1102
Albert is anti-pope.

1105
Sylvester IV is anti-pope.

1108
Louis VI becomes King of France.

1111
Henry V is crown Emperor after having taken Pope Paschal II prisoner and obtaining permission from the Pontiff to practice lay investiture, which Pope Paschall II had previously condemned. The Pope was accused of being weak; he revoked Henry's concession and once again condemned lay investiture.

1113
The Order of Knights Hospitallers of St. John founded. The Order was officially approved by the Pope. The brothers were sworn to poverty, obedience, and chastity and to assistance in the defense of the Holy City, Jerusalem.

1115
The Bogomils are first mentioned by name at Philippopolis (European Turkey). Their leader was a monk and physician named Basil, who surrounded himself with twelve apostles. They were dualists, the same Gnostic two-god belief of one good and one evil. God the Father, according to them, had a human body but was incorporeal. He had two sons, the first born, Satanael, the younger Jesus Christ or Michael the angel. Satanael, though seated at the right hand of the Father and endowed with creative power, rebelled and was, with some of the angels, his followers, cast out of heaven. (This is what the present day Jehovah’s Witnesses believe). He created a second heaven and a second earth, and formed man out of the earth and water. Being unable to give him a living spirit, he besought the Father to bestow life on this new creation, which would be their common property. God consented and thus man is the production of two creators. Eve, created in a similar manner, was seduced by Satanael. In punishment of this sin, Satanael lost his creative power.

1117
Emperor Henry V captured Rome.

1118
Gelasius becomes Pope.

Gregory VIII is anti-Pope.

The Knights Templars founded. The Order developed from a small military band in Jerusalem by two French Knights, Hugh Des Payens and Godfrey of St. Omer. The Templars aim was to protect pilgrims visiting Palestine after the First Crusade.

Death of St. Raymond of Toulouse.

The Bogomil leader, Basil, was condemned to death and burned.

1119
Calistus II becomes Pope.

Council of Toulouse. This local Council condemned the Bogomils but the Bishops were unsuccessful in keeping the evil heresy from spreading.

1120
St. Norbert founds the Order of Premonstratensians.

1122
Concordat of Worms. This put an end to the strife concerning Investitures. Lay Investiture refers to the practice by which a Temporal Ruler bestows a Bishopric or Abbey on a candidate for the office. The solution was thus: Pope Calistus II agreed that elections of Bishops and Abbots might take place in the presence of the Emperor, and also that the Emperor might invest the Bishop with a Scepter, a symbol of temporal power. The Emperor agreed to give up investiture with the ring and crozier, to allow free elections by the Church authorities, and aid in the restoration of Church property which had been confiscated in the struggle.

1123
The Ecumenical Lateran Council I. This was the Ninth General Council of the Church. It was attended by three hundred Bishops and six hundred mitered Abbots. The Fathers regulated the rights of the Church and Roman Emperor in the election of Bishops and Abbots, lay investiture; and issued decrees on simony, celibacy, and confirmed the Concordat of Worms.

1124
Honorus II becomes Pope.

Celestine II is anti-Pope.

1125
Stephen of Blois swears fidelity to his cousin Matilda, and to his uncle, Henry I.

1128
The Ecclesiastical Council of Troyes. The Knights Templars received Papal sanction for their Order.

1130
Innocent II becomes Pope. He was the first Pope to be elected by three orders of Cardinals.

1135
Stephen of Blois becomes King of England. He was the grandson of William the Conqueror, and nephew of Henry I. He was the last of the Norman Kings which began with the Conqueror.

1137
Louis VII becomes King of France.

1138
Victor is anti-Pope.

1139
The Ecumenical Lateran Council II. The Church’s tenth General Council was attended by one thousand Bishops and was presided by Pope Innocent II. The Bishops condemned the Albigenses, ended the Papal schism of anti-Pope Anacletus II, and pronounced Canons of Church discipline.

1140
The Synod of Constantinople. The Synod ordered the destruction of writings propagated by the Bogomil sect.

1141
King Stephen of England is the prisoner of his cousin, Matilda for a period of six months, in which time she ruled as Queen. She was the daughter of Henry I.

1143
Celestine II becomes Pope.

Foulque of Anjou, reigning as leader of the Crusades, began making badges out of plants. It was this act that earned the future Royal English name of “Plantagenet.”

Two Bishops of Cappadocia were deposed for embracing the tenets of the Bogomils. The favor extended to one of its adherents, the monk, Niphon, caused the disposition of Cosmos, Patriarch of Constantinople.

