15th February: Today in Christian History

15th February, 670

On this day in Christian History, King Oswy of Northumbria died. Oswy was involved in the treacherous murder of his main rival, Oswin, who had raised forces to oust him. However, under Oswy’s rule much of the middle of England converted to Christianity and his armies were triumphant against sizable pagan forces.

15th February, 1386

On this day in Christian History, Jagiello (Jagaila), King of the Lithuanians, was baptised in Poland.

15th February, 1621

On this day in Christian History, Michael Praetorius, a German composer, died in Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, on his fiftieth birthday. He wrote many beautiful pieces of Christian music, such as “In Dulci Jubilo.”

Read: 5 Lessons from the Life of Asher

15th February, 1643

On this day in Christian History, John Campanius, a Lutheran pastor and missionary to the American Indians, arrived in America (New Sweden on the Delaware River).

15th February, 1739

On this day in Christian History, five slaves on St. Thomas Island, writing in behalf of 650 persecuted Christian brothers and sisters, addressed a letter to the king of Denmark telling of the violence they had experienced from white owners; their owners also burnt their books and declared that a “baptized black was no more than kindling wood for the fires of hell.”

15th February, 1905

On this day in Christian History, Lew Wallace, author of Ben Hur, died in Crawfordsville, Indiana. The novel, “Ben Hur”, had been conceived on a train ride while arguing about Christ’s divinity with famous agnostic Robert Ingersoll. It sold more than 300,000 copies in a decade, making it one of the best-selling religious books of the 1800s.

15th February, 1960

On this day in Christian History, Anthimus of Chios died after years of ascetic living and service to others. In his lifetime, he founded the Monastery of Panagia Voithia on the Island of Chios to take women and nuns displaced in a population swap between Turkey and Greece.

15th February, 1994

On this day in Christian History, the last hostile soldiers departed from Tavane Mission, a Nazarene work in Mozambique, leaving it in ruins. Nazarenes in Mozambique had suffered much persecution with the coming of revolution and expulsion of missionaries. Benjamin Langa, who had been left in charge of Tavane Mission, once preached with guns pointed at him.