Contemporaries of Ignatius of Loyola

Martin Luther: A German friar, priest, professor of theology, and a seminal figures in the Protestant Reformation.

John Calvin: Martin Luther's successor as the preeminent Protestant theologian, made a powerful impact on the fundamental doctrines of Protestantism, which include the doctrine of predestination and the absolute sovereignty of God in salvation of the human soul.

Christopher Columbus: An Italian explorer, navigator, colonizer and citizen of the Republic of Genoa. His four voyages across the Atlantic established permanent settlements on Hispaniola and began the Spanish colonization of the New World.

Giovanni da Verrazzano: An Italian explorer of North America, hired by King Francis I of France, who explored the Atlantic coast from North Carolina to New Brunswick.

Thomas More: An English lawyer, social philosopher, author, statesman, and Renaissance humanist. He was a councilor to Henry VIII and served as Lord High Chancellor of England. He opposed the Protestant Reformation.

Desiderius Erasmus: A Dutch Renaissance humanist, Catholic priest, social critic, teacher and theologian who apposed the Protestant Reformation but called for reforms in the Catholic Church.

Nicolaus Copernicus: A German Renaissance mathematician and astronomer who formulated a model of the universe that placed the Sun rather than the Earth at the center of the universe.

Ferdinand Magellan: A Portuguese explorer who led part of the first expedition around the world.

Hernan Cortez: A Spanish Conquistador who led an expedition that cuased the fall of the Aztec Empire and brought large portions of mainland Mexico under the King of Castile.

Ivan the Terrible: The Grand Prince of Moscow and later the Tsar of All the Russias. His reign saw the conquest of Kazan, Astrakhan, and Siberia, transforming Russia into a multi-ethnic and multi-continental state spanning almost one billion acres.

Henry VIII: The King of England who assumed kingship of Ireland and France. He was the second Tudor King and is known for his separation from the Catholic Church because of his six marriages.

Nicolo Macchiavelli: An Italian historian, politician, diplomat, philosopher, humanist, and writer, who is recognized as the founder of modern political science and political ethics.

Suleiman: The tenth and longest-reigning Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, that presided over the apex of the Ottoman’s military, political, and economic power.

Girolama Savonarola: An Italian Dominican friar and preacher who was active in Renaissance Florence. He was known for his prophecies of civic glory, the destruction of secular art and culture, and his calls for Christian renewal.

The Council of Trent was one of the Catholic Church’s most important ecumenical councils. Prompted by the Protestant Reformation, it has been described as the embodiment of the Counter-Reformation.