old style Chronology is the determination of the date of an event according to the Julian calendar, put into effect by Julius Caesar in 45 BC. e.
The concept old style The chronology arose in connection with the transition of Russia from the chronology of the Julian calendar to the modern chronology of the Gregorian calendar. The transition was carried out in 1918 by order of the Council of People's Commissars. January 31, 1918 immediately came on February 14, and there are no days from February 1 to 13 in the calendar of 1918.
The introduction of the Gregorian calendar was carried out by the Catholic Church in 1582 due to errors julian calendarleading to a constant shift of the vernal equinox to an earlier date than the calendar (March 21). So in the XVI century. The equinox came on March 11, 10 days earlier than when the Julian calendar came into effect in 45 BC. e. This led, in particular, to the constant postponement and complication of calculating the date of the spring of the equinox of the most important Christian church holiday of Easter. The steadily increasing imperfection of the Julian calendar became so obvious by the middle of the 16th century that Pope Gregory XIII in 1582 organized the work of a special commission to improve the calendar, and on October 4 of that year, it commissioned a new Gregorian calendar. Summer counting by gregorian calendar got the name new style .
In Russia, the Gregorian calendar was not introduced until the beginning of the twentieth century. because the Russian Orthodox Church counteracted whenever attempts were made to do so. The Orthodox Church considered the delay in the calendar useful, since the Christian Easter time was at odds with the Jewish Easter. Cathedral rules forbade their simultaneous celebration in the strictest manner. The Russian Orthodox Church and now calculates the passing holidays and Easter according to the Julian calendar, i.e., according to the old style.
The difference of dates in the new and old styles in the XVI and XVII centuries is 10 days, in the XVIII century. - 11, in the 19th century - 12, in the XX and beginning of the XXI century. - 13 days. Starting from 2100, the date difference will increase to 14 days.
To recalculate the date of a new style into a date according to the old style, the date difference for the century on which the date according to the new style falls is subtracted from the date according to the new style. For example, December 21, 2010 is December 8 in the old style.
To recalculate the date of the old style into a date according to the new style, to the date according to the old style, add the difference of dates for the new and old styles for the century on which the date according to the old style falls. For example, June 22, 1699 is July 2, according to the new style.
Sources:
- vedmedenko.org - about the new and old styles;
- news.mail.ru - Julian and Gregorian calendars;
Speaking of dates, one often comes across a common misconception associated with converting dates from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian (from the “old style” to “new”). A significant part of people believe that this difference is always 13 days. In fact, everything is much more complicated and the difference between calendars varies from century to century.
First of all, it is necessary to explain what causes the appearance of different calendars. The fact is that the Earth makes a complete revolution around the Sun not in 365 or 366 days, but in 365 days 5 hours 48 minutes 45.19 seconds (information for the 2000s).
In the Julian calendar, introduced in 45 AD and spread throughout Europe, incl. (through Byzantium) - and to Russia, laid the duration of the year 365 days and 6 hours. "Extra" 6 hours is 1 day - February 29, which is added once every 4 years.
Thus, the Julian calendar is inaccurate, and over time, this inaccuracy became apparent when calculating Christian holidays, especially Easter, which should be celebrated on the first Sunday after the vernal equinox.
The Catholic Church drew attention to this problem, and from 1582 the Gregorian calendar was introduced. Pope Gregory XIII on October 5, 1582 issued a bull ordering to be counted on October 5, 15. Thus, the difference between the calendars was 10 days in the 16th century.
The Gregorian calendar is based on the following principles:
- As in the Julian calendar, every fourth year is a leap year.
- Years that are multiples of 400 (for example, 1600 and 2000) are also leap years.
- The exception is years that are multiples of 100 and not multiples of 400 (for example, 1700, 1800 and 1900): they are not leap years.
So the discrepancy between Julian and gregorian calendar as follows:
| 16th century | 10 |
| 17th century | 10 |
| XVIII century | 11 |
| XIX century | 12 |
| XX century | 13 |
| XXI century | 13 |
| XXII century | 14 |
| XXIII century | 15 |
| XXIV century | 16 |
| XXV century | 16 |
| XXVI century | 17 |
In Russia, the Gregorian calendar was introduced by decree of the Council of People's Commissars of January 24, 1918. After January 31, 1918, February 14 came.
