77
votes
Accepted
Why does the amount of days in an year on average of the Gregorian calendar only have 4 decimal places (365.2425)?
Why? Because there was no point.
First, according to more modern astronomical measurements, the current length of the year is closer to about 365.2422 days, so they would've been relatively less ...
- 8,276
47
votes
Could someone who had joined a monastery decide to leave?
In principle, they were not supposed to leave their order because they took a vow for life. In practice, some did leave, and some were subsequently readmitted. However, the time period covered here is ...
- 108k
46
votes
Accepted
Was there a priest on the Titanic who stayed on the ship giving confession to as many as he could?
It would appear to be true, according to this Wikipedia entry.
... passengers and crew headed to the stern, where Father Thomas Byles was hearing confessions and giving absolutions,
Edited with ...
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46
votes
Accepted
Did Pope Urban II issue the papal bull "terra nullius" in 1095?
It seems likely this is a historical myth.
According to WikiPedia's list of Papal Bulls*, Urban II did issue a bull that year, but it had to do with who was allowed to excommunicate the ruler of the ...
- 118k
44
votes
Accepted
Has there ever been an archbishop or bishop younger than the 16-year-old James of Nicosia?
I'd imagine that the youngest ever bishop would have to be Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany, the second son of King George III.
Image source Wikimedia
Born on 16 August 1763, he was ...
- 77.4k
29
votes
What did the people of the Middle Ages call their period?
Joachim of Fiore (1135 – 30 March 1202) divided history into 3 ages according to the Holy Trinity:
The Age of Marriage (God)
The Age of Holiness (Christ, the son of God)
The Age of the Second Coming, ...
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24
votes
Accepted
Tombstone-covered floor in Churches
Yes, this was perfectly common. It was seen as a privilege to be buried inside the church (the closer to the altar, the better). These are not cenotaphs, these are actual tombs, with people slowly ...
- 5,671
24
votes
Accepted
Did Johann Tetzel really claim to be able to give indulgences even for the sin of violating the Mother of God?
This is indeed already part of Thesis Number 75 of those famous 95:
Opinari venias papales tantas esse, ut solvere possint hominem, etiam si quis per impossibile dei genitricem violasset, Est ...
- 80.8k
22
votes
Accepted
Should the Great Schism of 1054 be taken to be 1204 (or 1182) instead?
Yes, your assessment is broadly correct but, to be fair, the Great Schism of 1054 was a very real break between the Greek eastern and Latin western churches. The split was not only along doctrinal and ...
- 77.4k
21
votes
Did average church-goers understand mass in Latin?
Literate people can carry dual-language missals. My father did first communion in the old rite. Even as a child/young teen, he could follow the gestures, context and more or less the Latin sound/text, ...
- 4,100
20
votes
Why does the amount of days in an year on average of the Gregorian calendar only have 4 decimal places (365.2425)?
The Gregorian Calendar was introduced (to the Catholic World) in 1582, the result of preparation over the preceding five or so years.
However the popularization of decimal fractions would wait another ...
- 72.3k
19
votes
Why was Copernicus not persecuted by the church, but Galileo was?
In 1559, Copernicus's De Revolutionibus was placed on the Index of Forbidden Books (source).
Before Copernicus, Bishop Nicole Oresme (d. 1382) advanced the hypothesis that the earth, not the heavens, ...
- 2,043
19
votes
When did England stop being a Papal fief?
tl; dr
No, Edward III paid a token tribute of £1,000 in 1333 (in expectation of receiving papal favours in return).
In 1365, the English parliament debated the latest papal demand for tribute. They ...
- 77.4k
18
votes
Accepted
Did the Pope's crossbow and archery bans have any effect?
Concerning the question
-Did any contemporaries actually take note of the ruling?
An article cited by the OP brings up a couple of possible groups which may have complied with this, The Holy Roman ...
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18
votes
Accepted
When did England stop being a Papal fief?
SHORT ANSWER
From the point of view of the English king and parliament, England stopped being a Papal fief in 1365.
In 1365 parliament debated the latest papal request and concluded that
John’s ...
- 108k
15
votes
Accepted
Why was the date moved by 10 days instead of 9 during Gregorian calendar reform?
The date was moved by ten days because that's how many days the Julian calendar was off by.
You may have thought the time skip was meant to compensate for the drift of nine days between 325 and 1582. ...
- 97.5k
15
votes
Accepted
Why was William Tyndale burnt at the stake?
The trivial answer is he was executed for being a Protestant. The deeper answer is we aren't quite sure, but he had gained some powerful enemies.
There was a lengthy list of charges read at his trial....
- 118k
15
votes
Has there ever been an archbishop or bishop younger than the 16-year-old James of Nicosia?
Hugh of Vermandois became Archbishop of Reims in 925, at only five years old. It was part of a rebellion by his father, Hugh II of Vermandois. Hugh II joined with Robert, Count of Paris, and father of ...
- 3,340
15
votes
Accepted
Did the Catholic Church ban adoption in the Middle Ages?
Adoption was never banned, and in fact was only ever encouraged quite strongly.
First, though, your source is a little off the mark on some of its details:
For one, widows and widowers could ...
- 340
15
votes
Could someone who had joined a monastery decide to leave?
"Decide to leave" was always an option to consider.
And one could do that, of course. Just do that. But it seems the question is more about the obstacles and costs that may be associated ...
- 80.8k
14
votes
What was the death toll during the Inquisition?
Getting accurate numbers is going to be problematic. Firstly, as you might expect, not all the records have survived. Secondly, a large number of those who were killed were never recorded in the ...
- 77.4k
12
votes
Accepted
Why did the church attack Mainz for printing books?
The raid was not against Gutenberg or the printing press directly - but only indirectly because he and his printers refused to support the winner in an intra-church rivalry.
The Pope had named one ...
- 72.3k
12
votes
Did Pope Urban II issue the papal bull "terra nullius" in 1095?
Short answer
Pope Urban II issued no such bull for the First Crusade. The source which first made this claim, possibly Pramod K. Nayar, in 'The Postcolonial Studies Dictionary', appears to have ...
- 108k
12
votes
Did average church-goers understand mass in Latin?
It varied in degree depending on the period and the location.
As explained in this podcast on the emergence of Romance languages from Patrick Wyman's Tides of History, the line between Latin and the ...
- 23.2k
11
votes
Accepted
What are these "Papal States" in Germany after 1648?
Those were the ecclesiastical states of the Holy Roman Empire.
Germany as we know it today did not really exist in 1648 - the territories in question were part of the Holy Roman Empire, a highly ...
- 97.5k
11
votes
Did the early Christian community on Iceland require the import of wine for liturgy?
Short answer
Wine was imported but was often scarce and always expensive. It was a liturgical requirement, but it was not one that was always (or even often) met without bending the rules a little.
...
- 108k
11
votes
What authority did the Catholic Church have over European monarchs from 900–1450?
The coronation of Charlemagne was important, but Charlemagne had the upper hand in his relationship with Leo III. Eastern Roman emperors were crowned by the Patriarch of Constantinople. No one ...
- 4,244
11
votes
What media did Irenaeus used to write his letters?
First, note that Eusebius doesn't tell us what material Irenæus used, but what material he himself didn't use. Today I could make the same poetic distinction, albeit a somewhat lamer version:
He sent ...
- 1,285
11
votes
Accepted
Did Thomas Aquinas's correspondent James of Tonengo become bishop of Vercelli?
Sort of, but he was not recognized by all the electors, some of whom elected another candidate. I can find no evidence that he was ever confirmed as bishop by the Holy See. In short, it's complicated.....
- 108k
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