The year of the Julian calendar. How are the Julian and Gregorian calendars different? History of chronology in Russia

The Gregorian calendar was introduced Pope Gregory XIII in Catholic countries October 4, 1582 instead of the old Julian: the next day after Thursday, October 4, was Friday, October 15.

Reasons for switching to the Gregorian calendar

The reason for the adoption of the new calendar was a gradual shift in the Julian calendar of the day spring equinox, according to which the date of Easter was determined, and the mismatch of the Easter full moons with astronomical ones. Error julian calendar at 11 min. 14 sec. in the year neglected by Sosigen, to XVI century led to the fact that the spring equinox fell not on March 21, but on the 11th. The shift led to the correspondence of the same days of the year to other natural phenomena. Julian year in 365 days, 5 hours, 49 minutes and 46 seconds, as later scientists found out, was longer than the present solar year for 11 minutes 14 seconds. "Extra" days ran for 128 years. So, for a millennium and a half, humanity lagged behind the real astronomical time by as much as ten days! Reform of Pope Gregory XII I was intended to eliminate this error.

Before Gregory XIII, Popes Paul III and Pius IV tried to implement the project, but they did not achieve success. The preparation of the reform at the direction of Gregory XIII was carried out by the astronomers Christopher Clavius and Aloysius Lily.

The Gregorian calendar is much more accurate than the Julian calendar: it gives a much better approximation to the tropical year.

The new calendar immediately at the time of adoption shifted the current date by 10 days and corrected the accumulated errors.

In the new calendar, a new, more precise rule about a leap year began to operate. A leap year has 366 days if:

year number is a multiple of 400 (1600, 2000, 2400);
other years - the number of the year is a multiple of 4 and not a multiple of 100 (… 1892, 1896, 1904, 1908…).

The rules for calculating Christian Easter have been modified. Currently, the date of Christian Easter in each specific year is calculated according to the lunar solar calendar which makes Easter a movable holiday.

Switching to the Gregorian calendar

Go to new calendar carried out gradually, mostly European countries this happened during the 16th and 17th centuries. And not everywhere this transition went smoothly. Spain, Italy, Portugal, the Commonwealth (Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Poland), France, Lorraine were the first to switch to the Gregorian calendar. In 1583, Gregory XIII sent an embassy to Patriarch Jeremiah II of Constantinople with a proposal to switch to a new calendar, the proposal was rejected as not in accordance with the canonical rules for celebrating Easter. In some countries that switched to the Gregorian calendar, the Julian chronology was subsequently resumed as a result of their accession to other states. In connection with the transition of countries to the Gregorian calendar at different times, factual errors of perception may occur: for example, it is known that Miguel de Cervantes and William Shakespeare died on April 23, 1616. In fact, these events took place with a difference of 10 days, since in Catholic Spain new style acted from the very introduction of it by the pope, and Great Britain switched to the new calendar only in 1752. There were cases when the transition to the Gregorian calendar was accompanied by serious unrest.

In Russia, the Gregorian calendar was introduced in 1918: in 1918, January 31 was followed by February 14. That is, in a number of countries, as in Russia, in 1900 there was a day on February 29, while in most countries it was not. In 1948, at the Moscow Conference of Orthodox Churches, it was decided that Easter, like all movable holidays, should be calculated according to the Alexandrian Paschalia (Julian calendar), and non-transitional ones according to the calendar according to which the Local Church lives. The Finnish Orthodox Church celebrates Easter according to the Gregorian calendar.

At times ancient rome It was accepted that debtors pay interest on the first days of the month. This day had a special name - the day of calends, and the Latin calendarium literally translates as "debt book". But the Greeks did not have such a date, so the Romans ironically said about inveterate debtors that they would return the loan before the Greek calends, that is, never. This expression subsequently became winged around the world. In our time, the Gregorian calendar is almost universally used to calculate large periods of time. What are its features and what is its construction principle - this is exactly what will be discussed in our article.

How did the Gregorian calendar come about?