1144
Lucius II becomes Pope.

1145
Blessed Eugene III becomes Pope. He was Bernardo Pignatelli. He was Abbot of the Cistercian House of Saints Vincent and Anastasio outside Rome.

The Pontiff sent a Legate, Cardinal Alberic of Ostia, to Languedoc, France, to help correct the Bogomil heresy. St. Bernard seconded the Legate’s efforts. Their preaching however, produced no lasting effect.

1147
The Second Crusade begins. This was called St. Bernard’s Crusade, preached by the Doctor of the Church. It was led by Conrad III of Germany, Louis VII of France, and Baldwin III of Flanders. Their objective was to retake Edessa, which had fallen again into the hands of the Turks. The Crusade was hindered by poor leadership, dissenting Crusaders, and treachery of the Greeks.

Cosmos, the Patriarch of Constantinople was deposed.

Frederick Barbarossa becomes the Duke of Swabia.

1148
The Council of Rheims. This local Council excommunicated the protectors of the “heretics of Gascony and Provence.”

Matilda leaves England, giving up her claim to the Throne in favor of her son, Henry of Anjou. Henry then waged war on Stephen of Blois.

1149
Abbot Nicholas Breakspear was made Cardinal Bishop of Albano. He is the future Pope Adrian IV.

1150
Louis VIII of France and Roger II of Sicily tried to promote a Crusade against Byzantium.

Birth of St. Christina the Astonishing at Brusthem in the Diocese of Liege.

1152
Death of Conrad III. He founded the Hohenstaufen Dynasty.

Frederick Barbarossa becomes Holy Roman Emperor and King of Germany. He relinquished his Ducy in Swabia.

1154
Death of Stephen of Blois, King of England.

Henry II, of the House of Plantagenet, becomes King of England. He was the grandson of Foulque of Anjou.

Adrian IV becomes Pope. He was the English Pope. His name was Cardinal Nicholas Breakspear. He was the son of a humble clerk who became a monk at the Abbey. He left England as a boy and studied in France. He joined the Canons Regular of St. Rufus, at Avignon, rising to become Prior and eventually Abbot.

The building of the Cathedral of Notre Dame begins at Charters, France.

1155
Frederick Barbarossa becomes the King of Italy as well as King of Germany and Holy Roman Emperor.

1156
The Carmelite Order of priests were founded.

Henry the Lion becomes Duke of Bavaria.

1158-1162
Frederick Barbarossa wars against Milan and its allies.

1159
Alexander III becomes Pope. He was from Siena. He was Cardinal Orlando (Roland) Bandinelli. His father, Abelard, was a famous professor of Law at Bologna and theologian.

Victor IV is anti-Pope.

1160
Episcopal Conference at Toulouse. Henry II of England and Louis VII of France met with the Bishops and anathematized anti-Pope Victor, as Pope Alexander III had already done.

1161
Saint Edward the Confessor is Canonized a Saint by Pope Alexander III.

1162
St. Thomas Becket becomes Archbishop of Canterbury. It is in Southeastern England.

1163
The Council of Tours. This local Council gave the name Albigenses to the Neo-Manichaean sect that were also called the Cathari, the name means Pure. This name was indeed a misnomer. The Albigensian heresy spread like wild fire throughout the South of France. They, like other Gnostics, were Dualists; they believed in two mutually opposed principals, one good, the other evil. The evil god was the creator of the material world. This evil god was the source of all evil; natural phenomena, either ordinary like the growth of plants, or extraordinary like earthquakes, war, and other moral disorders were attributed to him. He also created the human body and is the author of sin, which springs from matter and not from spirit. The Old Testament is either all or partly ascribed to him; the New Testament is the revelation of the beneficent God. The latter id the creator of the human souls, which the bad principal imprisoned in material bodies after he had deceived them into leaving the Kingdom of Light. This earth is a place of punishment, the only hell that exists for the human soul. Punishment, however, is not everlasting; for all souls being Divine in nature, must eventually be liberated. To accomplish this deliverance God sent upon the earth Jesus Christ, who, although very perfect, like the Holy Spirit, is still a mere creature. The Redeemer could not take on a genuine human body, because He would thereby have come under control of the evil principal. His body was, therefore, of celestial essence, a phantasm, and with it He penetrated the ear of Mary. It was only apparently that He was born from her and only apparently that He suffered. His redemption was not operative, but solely instructive. To enjoy its benefits, one must become a member of the church of Christ, the Albigensian sect. Here below, it is not the Catholic Sacraments but the peculiar ceremony of the Albigensians known as the Consolamentum, or Consolation that purifies the soul from all sin and ensures its immediate return to heaven. The Resurrection of the body will not take place, since by its nature, all flesh is evil. Their belief in dualism was also the basis of their “moral” teaching. Man, they taught, is a living contradiction. Hence, the liberation of the soul from its captivity in the body is the true end of our being. To attain this, suicide was commendable. They called one form of this the Endura, which is starvation, followed by being smothered with a pillow. The extinction of bodily life on the largest scale consistent with human existence is also a perfect aim. They professed that Matrimonial intercourse was unlawful; they called it prostitution. They didn’t seem to mind homosexual relations, and approved masturbation. They thought it a righteous act for a man to lie with a woman without touching her.

