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Christian History

Today in Christian History

October 11

October 11, 1521: Leo X conferred the title "Fidei Defensor" (Defender of the Faith) upon England's Henry VIII for his tract "The Assertion of the Seven Sacraments," written against Martin Luther. Three popes and 13 years later, Henry severed all ties with Rome, making the Church of England a separate church body (see issue 48: Thomas Cranmer).

October 11, 1531: Swiss reformer Ulrich Zwingli dies in the Battle of Kappel (see issue 4: Ulrich Zwingli).

October 11, 1551: The 13th Session of the Council of Trent opens to discuss the Eucharist. The Counter-Reformation Council affirmed the doctrine of transubstantiation and repudiated Lutheran, Calvinist, and Zwinglian eucharistic doctrines.

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October 1, 1529: The Colloquy of Marburg, which attempted to unify the followers of Martin Luther and Ulrich Zwingli, begins. It would close in failure October 4. While the Reformers agreed on 14 of the 15 articles, they remained divided over the Lutheran doctrine of the Eucharist (consubstantiation). Thus Switzerland remained Reformed and Germany stayed Lutheran—and dreams of a united European front against Roman Catholicism died (see issue 39: Luther's Later Years).

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