Paolo Sarpi (above), a Venetian, a sharp critic of the Catholic Church, and possibly a crypto-Protestant, barely survived an assassination attempt encouraged by the Vatican today in 1607. He left the scene with three stiletto wounds, but survived, while his would-be murderers were hailed as heroes when they reached Rome.
Today in the year 869 the Fourth Council of Constantinople met to condemn Photius the Patriarch of Constantinople, who had been deposed by the Emperor for his opposition to the new filioque version of the Nicene creed that was starting to be used in Western churches.
It is the birthday of Jonathan Edwards, the American preacher, theologian and philosopher, who was born today in 1703 in East Windsor, Connecticut.
Revd Ralph William Lyonel Tollemache-Tollemache died today in 1895, ending 46 years in holy orders in the Church of England. He left behind 15 children from his two marriages, many of them with fantastical names, including his son Leone Sextus Denys Oswolf Fraudatifilius Tollemache-Tollemache de Orellana Plantagenet Tollemache-Tollemache.
The English United Reformed Church was created today in 1972 by the merging of the Presbyterian and Congregational Churches. It had taken 40 years of talks, despite the fact that there were no differences left between them at all, and – after four decades of decline – not much in the way of members either.
Image: Rijksmuseum