Thus, the Julian calendar operated in Russia most of the time according to which a pedigree (XVII - early XX centuries) can be compiled, and all dates require recounting in accordance with the table above. For example, the 150th anniversary of the abolition of serfdom (manifesto of February 19, 1861) - March 3, 2011
Currently, the Julian calendar continues to be used by some local Orthodox churches, including the Russian Orthodox Church. A significant part of the Orthodox churches (for example, the Greek) adopted the New Julian calendar, which calculates leap years according to another, slightly more complex model. However, until the XXIX century, there will be no discrepancies between the Gregorian and New Julian calendars.
January 13 is the last day of the year according to the Julian calendar. With what we congratulate you! It's time to deal with the causes of temporary cretinism, which the inhabitants of Russia have been "ailing" for centuries.
How it all began
The ancient Roman Julian calendar was introduced in Rome as a result of a reform carried out at the initiative of Julius Caesar in 46 BC. In Kievan Rus, the Julian calendar appeared during the time of Vladimir Svyatoslavovich almost immediately with the beginning of the introduction of Christianity. So, in the "Tale of Bygone Years" uses the Julian calendar with the Roman names of the months and the Byzantine era. The chronology was conducted from the Creation of the World, taking 5508 BC as a basis. - Byzantine version of this date. And the beginning of the new year was decided to be counted from March 1 - in accordance with the ancient Slavic calendar.
Biennial
The people, to put it mildly, did not experience a clear delight from the innovation, managing to live on two calendars. A sufficient number of samples of wooden folk calendars has been preserved, on which you can find the simultaneous designation of church holidays according to the Julian calendar, and local events based on a pagan folk calendar.
The Julian calendar was used primarily in cases where it was necessary to find out about the date of church holidays.
The old calendar, based on the lunar phases, the solar cycle and the changing seasons, reported on the dates of vital matters, first of all, on the beginning or completion of field work. In modern life, for example, pagan holidays such as Shrovetide associated with the lunar cycle, or “solar” celebrations - Kolyada and Kupala - have been preserved.
Attempt - Torture
For almost 500 years, Russia tried to live according to the Julian calendar. In addition to a large number of discrepancies, the problem was also the confusion that arose in the annals: Russian chroniclers relied on dating by slavic calendar, and the invited Greeks used the dates of the new calendar.
No prohibitions of the old calendar, up to the executions of his especially zealous adherents, helped.
The reigning Grand Duke of Moscow Ivan III tried to "settle" the discrepancies. In the Summer of 7000 from the Creation of the World, that is, in 1492, the Moscow Church Council approved the postponement of the beginning of the year from March 1 to September 1 (a decision that is valid in the Russian Orthodox Church to this day).
Shortest year
Another attempt to transform the reckoning was made by Peter I. By his decree of 1699, he postponed the beginning of the year from September 1 to January 1. Thus, 1699 lasted only 4 months: September, October, November and December. The year was shortened by the Soviet government, which on January 24, 1918 corrected the error of the Julian calendar in 13 days by introducing the Gregorian calendar, according to which Catholic Europe lived since 1582. After January 31, 1918, it was not February 1, but immediately 14.
All walk!
Fearing to be misunderstood once again, Peter I attempted to “mask” the introduction of the new reckoning with grandiose festivities.
The "reigning city" was ordered to decorate "from the trees and branches of pine, spruce and juniper" and organize "fire fun": the launch of "rockets, how many will happen" and firing from cannons, muskets and "other small guns."
On New Year's Eve, the king personally gave the signal for the beginning of the celebrations. In addition to the spectacles, Peter offered the people "various evstv and vats with wine and beer" - refreshments were organized in front of the palace and at three triumphal gates. According to the tsar’s decree, honest people walked for a week, and when he came to his senses after a noisy undertaking, “a rather significant murmur arose in Moscow”. Many were surprised: “How could the king change the solar current?”
Many of those who were firmly convinced that “God created the light in the month of September” still lived according to the old calendar.
Peter decided not to captivate the people, making a reservation in the decree: “But if anyone wants to write both of those summers, from the creation of the world and from the birth of Christ, I’ll be free.”
old style
Today, according to the Julian calendar, only four Orthodox churches live: Russian, Jerusalem, Georgian and Serbian. An attempt to replace the calendar was made by Patriarch Tikhon on October 15, 1923.
True, the “new style” lived in the Church for only 24 days, since already on November 8, 1923, the patriarch ordered “to temporarily postpone the widespread and mandatory introduction of the new style into church use”.
