25th February: Today in Christian History

25th February, 1296

On this day in Christian History, Pope Boniface VIII issues the bull Clericis laicos forbidding the clergy to pay taxes to secular rulers without papal consent.

25th February, 1536

On this day in Christian History, Gentle Anabaptist leader Jacob Hutter (from whom the Hutterites take their name) is hunted down and burned to death in Austria after being tortured, whipped, and immersed in freezing water to mock baptismal practices.

25th February, 1570

On this day in Christian History, Pope Pius V promulgates a bull of damnation and excommunication against Queen Elizabeth of England and her followers.

25th February, 1796

On this day in Christian History, Death in New London, Connecticut, of Samuel Seabury, first bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church in America.

25th February, 1862

On this day in Christian History, Death at Hackney, London, of Andrew Reed, a popular Independent minister who founded the London Orphan Asylum, the Asylum for Fatherless Children, the Asylum for Idiots, the Infant Orphan Asylum, and the Hospital for Incurables. He also wrote hymns, such as “Holy Ghost, with light divine” and “Spirit Divine, attend our prayer.”

25th February, 1880

On this day in Christian History, Death of Johann Blumhardt, leader of revival in Germany and founder of Bad Böll, a spa for people with mental, spiritual, and physical ailments.

February 25, 1921

Death in Egersund, Rogaland, Norway, of Lutheran deaconness Elizabeth Fedde who had established a great medical and ministerial work in New York before returning to her homeland.

25th February, 1928

On this day in Christian History, Azer Ata is ordained monk in Egypt and takes the name Mina after Saint Mina. Eventually, he will become Pope Saint Kyrillos VI (Cyril VI in the Coptic Church).

February 25, 1928

On this day in Christian History, an article by Stanley Frodsham in Pentecostal Evangel pays tribute to Swiss-born Paul Bettex, a zealous international missionary who had been assassinated and secretly buried in China fourteen years earlier.

25th February, 1934

On this day in Christian History, Sir Leonard Woolley ends his archaeological dig at Ur, having uncovered much information that would help Christians understand the ancient texts of Scripture.

25th February, 1940

On this day in Christian History, Death in Palo Alto, California, of Mary Mills Patrick, who had been an educational missionary to Turkey. She had turned a girl’s school into the Constantinople Women’s College and kept it open through two wars and a revolution. Courses she had offered included dentistry and medicine.

February 25, 1995

On this day in Christian History, Samandar Singh, hired to kill Sister Rani Maria for exposing exploitive money-lending practices, stabs the nun repeatedly in Indore, India. He will serve eleven years for her murder and be "adopted" by Rani Maria's sister, also a nun, who forgives his action.