Topic
Early and Medieval
Expectations from before 1500.
- c. 500 Hippolytus of Rome expects the end around the year 500 Hippolytus of Rome · Date passed In his Commentary on Daniel (about 204), Hippolytus reasoned that Christ was born 5,500 years after creation and that the world would last 6,000 years, placing the end about 500 years after Christ's birth.
- c. 1000 Apocalyptic expectations around the year 1000 Various medieval chroniclers and preachers · Record disputed Historians disagree about how widely Europeans expected the world to end in the year 1000 or 1033. Some chroniclers describe apocalyptic unrest; others suggest the idea of mass panic was exaggerated later.
- c. 1600 Martin Luther and a limit of about 1600 Martin Luther · Record disputed Luther is often reported to have said the world would not last beyond about 1600. Exactly how he phrased this, and how firmly, is disputed.