The History of Religion

For most of the last millennium, religion was the frame through which power, learning and daily life were understood. This timeline gathers the moments where faith turned history: the Great Schism of 1054 splitting Christendom in two, the call to crusade at Clermont in 1095, Luther posting his theses in 1517 and breaking the religious unity of western Europe for good. It follows more than Christianity. Sufi orders spread Islam along trade routes, Sikhism emerges in Punjab, Buddhist and Hindu traditions shape states across Asia, and the modern era brings both secularization and revival. The events below are arranged era by era, each linked to its full page, so you can follow how belief and power kept remaking each other across ten centuries.