The most important events in church history are presented from the founding of the church to the 21st century. The spiritual backgrounds are also illuminated, as understanding various developments and events would not be possible without them. The author addresses both the objective light and shadow aspects, as well as the "black legends" that aim to cast the Catholic Church in a negative light. With this church history, Dr. Peter Egger provides us with a realistic picture of the events over the past two thousand years and shows, without embellishment, what really happened during these tumultuous times.