In addition to all this nonsense, they refrained from eating meat, eggs, cheese, milk, and anything that came from the flesh of an animal. They called themselves the sect of the Pure and Perfect.

1164
Paschal III is anti-Pope.

1165
Birth of Philip II of France. He is the son of Louis VII.

Henry VI, the son of Frederick Barbarossa, becomes Holy Roman Emperor. He was Regent in the absence of his father’s involvement with the Crusades.

1166
Henry the Lion forms a League of Nobles and Prelates.

1168
Calistus III is anti-Pope.

Henry the Lion marries his second wife, Matilda, the daughter of Henry II, King of England.

1170
The Waldenses or Poor men of Lyons first appeared. They made a claim similar to the Manichees that they were the true Christians and the successors of Christ’s Apostles. It is this false claim that seems to have the present day Protestant’s ear. It was their belief, and the belief of many present day Protestants, that the Catholic Church was the True Church as long as it was lowly and poor. In the beginning of the Fourth Century, Pope St. Sylvester was raised up by Emperor Constantine the Great, whom he had cured of leprosy, to a position of power and wealth, the Papacy, according to the Waldenses, became unfaithful to its mission. To make a strong point that some Christians held out and preserved the true faith. This is the so-called Apostasy. No where does history record this! It was not until this false claim that people were led into Grave Error! There is absolutely no documentation anywhere on this planet regarding the whereabouts of these so-called true Christians! Many other present day Protestant historians no longer accept this claim as a valid truth.

One question I have thought about are: Who gave Peter Waldo this information? It could not have been the Holy Spirit, because that would mean Jesus lied. See Matthew 16:18-20 “...You are Peter and on this rock I wild Build My Church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.” The organization of the Waldenses was a reaction against the great splendor and outward display existing in the medieval Catholic Church; it was a practical protest against worldly lives of some contemporary churchman. Peter Waldo, the founder, was a wealthy Frenchman who had a Bible translated in French, so he could read it. He was able to share with others what was said in the Sacred Scriptures. Other joined his circle. So far, this was great, until they asked theological questions. Neither of these men had any training in theology and lacked generally in education. As in most instances, human arrogance takes over, and it was inevitable that error should mar their teachings; and just as inevitable that, in consequence, ecclesiastical authorities should put a stop to their evangelistic work. Among their doctrinal errors which they propagated was the denial of Purgatory, Indulgences, and prayers for the dead. They denounced all lying as a grievous sin, refused to take oaths and considered the shedding of human blood unlawful. They consequently condemned war and infliction of the death penalty. They also claimed no Sacrament was valid if the priest administering the Sacrament was stained with sin. Every Sacrament was then called into question, no one knows the interior of another.

Martyrdom of St. Thomas Becket. He was the Archbishop of Canterbury and Chancellor of England. On December 29, the Kings men murdered him in his own Cathedral.

1172
At the age of 22, St. Christina the Astonishing suffered a seizure and was thought to be dead. During the Agnus Dei at her requiem Mass, she suddenly sat up, and soared to the roof like a bird and perched herself. Everyone fled from the Church except her older sister. The priest made her come down and she averred that she had been dead. She had gone to hell and saw many friends, and went to Purgatory and saw many more friends, and then to Heaven where she was offered a choice of staying there or returning to earth. She elected to come back and pray for the souls in Purgatory.

1173
Archbishop Thomas Becket was Canonized a Saint.

1177
Count Raymond V of Toulouse write that the Cathari heresy has penetrated everywhere.

1179
Innocent III is anti-Pope.

The Ecumenical Lateran Council III. The three hundred Bishops attending the Holy Council condemned both the Albigensian and Waldensian heresies. The Episcopates also regulated Papal elections.

