Pillar III
Church History
The classical chronicles of the Church — from Eusebius, who first told the story, to the great modern surveys. Each work is catalogued here; the public-domain texts are being rendered on-site, beginning with Eusebius.
Ecclesiastical History
Historia Ecclesiastica
Eusebius of Caesarea · c. 324
Church historyPublic domainRead on site · 250 ch.
Read on site →Life of Constantine
Vita Constantini
Eusebius of Caesarea · c. 339
Eusebius' account of the first Christian emperor, including the vision of the Cross and the Council of Nicaea.
BiographyPublic domainCatalogue · reader in progress
Ecclesiastical History
Socrates Scholasticus · c. 439
Continues Eusebius, covering 305–439 — the Arian controversy, the councils, and the Christian empire.
Church historyPublic domainRead on site · 247 ch.
Read on site →Ecclesiastical History
Salminius Hermias Sozomen · c. 445
A parallel 5th-century history covering 324–425, valuable for monasticism and the conversion of peoples.
Church historyPublic domainRead on site · 249 ch.
Read on site →Ecclesiastical History
Theodoret of Cyrus · c. 450
A theologian-bishop's history of the Church from Arius to 429, rich in documents and letters.
Church historyPublic domainRead on site · 149 ch.
Read on site →Ecclesiastical History of the English People
Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum
The Venerable Bede · 731
Bede's history of Christianity in England from the Roman mission to his own day — a masterpiece of early medieval scholarship.
Church historyPublic domainCatalogue · reader in progress
History of the Christian Church
Philip Schaff · 1858–1890
The great eight-volume Protestant survey from the apostolic age to the Reformation — comprehensive and still widely cited.
Church historyPublic domainCatalogue · reader in progress
Actes and Monuments (Foxe's Book of Martyrs)
John Foxe · 1563
The Protestant martyrology recounting Christians persecuted from the early Church through the English Reformation.
MartyrologyPublic domainCatalogue · reader in progress