November 17: Today in Christian History

November 17: Today in Christian History


November 17, 594

Death of Gregory of Tours, influential bishop of Tours and historian of the Franks.

November 17, 680

Death of influential Hild (aka Hilda) of Whitby, abbess of a double monastery of women and men, the site of a famous synod that determined the direction of English Christianity.

November 17, 914

The fortress of Q’ueli in Georgia, defended by Christians against the Muslim forces of Sajid emir of Azerbaijan, falls after a twenty-eight day seige. The Christian commander Mikel-Gobron is beheaded when he refuses to convert to Islam.

November 17, 1231

Death of Elizabeth of Hungary, at age thirty-four. A noblewoman, she had used her wealth to help the needy. Following her husband’s death, she had become the first of the Franciscan Tertiaries and tended the sick at Marburg. (Tertiaries are men or women who serve God within secular occupations.)

November 17, 1634

Giordano Ansalone, missionary to Japan, is martyred in Nagasaki.

November 17, 1668

Death of Joseph Alleine, English Puritan, having burned himself out by age thirty-four in labors for the Lord. He wrote Alleine’s Alarm.

November 17, 1966

Death of Johanesa Rakotovao, a pastor, educator, linguist, and Lutheran leader in Madagascar. He was among those who pressed for an end to colonial rule.

November 17, 1980

In Stone v. Graham, by a 5-4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court strikes down a Kentucky statute requiring the posting of the Judeo-Christian Ten Commandments in public school classrooms.

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