The modern Orthodox church calendar (Easter) consists of two parts: the motionless Mesyatseslov associated with the solar cycle, and the moving Easter, based on the Lunar calendar. The Julian calendar, which diverges from the Gregorian one at 13 days, forms the basis of the fixed part - it includes non-transient Orthodox holidays and memorial days of saints. Easter determines the date of Easter changing annually, and with it the rolling holidays depending on it.
Julian calendar
The Julian calendar was introduced by Guy Julius Caesar (100 - 44 BC) in 45 BC instead of a very inaccurate republican calendar. Julius Caesar was not only a dictator, but also a great pontiff. He possessed the necessary fullness of power in order to put an end to the calendar mess that had a devastating effect on the economy and trade. To carry out the reform, the emperor invited a group of Alexandrian astronomers to Rome led by Sozigen to Rome. Sozigen decided that the only way out would be to cancel the lunar calendar and introduce the sun. The tropical year should be used, and the months should be tied to the seasons.
In December, the Romans celebrated Saturnalia - celebrations in honor of Saturn, the god of crops and fertility. The end of the holiday was to be on the day of the winter solstice. But because of the imperfection of the calendar, a discrepancy of almost 70 days arose.
To eliminate this huge difference between the calendar and the real solstice, Sozigen proposed adding two additional months to the year known in our time as 46 BC. In addition, this year already had one ordinary additional month of the Roman Republican calendar - 23 days from February 23.
Two additional months (67 days) after November made a year lasting at least 445 days. This led to the fact that on January 1, the Julian calendar was at the beginning of March 45 BC. republican calendar (i.e. at the beginning of the year according to the old calendar).
It can be assumed that the length of the months in 47 and 46 years. BC. amounted to:
| January | 29 | 29 |
| February | 28 | 24 |
| Intercalans | - | 27 |
| March | 31 | 31 |
| April | 29 | 29 |
| May | 31 | 31 |
| June | 29 | 29 |
| Quintilis | 31 | 31 |
| Sextilis | 29 | 29 |
| September | 29 | 29 |
| October | 31 | 31 |
| November | 29 | 29 |
| Undecember | - | 33 |
| Duodecember | - | 34 |
| December | 29 | 29 |
| Total days in a year | 355 | 445 |
The Romans called this year “the year of perplexity” ( annus confusiosus).
In the Julian calendar, the tropical year is approximated by a period of 365.25 days, which gives an error of approximately one day for every 128 years. This accuracy is achieved by introducing a leap year (366 days) next every three ordinary years (365 days).
However, this rule was not followed in the early years of the introduction of the Julian calendar. Pontiffs probably misinterpreted Julius Caesar's decree. The error arose due to the Roman practice of inclusive numbering. They inserted an extra day, not three years later into the fourth, but every third year. It:
-45, -42, -39, -36, -33, -30, -27, -24, -21, -18, -15, -12, -9, 8, 12, and every fourth since that time.
The error lasted 36 years, during which 3 extra days were added. To compensate for the error, Emperor Augustus decided to skip the insertion of days in leap years between 9 BC and 8 A.D.
Leap dayJulius Caesar found that in leap years the "sixth day before the calendars of March" should be doubled. In contrast to the modern calendar, which introduced an additional day - February 29, the Romans had the same date repeated in a row once again in a leap year ( annus bissextilis) This doubling was originally called the word " bissextile"from which the name came" leap ". (The sixth in Latin is" sextus ", and the doubled sixth is" bistextus. "The word came to the Russian language through the Greeks, who spoke" in "instead of" b ".)
If we compare the Roman days in February with the modern calendar, we get
7th day before March calendars February 23
6th day before the calendars of March 24 February
6th day before March calendars February 25
5th day before March calendars February 26
4th day before March calendars February 27
3rd day before March calendars February 28
2nd day before March calendars February 29
March calendars March 1
It can be seen that, due to the countdown, an additional sixth day (lat. bis-sexto-kalendae) falls on February 24th. For this reason, this day is still considered optional in a leap year.
The choice of this date by Julius Caesar is based on the fact that an additional month Intercalans / mercedonius in the Roman calendar was considered not after February, but just between the 7th and 6th day before the March calendars. And it was natural to leave an extra day in that position.
In terms of celebrating a name day in a leap year, you must use the following match:
Thus, in the leap year, starting from February 24th, all the holidays of February are carried over to the next date compared to the regular year.
