Final answer:
The Old Testament was declared canonical by the Western Church in 1442 during the Renaissance, finalizing the list of sacred books. The creation of the Latin Vulgate in 410 by Jerome significantly contributed to this process.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Old Testament was declared canonical, in the sense of a definitive list of books considered sacred and authoritative, by the Western Church in 1442, which occurred during the Renaissance. This was when the Church specified precisely which books were to be included in the Old Testament. Prior to this, the compilation of the books had been an ongoing process, with early versions of the Hebrew Bible or Torah being developed as early as the 7th century BCE. The creation of the Latin Vulgate by Jerome in 410 was a significant step in the history of the Biblical texts, becoming the main Bible in Europe until the 16th century. However, it was not until the 15th century that a standardized set of texts was established by the Western Church.