italian Renaissance.

After the Pope moved back to Italy, there was a time that many rich and powerful people were working with the Pope to help make new works of art and very fancy churches.

This was during the time of Michelangelo, Leonardo, Raphael and Donatello and they all were paid lots of money by the church to make Christian works of art like the Sistine Chapel or Michelangelo's Pieta.


(from: wikipedia - christianity in the 15th century)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Hagia Sophia

Sunday, November 8, 2020

Sistine Chapel


We just learned about the Gutenberg Bible.

Another part of early Christianity is the Sistine Chapel.

In 1473 AD the builder Baccio Pontelli tore down an old chapel that was falling over and built a new big chapel for the pope at the time called Pope Sixtus IV.
It was called the "Cappella Magna" or Great Chapel, it was the new home for the Pope and was full of many famous works of art by artists like Boticelli and Michelangelo.
The name was changed to the Sistine Chapel for the name of Pope Sixtus.

When the church is trying to choose a new pope, they put a chimney up on the roof.
If all of the church leaders agree on the pope then they throw all their ballots in the fireplace and it makes white smoke out of the top of the chimney, telling everyone that there is a new pope.
If they can not agree, then they put some other things in the fireplace to make black smoke come out of the chimney to tell everyone they have not made up their minds yet.


(from: wikipedia - sistine chapel)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Pentarchy

Sunday, November 1, 2020

Gutenberg Bible


We just learned about the Devshirme.

Another part of early Christianity was the Gutenberg Bible.

Long ago when people wanted to make a copy of the Bible they had to write it out by hand.
It was not very easy to make paper, ink or pens, so it took a long time, and each copy looked very different depending on who was writing it and what the paper or pen looked like.

Around 1450 people were using something called a Printing Press that was like a big stamp with a roller of paper that could print a lot of copies quickly.

In Germany a man named Johannes Gutenberg used the printing press to make about 150 copies of the Bible, and send them around Germany.
This started a big change in the world of Christianity because a lot more people could read the actual words in the Bible and learn for themselves about God and Jesus.


(from: wikipedia - gutenberg bible)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Baptism of Clovis I

Sunday, October 25, 2020

Devshirme


We just learned about the Fall of Constantinople.

Another part of early Christianity was Devshirme.

Many times in history Christians and Hebrews were not treated very well.
In Egypt during Moses time they were slaves, and when Jesus was alive they were not treated well by the Roman empire.
When Emperor Constantine came around, things were very good for Christians for about 1,000 years.

After the fall of Constantinople, some Christians started being mistreated again by the people that were the new Ottoman rulers in the east.

One sad thing that happened is that Christian boys from the ages of 8 to 20 were taken away from their parents and made to work in the army for the Ottomans.

They were not killed or tortured, but they were told that they could not be Christian anymore.
These kids were put into school and could even become rulers in the land, like the Grand Vizier the second most powerful person in a land.

Even though they weren't killed many families were very sad that their kids were taken away.


(from: wikipedia - devshirme)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Leo and Attilla

Sunday, October 18, 2020

Fall of Constantinople


We just learned about Joan of Arc.

Another part of early Christianity was the Fall of Constantinople.

Back in the year 313 the emperor Constantine made himself a home city of Constantinople, in eastern Europe.
For a long time it was the strongest city in the area, and was the head of the Roman empire.

Later on the eastern and western parts of Europe started arguing over how the church should be run, and about whether the head of the church should be in Rome, Paris or Constaninople.

When that happened, and Constantinople had other problems like fighting off plagues, it was not the strongest city anymore.

In the middle eastern countries the Ottoman Empire was getting very strong, and so they started a war to take over Constantinople.
The western European countries did not come to help Constantinople, so the Ottomans took over Constantinople easily, and also because they were using gunpowder and cannons.


(from: wikipedia - fall of constaninople)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Saint Patrick

Sunday, October 11, 2020

Joan of Arc


We just learned about the Avignon Papacy.

Another part of early Christianity is the famous French person Joan of Arc.

She was born in France in 1412, while there was a war going on between France and England.

When she was 13 she said that she had a vision of some Christian saints, who told her she needed to go help King Charles VII of France to win the war.

At first no one believed her, but she begged over and over again to go see the king.

When she was 17 she finally got to see the king, and he let her go to some of the battles and try to help out.
Wherever she was at the French won their battles easily, so people started believing that she was a sign from God that they could win the war.

She wasn't really a fighter who carried a sword, she usually had a banner that she waved around to try and help get all the French soldiers excited about winning.

When she was 19 she was captured by the English soldiers, and they had a trial where they said she was bad and wasn't talking to Christian saints but was working for the devil, and they had her killed.

Years later the French people said that trial was not fair and said she was innocent, and the church leaders agreed so she became a Christian hero Saint Joan of Arc.

Her story is very famous in France and people have even found the house where she grew up and turned it into a museum.


(from: wikipedia - joan of arc)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Mariology