The names of the months of the Roman calendar|
Month |
Latin |
Value |
|---|---|---|
| January | Januarius | by the name of Janus (Janus) - the two-faced god of entrances and exits, one of his faces turned into the past, and the other into the future |
| February | Februarius | by the name of the rite of purification (Februa) |
| March | Martius | named after the god Mars (originally the god of fields and crops) |
| April | Aprilis | It is not known, perhaps, in honor of Aphrodite or the Latin word "aperire" (when the buds "open" on the trees) |
| May | Maius | Probably in honor of the goddess of the land of Maya (Maia) |
| June | Junius | Probably in honor of the goddess Juno (Juno), the goddess of the sky, the wife of Jupiter, "the queen of the gods and people" |
| July | Julius | in honor of Julius Caesar in 44 BC Originally called Quintilis from the word "quintus", the fifth since it was the fifth month of the old Roman calendar |
| August | Augustus | Named after Emperor Augustus in 8 BC Sextilis was originally from the word "sextus", the sixth |
| September | September | from "septem", seventh |
| October | October | from "octo", the eighth |
| November | November | from "novem", the ninth |
| December | December | from "decem", the tenth |
In gratitude for streamlining the calendar, and also taking into account the outstanding achievements of Julius Caesar in the military and state fields, the Roman Senate, at the proposal of Mark Anthony, Caesar's associate, decided to rename the month of Quintilis, in which Caesar was born, in July. (Caesar was killed on March 15, 44 BC by senators.)
September was renamed by the Senate during the reign of Tiberius (14 - 37 AD) to Tiberius, under Antoninus Pie (138-161) - to Antoninus, under Aurelius Commodus (180 - 192) - to Commodus. October in the reign of Domitian (81 - 96 gg.) Was called domitianus. However, these changes did not take root.
Months lengthFor a more streamlined calendar, Julius Caesar introduced an amendment in the length of months. As can be seen from the table, March, May, and Quintiles (July) were 31 days in the republican calendar. January, Sntyabr and November received two additional days. April, June, Sextilis (August) and December received one additional day.
There are two hypotheses about the length of the months:
1. From 45 BC was the same as now. The length of February was preserved for religious reasons, since celebrations dedicated to the gods of the underworld were associated with it.
2. Julius Caesar made all the odd months 31 days long and all the even ones 30 days (with February at 29 days in a non-leap year). When in 8 BC " Sextilis"became" Augustus"in honor of the emperor Augustus, Augustus wanted his month to be 31 days long, as well as the month of Julius Caesar, so he removed the day from February and shifted the length of the remaining months so that August received 31 days.
Some sources claim that the second version appeared only in the 14th century.
The beginning of the new yearThe appointment of the new consul was originally at the beginning of the year - in March. From 222 BC the new consul took office on March 15, but in 153 BC this date was moved to the January calendars. And during the reform, Julius Caesar on January 1 was in March of the pre-reform calendar. So January became the first month of the year, it was fixed in the Julian calendar.
Days of the weekIt should be noted that there were no weeks in the original calendar. Days were designated or dies fastior dies nefasti, formerly the working days and days by which the courts were opened. Were also dies festi and dies feriae (days for religious holidays and holy days).
Emperor Constantine I officially introduced the seven-day week in the 4th century A.D. and destroyed the old order in connection with the transition to Christianity.
The eternal lunar-solar church the calendarThe next step in the history of the calendar was associated with the advent of Christianity. The Christian calendar was designed to identify the main Christian events - Christmas and Easter. The facts on the basis of which the dates are calculated are given in the following sections.
Christmas and EasterIn the Christian world, Christmas- the celebration of the birth of Jesus, Easter is a celebration of his resurrection. The exact dates of these events are unknown. There are only indirect indications in the New Testament on which certain assumptions can be made. As for Easter, there are precise astronomical directions for determining the date. Due to the need for accurate astronomical calculations, astronomy has acquired great importance and eventually led to the construction of a modern calendar.
Bible dataThe starting points are New Testament data. The most significant of them are given below. The rest are more indirect.
The following is said about the time of the birth of Jesus Christ:
"When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of King Herod, the magi came to Jerusalem from the east and say:" Where is the king of the Jews born of Judea? For we saw His star in the east and came to worship Him. " (Matthew 2: 1-2);
"In those days, Caesar Augustus issued a command to make a census throughout the earth. This census was the first in the reign of Quirinius to Syria. And they all went to record, each to his own city. Joseph also went from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city. David, called Bethlehem, because he was from the house and family of David "(Luke 2: 1-4).
