Anniversary of the Battle of Lepanto (1571)

G.K. Chesterton wrote a very moving poem about the battle (best as a read-aloud) which you can read here.

Wikipedia has really detailed and interesting information about this battle.

Because Our Lady was implored throughout the empire by praying the Rosary, the anniversary of this decisive battle was named the feast of Our Lady of Victory, later changed to Our Lady of the Rosary.

The Five Franciscan Martyrs of Georgia

Death came to the five Franciscan Martyrs in September, 1597, after a baptized Guale named Juanillo, living in one of the missions, took a second wife. Juanillo was the nephew of the principal tribal chief and a leading contender to succeed him. Given his importance, if he persisted in his marital infidelity, the moral life of the whole mission would be in jeopardy. It fell to Fray Pedro at the mission at Tolomato to admonish Juanillo to live the Christian faith in which he was baptized, and to warn him that the friars would not support his political aspirations should he persist in bigamy. In this he was seconded by Fray Blas in the nearby mission at Tupiquí...

From the Georgia Martyrs website

hat-tip Karen Edmisten

William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

Picture Books:
William Shakespeare and the Globe by Aliki
The Bard of Avon by Diane Stanley

Grade School:
Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare for Children by Edith Nesbit
Shakespeare for Kids: His Life and times, 21 Activities by Colleen Aagesen and Margie Blumberg

Primary Sources:
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare

On the Web:
William Shakespeare Collection at Bartleby
Tales from Shakespeare by Charles and Mary Lamb

Saint Edmund Campion (1540-1581)

Grade School:

Edmund Campion: Hero of God's Underground by Harold Gardiner, S.J.

Teen/Adult:

Edmund Campion by Evelyn Waugh
Tyborne and the Gem of Christendom by Mother Mary Magdalen Taylor
The Martyrdom of Father Campion and His Companions by William Cardinal Allen

Primary Sources:

Challenge to the Privy Council by Edmund Campion

Old St. Peter's and the Sistine Chapel

With help from The Map Guy



Above is a drawing of the Old St. Peter's Basilica in Rome - built by Constantine in the 4th Century AD. It was built at the place where St. Peter died, which was a Roman circus, where chariot races and gladiator fights took place. Around 1450, the pope decided tear it down because it was in a state of disrepair. From 1475-1483 they built a famous chapel and when it was completed, the pope hired Botticelli, Ghirlandaio, Rosselli, and Perugino to paint the walls on the sides of the chapel. They painted the ceiling blue with stars. In 1508, another pope hired Michelangelo to paint frescoes of the twelve apostles on the ceiling. After he started the work, Michelangelo decided that he didn't like them and came up with a different idea that we can see today. He finished the frescoes in 1512.

The groundbreaking for the new St. Peter's Basilica was in 1506 and it was consecrated in 1626.

Saint Thomas More (1478-1535)

St. Thomas More of London by Elizabeth Ince

The King's Good Servant but God's First by James Monti

Sir Thomas More attributed to William Shakespeare

Primary Sources:

Utopia by Saint Thomas More

The Sadness of Christ by Saint Thomas More

On the Web:

Center for Thomas More Studies

Movies:

A Man for All Seasons (1966 - Paul Scofield, Wendy Hiller, Orson Welles)

Our Lady of Guadalupe (Mexico, 1531)

Our Lady of Guadalupe appeared to St. Juan Diego in Mexico several times between December 9 and December 12, 1531. Our Lady of Guadalupe is the patroness of the Americas and the unborn.

Picture Books:

The Lady of Guadalupe by Tomie de Paola (1531)

Grade School:

Saint Juan Diego and Our Lady of Guadalupe by Josephine Nobisso (Pauline Books & Media)

Teen/Adult:

A Handbook on Guadalupe edited by Brother Francis Mary, F.I.
Our Lady of Guadalupe and the Conquest of Darkness by Warren Carroll

Saint Francis Xavier (1506-1552)

Grade School:

St. Francis of the Seven Seas by Albert Nevins

College/Adult:

Set All Afire: A Novel on St. Francis Xavier by Louis de Wohl

Saint Ignatius Loyola (1491-1556)

Grade School:

St. Ignatius and the Company of Jesus by August Derleth (1491-1556)

High School/Adult:

St. Ignatius of Loyola by Francis Thompson
St. Ignatius of Loyola by James Broderick, S.J.
The Golden Thread: A Novel about St. Ignatius by Louis de Wohl

16th Century AD

The Evangelization of the New World by James Leek
He Went with Vasco da Gama by Louise Andrews Kent (1460-1524)
Saint Angela Merici: Leading People to God by Sr. Maryellen Keefe, OSU (Pauline Books & Media)
How the Reformation Happened by Hilaire Belloc (1517-1648)
The Beginning of the English Reformation by Hugh Ross Williamson
Characters of the Reformation by Hilaire Belloc
The King's Achievement by Msgr. Robert Hugh Benson (Henry VIII 1491-1547)
"The Miracle of Morrovalle, Italy", EM 153-157 (1560)
Lepanto by G.K. Chesterton (October 7, 1571)
Red Hugh, Prince of Donegal by Robert T. Reilly (1580s)
St. Philip of the Joyous Heart by Francis X. Connolly (1515-1595)
St. Martin de Porres: The Story of the Little Doctor of Lima by Mary Fabyan Windeatt (1579-1639)
"The Miracle of Alcala de Henares, Spain", EM 158-161 (1597)

Artists of the 16th Century

Sandro Botticelli, Italy, (1445-1510)
WebMuseum Entry

Leonardo da Vinci, Italy, 1452-1519
Leonardo da Vinci for Kids: His Life and Ideas 21 Activities by Janis Herbert
Catholic Encyclopedia Entry
WebMuseum Entry

Raphael Sanzio, Italy, 1483-1520
Catholic Encyclopedia Entry
WebMuseum Entry

Albrecht Dürer, Germany, 1471-1528
Catholic Encyclopedia Entry
WebMuseum Entry

Michelangelo Buonarroti , Italy, 1475 - 1564
Michelangelo by Diane Stanley
Catholic Encyclopedia Entry
WebMuseum Entry
Movie: The Agony and the Ecstasy (1965 - Charlton Heston, Rex Harrison)

Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Flanders, 1525-1569
WebMuseum Entry

Saint Peter's Basilica (constructed 1450-1626)

History of St. Peter's Basilica from Catholic Encyclopedia
Tour of St. Peter's Basilica (this one has pictures)
Old St. Peter's Basilica (circa 300 AD - 1450 AD)
Building Big - St. Peter's Basilica
Pictures from St. Peter's Basilica
Vatican Museums Online - The Sistine Chapel