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Christian leaders

Lives of faith from the last thousand years, Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant, one era at a time. Open a card for a profile.

The story carried on after the Bible closed: some of the men and women who have led and shaped the church over the last thousand years, from monasteries to the Reformation to the modern missions.

Colour byHigh Middle Ages (c. 1000–1500)Reformation and after (c. 1500–1700)Revival and mission (18th–19th centuries)Modern era (20th–21st centuries)

The High Middle Agesc. 1000–1500

  • Anselm of Canterbury

    c. 1033–1109 · Archbishop and theologian

    Gave the 'ontological argument' for God and, in Why God Became Man, a lasting account of the atonement.

    Catholic

  • Bernard of Clairvaux

    1090–1153 · Cistercian abbot

    Monastic reformer, mystic and preacher whose sermons on the Song of Songs shaped devotion for centuries.

    Catholic

  • Hildegard of Bingen

    1098–1179 · Abbess and visionary

    Benedictine abbess who wrote visions, music, theology and natural history — one of the strongest women's voices of the age.

    Catholic
  • Dominic: Drawing by Bartholomaeus Spranger, about 1573, three and a half centuries after his death

    Dominic

    c. 1170–1221 · Founder of the Dominicans

    Later depiction, not a likeness

    Founded the Order of Preachers to teach the faith by learned, travelling preaching.

    Catholic
  • Francis of Assisi: Detail of a panel by Bicci di Lorenzo, about 1430, two centuries after his death

    Francis of Assisi

    c. 1181–1226 · Founder of the Franciscans

    Later depiction, not a likeness

    Gave up wealth to live the Gospel in poverty and joy; his love of the poor and of creation still draws people of every tradition.

    Catholic

  • Thomas Aquinas

    c. 1225–1274 · Dominican theologian

    Wove Aristotle's philosophy into Christian teaching in the Summa Theologiae; a Doctor of the Church.

    Catholic

  • Gregory Palamas

    c. 1296–1359 · Archbishop of Thessalonica

    Defended hesychasm, the Eastern tradition of stillness and the Jesus Prayer, and its teaching on the uncreated light.

    Orthodox

  • John Wycliffe

    c. 1328–1384 · Oxford theologian

    Urged the Bible be put into the people's own language; the first complete English Bible came from his followers.

    Forerunner of the Reformation
  • Catherine of Siena: Painting by Lo Spagna, about 1510–15, some 130 years after her death

    Catherine of Siena

    1347–1380 · Mystic and counsellor to popes

    Later depiction, not a likeness

    Lay Dominican whose letters and Dialogue pressed the papacy to return to Rome; a Doctor of the Church.

    Catholic

A selection, not a ranking: influence is weighed differently across traditions and centuries.