The age of Christ in the Gospels says: "Jesus, beginning his ministry, was thirty years old" (Luke 3:23). Christ began to preach "In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate ruled in Judea" (Luke 3: 1); what he preached "for three years and that he was arrested during the Passover (Passover is the holiday of the exodus of the Jews from Egypt). Her celebration begins on the 14th to the 15th day of the spring month of Nisan, after the Easter full moon (the full moon that came after the spring equinox or directly on this day.) After the trial administered by Pontius Pilate, Christ was executed on Friday, "having risen early on the first day of the week" (Mark 16: 9).
Historical facts1. The only census, though not of the population, but of property under the emperor Augustus, was carried out in 7 AD (Augustus was the emperor of the Roman Empire from 27 BC to 14 AD) Nazareth appeared only in the end of the 1st beginning of the 2nd century AD Quirinius became the ruler of Syria in 7 g.
2. King of Judea, Herod the Great, was born in 73 BC, died in 4 BC e.
3. Pontius Pilate was the procurator of Judea from 26 to 36 years.
4. The fifteenth year of the reign of the emperor Tiberius was in the year 29 (Tiberius was the Roman emperor in 14 - 37 years.)
It can be seen from this that it is impossible to establish the exact date of birth from the biblical instructions. The date of the census of property was 10 years later than Herod's death, and the Bible indicates the simultaneity of these two events with the birth.
It should be noted that many facts from the Bible contradict the way of life of Judea at that time and historical facts. This suggests that the authors of the gospels were not themselves participants in the events. For example: “And the sun was darkened, and the curtain in the temple was torn in the middle” (Luke 23:45). Three hundred years before the birth of Jesus, the veil already consisted of two parts as a symbol of the Second Temple, all the more there are no references to eclipses.
However, taking into account the totality of the data, we can talk about the sufficient validity of the choice of the year of Jesus' birth. Such calculations were first made by Dionysius the Younger in the 7th century; unfortunately, his calculations were not preserved.
Star of Bethlehem and Astronomical FactsIn 1604, Kepler observed the convergence of Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. On September 26, Mars merged with Saturn, and on October 9 with Jupiter.
On October 10, Kepler discovered between Jupiter and Saturn, when they were 9 degrees apart, a new star with the brightness of Jupiter. Kepler carefully watched her until she was hidden by the sunshine the following year, Kepler later described her in the book De Stella Nova in Pede Serpentarti. In 1614, Kepler published his findings - the same triple conjunction in 7 A.D. coincided with the appearance of a new (or supernova) star in 7-6 years. BC, which could be the Bethlehem star of the Magi. Such an event is unlikely to go unnoticed by astronomers and astrologers of the time. Since ancient times, Jupiter has been called the “star of kings,” and Saturn was considered the “Jewish star,” so the appearance of the star during the conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn could be interpreted by astrologers as a sign of the future birth of the King of Judea. Moreover, according to the traditions of the east, such a union of Jupiter and Saturn preceded the birth of Moses, since ancient times revered not only by Jews. The conjunctions of Jupiter and Saturn occur once in about twenty years, and indeed, in 7 BC Jupiter and Saturn were connected three times in the sign of Pisces, and since it was the image of the fish (and the Greek spelling of the word) that was the secret symbol of the early Christians, Johannes Kepler's assumption was supported by many researchers.
In 1977, English astronomers D. Clark, J. Parkinson, and F. Stephenson analyzed Chinese and Korean astronomical chronicles from 10 BC. until 13 A.D. and identified the Star of Bethlehem with the outbreak of a bright new star observed during 70 days in the spring of 5 BC, and they were able to fairly accurately establish its celestial coordinates. In 5 BC this star of Bethlehem was in the constellation Aries. Compound is 7 BC was no closer than the diameter of the moon.
The history of the European calendar in the early Christian period and the Middle AgesThe eternal lunar-solar church calendar comes more from the Egyptian calendar, and not from the Julian calendar, as is commonly believed.
According to Egyptian tradition, Alexandrian Christians reckoned over the years of the reign of emperors. The 1st Thoth of the 1st year of the Diocletian era (284-305) of the Egyptian calendar was the first day of not only the sun, but also the first day of the first year of the 19-year lunar cycle. This is probably why the era of the emperor Diocletian, despite the fact that Diocletian brutally persecuted Christians, has become a constant era and the Alexandrian Christians. True, they, remembering the attitude of Diocletian towards Christians, called this era the "era of martyrs." Coptic Christians in Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan still keep their chronology and their calendar, known as the "calendar of martyrs."