As you know, the basis for the modern chronology is tropical year. So astronomers call the time interval between the spring equinoxes. It is equal to 365.2422196 mean earth solar days. Before the modern Gregorian calendar appeared, the Julian calendar, which was invented in the 45th century BC, was in use all over the world. In the old system, proposed by Julius Caesar, one year in the range of 4 years averaged 365.25 days. This value is 11 minutes and 14 seconds longer than the tropical year. Therefore, over time, the error of the Julian calendar constantly accumulated. Of particular displeasure was the constant shift in the day of the celebration of Easter, which was tied to the spring equinox. Later, during the Council of Nicaea (325), a special decree was even adopted, which determined a single date for Easter for all Christians. Many suggestions have been made to improve the calendar. But only the recommendations of the astronomer Aloysius Lily (Neapolitan astronomer) and Christopher Clavius (Bavarian Jesuit) were given " green light". It happened on February 24, 1582: the Pope, Gregory XIII, issued a special message, which introduced two significant additions to the Julian calendar. In order for March 21 to remain in the calendar as the date of the vernal equinox, from 1582, starting from October 4, 10 days were withdrawn immediately and followed by the 15th. The second addition concerned the introduction of a leap year - it came every three years and differed from regular topics, which was divided by 400. Thus, the new improved chronology system began its countdown from 1582, it received its name in honor of the pope, and among the people they began to call it the new style.

Switching to the Gregorian calendar

It should be noted that not all countries immediately adopted such innovations. First on new system Spain, Poland, Italy, Portugal, Holland, France and Luxembourg (1582) passed the counting time. A little later they were joined by Switzerland, Austria and Hungary. In Denmark, Norway and Germany, the Gregorian calendar was introduced in the 17th century, in Finland, Sweden, Great Britain and the Northern Netherlands in the 18th century, in Japan in the 19th century. And at the beginning of the 20th century, Bulgaria, China, Romania, Serbia, Egypt, Greece and Turkey joined them. The Gregorian calendar came into force in Russia a year later, after the 1917 revolution. However, the Orthodox Russian Church decided to preserve the traditions and still lives according to the old style.

prospects

Despite the fact that the Gregorian calendar is very accurate, it is still not perfect and accumulates an error of 3 days in ten thousand years. In addition, it does not take into account the slowdown in the rotation of our planet, which leads to a lengthening of the day by 0.6 seconds every century. The variability of the number of weeks and days in half-years, quarters and months is another drawback. Today, new projects exist and are being developed. The first discussions regarding the new calendar took place as early as 1954 at the UN level. However, at that time they could not come to a decision and this question was postponed.

Why doesn't the Orthodox Church switch to the Gregorian calendar? Many are sincerely convinced that there are two Christmases - Catholic on December 25 and Orthodox on January 7. Wouldn't the transition to the Gregorian calendar save a person from having to make an extra choice between truth and slyness? My friend's mother is a sincere believer and all the years that I have known her, for her New Year This is the contradiction between fasting and a universal holiday. We live in secular state with its own rules and regulations, which last years took many steps towards the Church. Let these steps correct past mistakes, but if you go towards each other, you can meet much faster than waiting for a meeting and not moving yourself.

Hieromonk Job (Gumerov) answers:

The calendar problem is incommensurably more serious than the question of which table we will sit at once a year in new year's eve: for fast or lean. The calendar concerns the sacred times of the people, their holidays. The calendar determines the order and rhythm of religious life. Therefore, the question of calendar changes seriously affects the spiritual foundations of society.

The world exists in time. God the Creator established a certain periodicity in the movement of the luminaries so that a person could measure and organize time. And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of heaven to separate the day from the night, and for signs, and times, and days, and years.(Gen. 1:14). Long time counting systems based on apparent motions celestial bodies, it is customary to call calendars (from calendae - the first day of each month among the Romans). Cyclic movement such astronomical bodies as the Earth, the Sun and the Moon is of major importance for the construction of calendars. The need to organize time appears already at dawn human history. Without this, the social and economic-practical life of any people is inconceivable. However, not only these reasons made the calendar necessary. Impossible without a calendar religious life not a single people. In outlook ancient man the calendar was a visible and impressive expression of the triumph of Divine order over chaos. The majestic constancy in the movement of the heavenly bodies, the mysterious and irreversible movement of time suggested the rational structure of the world.

By the time of the birth of Christian statehood, humanity already had a fairly diverse calendar experience. There were calendars: Hebrew, Chaldean, Egyptian, Chinese, Hindu and others. However, according to Divine Providence, the calendar Christian era became the Julian calendar, developed in 46 and came from January 1, 45 BC. to replace the imperfect lunar Roman calendar. It was developed by the Alexandrian astronomer Sosigen on behalf of Julius Caesar, who then combined the power of a dictator and consul with the title of pontifex maximus (high priest). Therefore, the calendar began to be called Julian. The period of complete revolution of the Earth around the Sun was taken as the astronomical year, and the calendar year was determined to be 365 days long. There was a difference with the astronomical year, which was slightly longer - 365.2425 days (5 hours 48 minutes 47 seconds). To eliminate this discrepancy, a leap year (annus bissextilis) was introduced: every four years, one day was added in February. In the new calendar, there was a place for its outstanding initiator: the Roman month of Quintilius was renamed July (on behalf of Julius).

