October 25, 431: The Council of Ephesus replaces Nestorius with a new patriarch of Constantinople. Nestorius was anathematized for supposedly holding the belief that two separate persons indwelled the incarnate Christ. Historians question whether he actually believed this, but he was nevertheless deposed. (see issue 51: Heresy in the Early Church).
October 25, 1400: English poet Geoffrey Chaucer dies in London, having abruptly stopped writing his famous Canterbury Tales some time before. Though not a religious writer, his characters aptly illustrate the best and worst of the church in his day. Chaucer was buried in Westminster Abbey, a high honor for a commoner, and became the first of those entombed in what is now called Poets' Corner (see issue 49: Everyday Faith in the Middle Ages).
October 25, 1147: Because of bickering and ineffective leadership, the German armies of the Second Crusade (1147-49) are destroyed by the Saracens at Dorylaeum in modern Turkey (see issue 40: The Crusades).