The celebration of Christian Easter at the same time was not immediately established throughout the Christian world. Asia Minor Christians celebrated their Easter with the Jews of Nisan 15, regardless of what day of the week this date was. Other churches, including the most influential ones - the Roman and the Alexandrian, believed that Christian Easter should be celebrated only on Sunday. But on what exactly Sunday - they could not agree on this for a long time. The Church of Alexandria celebrated Easter from March 22 to April 25, and the Roman Church from March 20 to April 21, the discrepancy lasted up to several weeks (probably due to the fact that the new moon in Rome occurs a week earlier). Constantine I the Great (the Roman emperor who adopted Christianity as the state religion) in 325 in Nicaea (now Izvik in the north-west of Turkey) assembled the first Ecumenical Council. Among the questions was the resolution of disagreements over the celebration of Easter. The decision made on it obliged all Christians to celebrate Easter only on Sunday and according to the rules of the Alexandrian church (although it is not known how the documents were preserved), the date of the celebration of Easter in the first years after the cathedral was set by the Patriarch of Alexandria.
According to these rules, Easter should be celebrated on the first Sunday after the Easter full moon. The official day of the vernal equinox was taken on March 21, since this date was the day of the vernal equinox in the year of the Council of Nicaea.
As noted in various sources, the Council of Nicaea did not resolve the differences between the churches. The very next year after the Council of Nicaea, i.e. in 326, as well as in 330, 333, 340, 341, 343, the Romans did not celebrate Easter on the same day as the Alexandrians.
The first calculations of the days of the celebration of Easter in accordance with the decisions of the Council of Nicaea was made by the Patriarch of Alexandria Theophilus. According to his canon, which began in 380 and was scheduled for 100 years, the years were not attributed to any era, but were designated by serial numbers.
Even before the end of this canon, the new canon was compiled by Theophilus' successor on the patriarchal throne, Cyril of Alexandria.
This canon was painted according to the years of the era of the emperor Diocletian. The distribution of 235 real lunar months lasting 29 and 30 days in 19 real solar years according to the Julian calendar was made by Sozigen, the creator of the Julian calendar. Based on this distribution, Cyril of Alexandria compiled the Eternal Lunar-Solar Church Calendar, the beginning of which was 1 tot 1 year of the era of Diocletian (August 29, 284 AD), and, considering the Meton cycle is absolutely accurate, he wrote a 95-year-old Easter canon at 153- 247 years era of Diocletian (437 - 531 years of our era).
The Roman church continued to use the 84-year cycle, which was less accurate than the Alexandrian one, and did not always give the correct Easter date. This fact is confirmed by the Easter table of the Roman Church.
In addition, the Romans assumed that the equinox occurs on March 18, while the Alexandrians believed that it occurs on March 21 (due to the difference in latitude). Finally, the Romans did not celebrate Easter the next day if the full moon was on Saturday.
The problem was finally solved only in the 6th century, when the Roman Church needed to draw up Easter tables for the new period. Around 525 AD monk Dionysius the Small ( Dionysius exiguus, Scythian by birth) was invited by Pope John I to prepare calculations of the date of Easter. Dionysius the Small continued the canon of Cyril of Alexandria, i.e. used the 19-year-old Alexandrian lunar cycle of Meton for his Passover instead of the 8-year-old lunar cycle previously used by the western church. Therefore, from that time until 1582 (the year the Gregorian calendar was introduced), the western and eastern churches celebrated Easter at the same time. In fact, Dionysius the Small created the calendar, which is still used in Orthodoxy. "The Easter tables and the rules of Dionysius were never sanctioned by either the pope or the cathedral, but were established simply as the most rational solution to the complex and then worrying minds question."
Note that historically, some countries used the astronomical full moon instead of the official (March 21) to calculate Easter. This was, for example, in the German Protestant states in 1700 - 1776, in Sweden in 1740 - 1844 and in Denmark in the 17th century.