The fathers of the 1st Ecumenical Council, held in Nicaea in 325, decided to celebrate Easter on the first Sunday after the full moon, which falls on the period after the vernal equinox. At that time, according to the Julian calendar, the spring equinox fell on March 21. The Holy Fathers of the Council, based on the gospel sequence of events connected with the death of the Cross and the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, took care that the New Testament Pascha, while maintaining its historical connection with the Old Testament Pascha (which is always celebrated on Nisan 14), would be independent of it and always celebrated later. If there is a match, then the rules prescribe to move to the full moon of the next month. This was so significant for the fathers of the Council that they agreed to ensure that this main Christian holiday was mobile. At the same time, the solar calendar was combined with the lunar calendar: the movement of the moon with a change in its phases was introduced into the Julian calendar, strictly oriented to the Sun. To calculate the phases of the moon, the so-called cycles of the moon were used, that is, the periods after which the phases of the moon returned approximately to the same days of the Julian year. There are several cycles. The Roman Church used the 84-year cycle until almost the 6th century. Since the 3rd century, the Alexandrian church has used the most accurate 19-year cycle, discovered by the Athenian mathematician of the 5th century BC. Meton. In the 6th century, the Roman Church adopted the Alexandrian Paschalia. It was fundamental important event. All Christians began to celebrate Easter on the same day. This unity continued until the 16th century, when the unity of Western and Eastern Christians in the celebration of Holy Pascha and other holidays was broken. The calendar was reformed by Pope Gregory XIII. Its preparation was entrusted to a commission headed by the Jesuit Chrysophus Claudius. Luigi Lilio (1520-1576), a teacher at the University of Perugia, developed a new calendar. Only astronomical considerations were taken into account, not religious ones. Since the day of the vernal equinox, which during the Council of Nicaea was March 21, shifted by ten days (by the second half of the 16th century, according to the Julian calendar, the moment of the equinox came on March 11), the numbers of the month shifted 10 days forward: immediately after the 4th the number should have been not the 5th, as usual, but October 15th, 1582. Duration Gregorian year became equal to 365.24250 days of a tropical year, i.e. more by 26 seconds (0.00030 days).

Although the calendar year as a result of the reform has become closer to the tropical year, however, the Gregorian calendar has a number of significant shortcomings. It is more difficult to keep track of long periods in the Gregorian calendar than in the Julian. Duration calendar months different and ranges from 28 to 31 days. Months of different lengths alternate randomly. The duration of quarters is different (from 90 to 92 days). The first half of the year is always shorter than the second (by three days in simple year and two days on a leap year). The days of the week do not coincide with any fixed dates. Therefore, not only years, but also months begin on different days of the week. Most months have "split weeks". All this creates considerable difficulties for the work of planning and financial bodies (they complicate the calculation of wages, make it difficult to compare the results of work for different months, etc.). Could not keep the Gregorian calendar for the 21st of March and the day of the spring equinox. The offset of the equinox, discovered in the II century. BC Greek scientist Hipparchus, in astronomy is called precession. It is caused by the fact that the Earth has the shape not of a ball, but of a spheroid, oblate at the poles. Attractive forces from the Sun and the Moon act differently on different parts of the spheroidal Earth. As a result, with the simultaneous rotation of the Earth and its movement around the Sun, the axis of rotation of the Earth describes a cone near the perpendicular to the plane of the orbit. Due to precession, the vernal equinox moves along the ecliptic to the west, i.e., towards the apparent movement of the Sun.

The imperfections of the Gregorian calendar caused discontent as early as the 19th century. Even then, proposals began to be put forward for a new calendar reform. Professor of Dorpat (now Tartu) University I.G. Medler (1794-1874) suggested in 1864 that instead of the Gregorian style, a more accurate account be used, with thirty-one leap years every 128 years. The American astronomer, founder and first president of the American Astronomical Society, Simon Newcomb (1835-1909), advocated a return to the Julian calendar. Thanks to the proposal of the Russian Astronomical Society in 1899, a special Commission was formed under it on the issue of the reform of the calendar in Russia. This Commission met from May 3, 1899 to February 21, 1900. Prominent church researcher Professor VV Bolotov took part in the work. He resolutely advocated the preservation of the Julian calendar: “If it is believed that Russia should abandon the Julian style, then the reform of the calendar, without sinning against logic, should be expressed as follows:

a) uneven months should be replaced by uniform ones;

b) by the measure of a solar tropical year, it should reduce all years of the conventional accepted chronology;

c) Medler's amendment should be preferred to the Gregorian one, as more accurate.

