Religious Figures through history
The atlas holds 24 people and 726 moments here, from 480 BC to 2025. The most recorded lives are Jesus Christ, Julius Caesar and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Across the Ancient World and the Age of Exploration.
Notable people
Jesus Christ
from 5 BC to 30
26 moments here
Jesus of Nazareth was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader in Roman Judaea. Most modern scholars agree that he existed historically;…
Julius Caesar
from 100 BC to 44 BC
50 moments here
Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman politician, general, orator and author whose career spanned the late Roman Republic.…
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
from 1749 to 1832
78 moments here
German poet, dramatist, novelist, scientist, theatre director, and statesman. Born in Frankfurt, Goethe studied in Leipzig and Strasbourg, practiced…
Dante Alighieri
from 1265 to 1321
26 moments here
Florentine poet, prose writer, philosopher, and statesman whose Divine Comedy became a foundational work of Italian and European literature.…
Martin Luther
from 1483 to 1546
29 moments here
German Augustinian friar, priest, theologian, professor, translator, and leading figure of the Protestant Reformation.…
Pope Francis
from 1936 to 2025
71 moments here
Jorge Mario Bergoglio, Pope Francis, was an Argentine Jesuit priest, archbishop of Buenos Aires, cardinal, and head of the Catholic Church and…
Augustine of Hippo
from 354 to 430
26 moments here
Aurelius Augustinus, known as Augustine of Hippo, was a North African rhetorician, Christian theologian, philosopher, priest, and bishop.…
Sophocles
from 480 BC to 406 BC
5 moments here
Ancient Athenian tragic playwright, probably born at Colonus in Attica and active chiefly in Athens.…
Thomas Aquinas
from 1225 to 1274
21 moments here
Italian Dominican friar, priest, theologian, and philosopher. His documented movements connected family residences in southern Italy, Dominican and…
Pope John Paul II
from 1920 to 2005
31 moments here
Karol Józef Wojtyła (1920–2005), Pope John Paul II from 1978, was a Polish Catholic priest, bishop, cardinal, and pope.…
Cicero
from 106 BC to 43 BC
83 moments here
Marcus Tullius Cicero (106–43 BC) was a Roman lawyer, orator, philosopher, consul, provincial governor, and defender of the late Republic.…
Pope Benedict XVI
from 1927 to 2022
40 moments here
Joseph Alois Ratzinger (1927–2022), Pope Benedict XVI, was a German Catholic theologian, archbishop, cardinal, prefect of the Congregation for the…
Mother Teresa
from 1910 to 1997
23 moments here
Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu, known as Mother Teresa or Saint Teresa of Calcutta, was an Albanian-Indian Catholic nun.…
Paul the Apostle
from 5 to 64
45 moments here
Paul (Saul of Tarsus) was a first-century Jewish Christian apostle and missionary. The chronology below follows the traditional reconstruction used…
Blaise Pascal
from 1623 to 1662
11 moments here
French mathematician, physicist, inventor, philosopher, and Catholic writer. Pascal spent his life principally between Clermont-Ferrand, Paris,…
Baruch Spinoza
from 1632 to 1677
10 moments here
Dutch philosopher Baruch (Benedictus) de Spinoza lived entirely in the Dutch Republic. His securely documented locations trace a life centered on…
Ibn Khaldun
from 1332 to 1406
15 moments here
Ibn Khaldun (1332–1406) was a Tunis-born historian, jurist, political official, teacher, and author of the Muqaddimah.…
Plutarch
from 66 to 95
4 moments here
Greek Platonist philosopher, biographer, essayist, magistrate, and Delphic priest. He was born at Chaeronea between 45 and 47 CE and died after 119…
Desiderius Erasmus
from 1466 to 1536
27 moments here
Dutch Renaissance humanist, Catholic priest, theologian, editor, and author. Erasmus was born in the Burgundian Netherlands, educated in the Low…
Umar ibn al-Khattab
from 584 to 644
19 moments here
Umar ibn al-Khattab (c. 584–644) was the second Rashidun caliph, ruling from 634 until his assassination.…
Al-Ghazali
from 1058 to 1111
14 moments here
Abū Ḥāmid Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad al-Ghazali was a Persian Sunni jurist, theologian, philosopher, logician, and mystic.…
Francis of Assisi
from 1181 to 1226
33 moments here
Italian Catholic friar, deacon, preacher, and founder of the Order of Friars Minor. Born Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone at Assisi, he renounced his…
John Calvin
from 1509 to 1564
17 moments here
French Protestant reformer, pastor, and author. Born in Noyon, he studied law in Bourges and spent formative periods in Paris and Basel before moving…
Thomas More
from 1478 to 1535
22 moments here
English lawyer, humanist author, royal councillor, Speaker of the House of Commons, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, and Lord Chancellor under…
Moments
- 468 BC First Dionysia victory Sophocles
- 90 BC Serves in the Social War Cicero
- 82 BC Hides in the Sabine country Julius Caesar
- 5 BC Born at Bethlehem Jesus Christ
- 31 Conversion on the road to Damascus Paul the Apostle
- 66 Studies under Ammonius Plutarch
- 365 Schooling at Madaurus Augustine of Hippo
- 616 Public prayer after conversion Umar ibn al-Khattab
- 1085 Departure from Nishapur after al-Juwayni's death Al-Ghazali
- 1203 Return to Assisi after captivity Francis of Assisi
- 1230 Early education at Monte Cassino Thomas Aquinas
- 1283 Exchanged greetings with Beatrice in Florence Dante Alighieri
- 1365 Political office at Béjaïa Ibn Khaldun
- 1476 Childhood move to Gouda Desiderius Erasmus
- 1484 Family relocates to Mansfeld Martin Luther
- 1515 Visit to Antwerp and meeting with Pieter Gillis Thomas More
- 1535 Flight to Basel John Calvin
- 1631 Family relocation to Paris Blaise Pascal
- 1658 Study at Leiden University Baruch Spinoza
- 1765 Takes lodgings as a Leipzig student Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- 1942 Underground seminary in occupied Kraków Pope John Paul II
- 1950 Establishes Missionaries of Charity Mother Teresa
- 2005 Inauguration Mass Pope Benedict XVI
- 2013 Papal inauguration Mass Pope Francis