1180
Philip II is crowned King of France. He was one of the most powerful Monarchs of this period.

Pope Alexander III confirms the Lesser Regular Order of the Knights of Livonia.

1181
Lucius III becomes Pope. He was cardinal Ubaldo Allucingoli. He was into the Christian Order by St. Bernard of Clairvaux.

The Marionites come into Communion with Rome.

1182
Birth of St. Francis of Assisi. He was the son of Pietro and Pica Bernardone, wealthy Assisian cloth merchants. At his Baptism, St. Francis received the name Giovanni, which after his father altered to Francesco. He was one of several children. He went to the school of Troubadours in Assisi, Italy. Bishop Umberto Crivelli was elevated to the Cardinalate. He is to be the future Pope Urban III

Birth of St. Lutgardis.

1184
Pope Lucius III issued a Bull of excommunication for Peter Waldo and other heretics.

Pope Lucius III met with Emperor Frederick Barbarossa at Verona. Here the two formulated the Decree Ad Abolendum, sometimes called the Charter of the Inquisition.

1185
Urban III become Pope. On the very day of the death of Pope Lucius III, Cardinal Umberto Crivelli was unanimously elected in Verona, succeeding Pope Lucius III. He was an opponent of Emperor Frederick Barbarossa. As Pontiff, he resided in Verona, Italy, because of the hostile environment in Rome.

1186
Pope Urban III rejected Emperor Frederick’s candidate for the Bishopric of Trier, and appointed his rival, Folmer. The Pope and the emperor had been at odds for some time. This was the final split between them. Frederick was furious and instructed his son, Henry, to invade and occupy the Papal States. He prevented the Pope and Curia from any contact with the outside world. Pope Urban III appointed Philip, the influential Archbishop of Cologne and Leader of the opposition to Frederick in Germany, as his legate. Later on this year in November, at the Diet of Gelnhausen, Frederick succeeded in isolating Philip and united the Bishops behind him. The Pope then asked Folmer to step down, he did, and preparations were made to choose a new Bishop. On his way to Ferrara, the Pope fell ill and died when he reached the city. This saved the Church from another crisis. His body lies in the Duomo of Ferrara.

1187
Gregory VIII becomes Pope. His reign lasted from October to December. He had an important role in reconciling King Henry II of England after the murder of St. Thomas Becket, in December of 1170. He did, however announce the upcoming Third Crusade. He is buried in the Duomo at Pisa.

Clement III becomes Pope. He was elected two days after the death of Pope Gregory VIII. He was cardinal Paolo Scolari, a second choice candidate. The first choice, Cardinal Teobaldo of Ostia, declined the Papacy. Pope Clement III was a wealthy Roman and had many influential relatives living in Rome. His health was always fragile, but he did bring the Papacy back to Rome after its six year exile.

1188
The Third Crusade begins. The was the King’s Crusade. It was preached by William, Archbishop of Tyre and led by Emperor Frederick Barbarossa; Philip II of France; and Richard the Lion-Heart of England. This crusade was better organized than the previous two. Only soldiers marched into the Holy Land, while people at home contributed money. Frederick was drowned in Cilicia, Philip II returned to France, and Richard, who fought well in Jerusalem, had the Holy City in view, signed a three year’s Truce with Saladin, the leader of the Seljuk Turks, after his capture of the city of Acre. Before the Christians fell in Jerusalem, they held out for about a week, with few men and little weapons. They held daily processions in the street, proudly parading behind the Blessed Sacrament. These Holy men and women died gloriously for Christ.

1189
Richard the Lionheart becomes King of England. He was the third son of Henry II. He was named King while serving in the Holy Third Crusade.

1190
The Teutonic Order of Knights was founded.

Emperor Frederic Barbarossa drowned in Cilicia during the Third Crusade.

Emperor Henry VI put down a rebellion of Nobles led by Henry the Lion.

Tancred of Lecce becomes King of Sicily.

1191
Celestine III becomes Pope. He was eighty-five years old when elected to the Papacy. He was the Cardinal-Deacon Giacinto Bobo under Pope Clement III.

Henry VI, the son of Frederick Barbarossa, the reigning Holy Roman Emperor, invades Sicily and is crowned the Island’s King.

King Philip II of France invaded King Richard the Lionheart’s territories in France.