Creation YearsAlready in the first centuries of the emergence of Christianity, attempts were made to throw a chronological bridge between modernity and the sacred events described in the Bible. As a result of the calculations, about 200 different variants of the era “from the creation of the world”, or “from Adam” arose, in which the period of time from the creation of the world to the Nativity of Christ ranged from 3483 to 6984 years. Three so-called world eras became most widespread: the Alexandrian era (starting point - 5501, actually 5493 BC), Antioch (5969 BC) and later Byzantine.
In the VI century, the Byzantine era began to use the world era with the beginning of March 1, 5508 BC. The account of days in it was conducted from Adam, which, based on biblical premises, was created on Friday March 1, 1 year of this era. Based on the fact that this happened in the middle of the sixth day of creation, it was assumed by analogy that Jesus was born in the middle of the sixth millennium, for “the Lord has one day, like a thousand years, and a thousand years, like one day” (2 Peter. 3, 8). It was the Byzantine calendar that was adopted in Russia and was used until the reform of Peter I.
The chronology of the birth of ChristFor his Easter, Dionysius the Small chose an era from the year of the birth of Jesus, instead of the Egyptian calendar he used the Julian one. Apparently, for the Romans, the use of the era of Diocletian was unconventional, calculations on the era from the foundation of Rome were less convenient. In addition, Diocletian was a persecutor of Christians.
Dionysius established the year of the birth of Jesus 753 from the foundation of Rome. On the basis of what Dionysius chose this date is unknown. There are many hypotheses about this.
The English chronologist Beda (Bede 673 - 735) checked the calculations of Dionysius as early as the 8th century. He suggested dating the years before 754 AUC, using the term " Before christ"(before the birth of Christ). The trouble of 1st AD was directly after 1 BC without a zero year, since the Roman calculus used at that time in Europe did not have the concept of zero.
The trouble was one of the first to draw attention to the problem of the inconsistency of the calendar and astronomical spring equinoxes, which in his time was already 3 days.
It is curious that the method of counting the years since the birth of Jesus (official), proposed only from the 6th century, gives year numbers that are multiples of 4, coinciding with the Julian leap years. Perhaps this was a well-considered step by Dionysius the Small.
ChristmasThe exact date is also unknown and controversial. The Catholic world and the Orthodox Church celebrate December 25, although according to different calendars (according to the Gregorian calendar, Orthodox Christmas falls on January 7).
The decision to celebrate the birth of Jesus on December 25 was made in 431 at the Council of Ephesus in order to supplant the celebration of the pagan sun god Mitra, celebrated on the same day (TSB. 3rd ed. M., 1975, v. 22, p. 171). The number and month of Christ's birth was called by the church almost a hundred years earlier than the year of birth.
Disadvantages of the Julian calendarThe Julian calendar gives an error of 1 day in 128 years. Therefore, every 128 years the date of the equinox shifts a day ago according to the calendar.
In addition, due to the inaccuracy of the methone cycle used in the perpetual solar-lunar calendar, the actual phases of the moon with respect to the calendar lagged 0.06135 days \u003d 1 h 28 min 20 s (i.e. per day every 310 years).
The second factor concerns the calculation of the date of Easter. It was the need for Easter calculation that led to the creation of a more accurate Gregorian calendar.
Quite often, Easter was celebrated not on the first, but on the second Sunday after the true (astronomical) full moon. According to P. Popov, “over the course of centuries, a significant difference has been accumulated and hitherto accumulated since the time of the Council of Nicaea between the numbers calculated in church Easter and the actual phases of the moon, namely from 4 to 5 days. That’s why what happens, for example, is often in 1894, namely: according to the church account, the Easter full moon this year fell on April 12 and Easter was celebrated on April 17; and the actual full moon was April 8, Friday, according to which Easter would have been celebrated on April 10, that is, seven weeks earlier than she celebrate really was with us. "
Orthodox calendarOrthodoxy uses the calendar of Dionysius the Small, as consistent with the decisions of the Council of Nicaea. Despite the insufficient accuracy of the Julian calendar, the Orthodox Church has certain views on this problem. For example, the Easter holiday, if calculated according to the Gregorian calendar, can sometimes coincide with the Passover, - a thing according to Christian canons is unacceptable. The main argument is based on the fact that it is impossible to fully coordinate the periods of the moon and the sun - the Easter full moon will always go forward in relation to the equinox. The desire for mathematical accuracy yields nothing from the point of view of the celebration of Easter and other Christian holidays - it is not the exact dates that are important here, but the very sequence of the biblical events. The transition to gregorian style breaks ties with the early Christian tradition and belittles the authority of the cathedral church.