Lucia, Martyr

1124 Pope Callixtus II, whose pontificate was shaped by the Investiture Controversy over who would control the appointment of church officials, died.

1204 Maimonides (Moses ben Maimon) (b. 30 March 1135), medieval Jewish scholar, died.

1250 Frederick II, the messianic German Emperor (1212–1250) who fought repeatedly and heatedly with popes, died (b. 26
December 1194).

1272 Berthold von Regensburg, the greatest preacher of the Middle Ages, died (b. ca. 1220, Regensburg, Germany).

1294 After issuing a constitution giving popes the right to quit, Pope Celestine V (ca. 1215–1296) shocked the world by resigning.

1363 Jean Charlier de Gerson, French theologian and church leader, was born near Reims, France (d. 12 July 1429).

1484 Paul Speratus, hymnist and co-worker of Luther, was born in Swabia (d. 12 August 1551).

1521 Pope Sixtus V was born (d. 27 August 1590).

1545 The Council of Trent began.

1605 The Bank of the Holy Spirit (Italian: Il Banco di Santo Spirito; Latin: Banco de Spiritus Sanctus) was founded by Pope Paul V (1552–1621). It was the first national bank in Europe (as the bank of the Papal States), the first public deposit bank in Rome and the oldest continuously operating bank in Rome until its merger in 1992.

1683 Anna Sophia of Hesse-Darmstadt, hymnist, died at Quedlinburg (b. 17 December 1638, Marburg).

1769 Christian F. Gellert, hymnist, died at Leipzig (b. 4 July 1715, Hainichen, Saxony).

1793 Funeral services were held for John Hatton, composer, at Saint Helens, Windle, Lancaster, England (b. Warrington, England, September 1710).

1823 William W. How, Anglican clergyman and hymnist, was born in Shrewsbury, England (d. 10 August 1897, Leenane, County Mayo, Ireland).

1835 Phillips Brooks, American Episcopal clergyman and hymnist, was born in Boston, Massachusetts (d. 23 January 1893).

1844 Henry C. Wyneken, professor at Concordia Theological Seminary (Springfield, Illinois) was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana (d. 21 June 1899).

1851 E. O. (Edwin Othello) Excell, American sacred music chorister and writer, was born in Stark County, Ohio (d. 10 June 1921, Chicago, Illinois).

1895 Gustav Mahler‘s (1860–1911) Resurrection Symphony premiered in Berlin.

1899 Herman A. Bielenberg was born in Staten Island, New York (d. 16 January 1989, Fort Lauderdale, Florida). In 1938 Bielenberg wrote the original script and supervised the production of The Call of the Cross, a film about the Saxon immigration of 1839, the first sound motion picture produced by The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod.

1907 Friedrich Lindemann, professor at the Missouri Synod teachers seminary at Addison, Illinois, died (b. 12 January 1851, Baltimore, Maryland).

1933 Franklin Foster Fry, who helped organize the United Lutheran Church, died (b. 1 November 1864, Carlisle, Pennsylvania).

1936 Peter P. Bilhorn (b. 22 July 1865, Mendota, Illinois), American music artist, died at Los Angeles, California.

1959 Archbishop Makarios (1913–1977) became the first president of Cyprus.

1973 Arthur Carl Piepkorn, Army chaplain, professor at Concordia Seminary (Saint Louis), theologian, author and specialist in Roman Catholic theology, died (b. 21 June 1907, Milwaukee).

1983 Alexander Schmemann, Orthodox Christian priest and theologian (b. 13 May 1921), died.