1192
Emperor Henry VI kidnapped King Richard I, the Lionheart of England and held him for ransom.

Pope Celestine III endowed the Teutonic Order of Knights with the same privileges as the Order of St. John.

1194
Birth of St. Clare of Assisi. She was the eldest daughter of Favorino Scifi, Count of Sasso-Rosso, the wealthy representative of an ancient Roman family.

Emperor Henry VI released King Richard I. The Emperor was able to bring the King’s brother-in-law, Henry the Lion, to terms and restored peace in Germany.

Death of Tancred of Lecce.

1195
Death of Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony and Bavaria.

1196
Emperor Henry VI fails at his attempt to make the Imperial Crown hereditary in the Hohenstaufen family.

1197
Death of Holy Roman Emperor, Henry VI. He was succeeded by Otto IV of Brunswick. Philip of Swabia was also elected. The dispute as to the rightful Emperor was settled the next year by the new Pope, Innocent III.

Cardinal-Deacon Cencio Savelli, the future Pope Honorus III, becomes tutor to the future Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick II.

1198
Death of Pope Celestine III. He served as Cardinal-Deacon for forty-seven years and was ordained a priest the day before his Coronation.

Innocent III becomes Pope. He was Cardinal-Deacon Lotario of Saints Sergio and Bacco. He was the nephew of Pope Clement III and uncle to the future Pontiff, Gregory IX. He was only thirty-seven years old when elected to the Papacy. One of the first things he did a Pontiff was to promote his nephew, Ugolino, to Cardinal Bishop of Ostia. He is famous for a number of reasons, one of them is he persuaded England and France to make peace with each other; the two countries had been quarreling about land for years, by threatening them with an Interdict if they refused. An Interdict is a censure, forbidding the Faithful, while still remaining in Communion with the Church, the use of certain Sacred privileges, such as Christian burial, some Sacraments, and attendance at Liturgical services. It does not exclude from Church membership, nor does it necessarily imply a fault of an individual affected by the Interdict. When impose for a fixed period, it is a vindictive penalty because of some grave act done against the common good of the Church by one or more Parishes. Usual religious services are curtailed, but the sacraments may be given to the dying, marriages celebrated, and Holy Communion administered if the Interdict is like the one threatened by Pope Innocent III, is general and individual. This Pontiff was not a man who played games, he understood what it meant to be the Vicar of Christ. He was a master of politics, his primary concerns were the Crusade, reform, and combating heresy.

Lotario of Segni was born around 1160, he was the son of Count Trasimund of Segni and was the nephew of Pope Clement III.

In 1190 he was Ordained Cardinal-Deacon of St. George in Velabro and Saints Sergius and Bacchus. He was later Ordained Cardinal-Priest of St. Pudentiana.

He was one of the greatest Popes of the Middle Ages. He was only thirty-seven years old upon his ascension to the Papacy on January 8, 1198.

On December 12, 1199, he laid the whole of France under Interdict, as a direct result of King Philip Augustus' leaving his lawful wife for a concubine. This lasted nine months. The Pope was instrumental in repairing the severed relationship ofthe King and his Queen, Ingeburga.

Pope Innocent III called the Fourth Lateran Council in November of 1215. It was at that Ecumenical Council that defined Transubstantiation. Pope Innocent III died on July 16, 1216.

St. John of Matha founded the Trinitarians to go to the slave markets, buy the Christian slaves and set them free. To carry out this plan, the Trinitarians needed large amounts of money. So, they placed their fund-raising efforts under the patronage of Mary. They were so successful at that, over the centuries, the Trinitarians were able to free thousands and thousands of people and to return them safely home. In gratitude for her miraculous assistance, St. John of Matha honored Mary with the title "Our Lady of Good Remedy."

1199
Death of King Richard I, the Lion-Heart. Prince John, Richard brother, is crowned King of England.

Pope Innocent III made good on his threat and laid the whole of France under Interdict. This Interdict was placed as a result of King Philip II Augustus for leaving his lawful wife, Ingeburga, and taking a concubine. Pope Innocent III took energetic means against heresy. He termed it: “High Treason Against God.” He urged the Episcopate to look for its causes and remedies.

The Pontiff commissions the austere Spaniard, Dominic Guzman, later the founder of, the Friars Preachers, to counter the Albigenses of the Midi with their own weapon of public disputation.

1200
The people and Barons of France rebelled against the King because of the Interdict. Philip II discarded his concubine.