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TODAY IN CHURCH HISTORY

November 4 in Church History

Charles Simeon’s Last Blessing

November 4 in church history: Charles Simeon’s last blessing at Cambridge, the feast of Charles Borromeo, the sack of Antwerp and Mendelssohn’s death.

Charles Simeon, vicar of Holy Trinity, Cambridge, whose influence on generations of Cambridge men made him a founder of the evangelical party in the Church of England, gave his last blessing today in 1836, days before his death. Many of the graduates he influenced went out as chaplains and missionaries.

Charles Borromeo, whose feast is today, was a very different reformer. As archbishop of Milan after the Council of Trent, he put its decrees into practice with seminaries, visitations and strict discipline for clergy. During the plague of 1576 he stayed in the city and cared for the sick himself. He became a model for Catholic bishops of the Counter-Reformation.

On this day

  1. 1576Spanish troops sack Antwerp, hardening the Dutch revolt
  2. 1677William of Orange marries Mary, daughter of the future James II
  3. 1836Charles Simeon gives his last blessing at Cambridge days before his death
  4. 1847Felix Mendelssohn, composer of the oratorio Elijah, dies

Feast days

Charles Borromeo, archbishop of Milan

Also kept today: Birstan, Clether

November calendar

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Sources. David Hugh Farmer, The Oxford Dictionary of Saints; standard reference works; Rusten and Rusten, The One Year Christian History.

Last updated November 2, 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.