1189 - The Peace of Strasbourg was signed, resolving the differences between Emperor Frederick Barbarossa of Germany and Pope Clement III.
1528 - In Cologne, German reformer Adolf Clarenbach, 28, was arrested for teaching Protestant (some say Anabaptist or Waldensian) doctrines. The following year, Clarenbach was burned at the stake for his faith.
1593 - Birth of George Herbert, English clergyman and poet. One of his verses endures today as the hymn, "The King of Love My Shepherd Is."
1759 - Anglican clergyman and hymnwriter John Newton wrote in a letter: 'I believe that love to God, and to man for God's sake, is the essence of religion and the fulfilling of the law.'
1950 - Death of American hymnwriter Ira B. Wilson, 70. Associated with Lorenz Publishing in Dayton, Ohio for over 40 years, Wilson's most enduring sacred composition was "Make Me a Blessing" (aka "Out of the Highways and Byways of Life").
© 1987-2009, William D. Blake. Used by permission of the author, from
Almanac of the Christian Church
