December 5

The fifth day of December.

Events

 * 633: Fourth Council of Toledo takes place.
 * 1484: Pope Innocent VIII issues the Summis desiderantes, a papal bull that deputizes Heinrich Kramer and James Sprenger as inquisitors to root out alleged witchcraft in Germany, and leads to one of the severest witch hunts in European history.
 * 1496: King Manuel I of Portugal issues a decree of expulsion of "heretics" from the country.
 * 1590: Niccolò Sfondrati elected Pope Gregory XIV.
 * 1979: Sonia Johnson is formally excommunicated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for her outspoken criticism of the church concerning the proposed Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.

Births

 * 1443: Pope Julius II (d. 1513)
 * 1539: Fausto Paolo Sozzini, Italian theologian (d. 1604)

Deaths

 * 749: - Saint John of Damascus, theologian

Feast Days

 * 4th day of Advent (Western tradition) in 2007.

Roman Catholicism

 * Saint Abercius
 * Saint Sabas