In the west, much of the territory that Justinian had captured was lost. By the beginning of the seventh century, "much of Italy was under Lombard rule, Gaul was in Frankish hands and the coastal regions of Spain, the final acquisition of Justinian's re-conquest, were soon to fall to t...
Many Irish Catholics are now far more inclined to question doctrines and take issue with teachings on such subjects as abortion, contraception, divorce, priestly celibacy, and female priests. Certain members of the clergy have shown discontent; priests, nuns, and brothers have been leaving their ...
Henry Montagu, ancestor of the Dukes of Manchester, acquired Kimbolton castle in Huntingdonshire in 1615. The castle was said to have been haunted by Catherine of Aragon, Henry VIII’s first wife, who died there after several years of imprisonment. The Montagus remained at Kimbolton castle unti...
In spite of her convictions concerning celibacy, which doomed the Shakers to eventual extinction, Ann Lee was in many ways a progressive 18th-century woman who made a significant impact on her world. She was a pioneer for justice and equality. She taught by example the equality of the sexes,...
Monk of the Cluny reform, important member of the College of Cardinals; Made dictatus papæ, sought out to curb the abuse of Canon Law for the future, and placed harsh penalties on the actions of simony and the violation of priestly celibacy. After discrepancies between him and Henry IV...
orchestrated by the priestly classes for personal or professional reasons, either to protect their own privileges or to undermine those of their competitors or to secure the favor of the local rulers; but there is hardly any evidence to suggest that they resorted to violence or warfare to settle...
In the 6th century, when Buddhism became paramount, some Daoist leaders introduced celibacy; in Sui times the unmarried state had become general, and the Daoist clergy with its monks and nuns had evolved into a counterpart of the Buddhist sangha. Unlike Buddhist monasteries, the Daoist monasteries...
He oversaw much of the Second Vatican Council, which ran from 1962 through 1965, and his tenure affirmed the Roman Catholic Church’s opposition to birth control and its firm stance on priestly celibacy. Malcolm X The revolutionary civil rights leader Malcolm X was assassinated in 1965 while ...
Giovanni Battista Montini was elected pope on June 21, 1963, choosing the namePaul VI. He oversaw much of theSecond Vatican Council, which ran from 1962 through 1965, and his tenure affirmed theRoman Catholic Church’s opposition to birth control and its firm stance on priestly celibacy. ...
The king, moreover, was a Christian monarch and as such was endowed with quasi-priestly functions. He was anointed at his coronation with holy chrism said to have been brought from heaven by a dove. It was thought that, as evidence of his special status, he could cure scrofula by his…...