But I myself find the abolition of the Julian style in Russia by no means undesirable. I still remain a determined admirer of the Julian calendar. Its extreme simplicity is its scientific advantage over all corrected calendars. I think that the cultural mission of Russia on this issue is to keep the Julian calendar alive for a few more centuries and through that make it easier for Western nations a return from the unnecessary Gregorian reform to the unspoiled old style. In 1923 the Church of Constantinople introduced New Julian calendar. The calendar was developed by the Yugoslav astronomer, professor of mathematics and celestial mechanics at the University of Belgrade, Milutin Milanković (1879 - 1956). This calendar, which is based on a 900-year cycle, will coincide completely with the Gregorian for the next 800 years (until 2800). The 11 Local Orthodox Churches that switched to the New Julian calendar retained the Alexandrian Paschalia based on the Julian calendar, and non-transferable feasts began to be celebrated on Gregorian dates.

First of all, the transition to the Gregorian calendar (which is what the letter is talking about) means the destruction of that paschal, which is a great achievement of the holy fathers of the 4th century. Our domestic scientist-astronomer Professor E.A. Predtechensky wrote: “This collective work, in all likelihood by many unknown authors, was made in such a way that it still remains unsurpassed. The later Roman Paschalia, now adopted by the Western Church, is, in comparison with the Alexandrian, so heavy and clumsy that it resembles a popular print next to artistic image the same subject. For all that, this terribly complex and clumsy machine still does not achieve its intended goal. (Predtechensky E. “Church time: reckoning and critical review existing rules for determining Easter. St. Petersburg, 1892, p. 3-4).

The transition to the Gregorian calendar will also lead to serious canonical violations, because Apostolic Canons it is not allowed to celebrate Holy Pascha before the Jewish Passover and on the same day with the Jews: If anyone, a bishop, or a presbyter, or a deacon, celebrates the holy day of Pascha before the spring equinox with the Jews: let him be deposed from the sacred order(rule 7). The Gregorian calendar leads Catholics to break this rule. They celebrated Passover before the Jews in 1864, 1872, 1883, 1891, together with the Jews in 1805, 1825, 1903, 1927 and 1981. Since the transition to the Gregorian calendar would add 13 days, Petrovsky's fast would be reduced by the same number of days, since it ends annually on the same day - June 29 / July 12. In some years, the Petrovsky post would simply disappear. It's about about those years when there is a late Easter. It is also necessary to think about the fact that the Lord God performs His Sign at the Holy Sepulcher (descent of the Holy Fire) on Holy Saturday according to the Julian calendar.

In Europe, starting in 1582, the reformed (Gregorian) calendar gradually spread. The Gregorian calendar gives a much more accurate approximation of the tropical year. For the first time, the Gregorian calendar was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII in Catholic countries on October 4, 1582 to replace the previous one: the next day after Thursday, October 4, was Friday, October 15.
The Gregorian calendar ("new style") is a system of time calculation based on the cyclic revolution of the Earth around the Sun. The duration of the year is taken equal to 365.2425 days. The Gregorian calendar contains 97 by 400 years.

The difference between the Julian and Gregorian calendars

At the time of the introduction of the Gregorian calendar, the difference between it and the Julian calendar was 10 days. However, this difference between the Julian and Gregorian calendars gradually increases over time due to the difference in the rules for determining leap years. Therefore, when determining which date of the “new calendar” falls on this or that date of the “old calendar”, it is necessary to take into account the century in which the event took place. For example, if in the XIV century this difference was 8 days, then in the XX century it was already 13 days.

From here follows the distribution of leap years:

a year whose number is a multiple of 400 is a leap year;
the remaining years, the number of which is a multiple of 100, are non-leap years;
the rest of the years, the number of which is a multiple of 4, are leap years.

Thus, 1600 and 2000 were leap years, but 1700, 1800 and 1900 were not leap years. Nor will 2100 be a leap year. An error of one day compared to the year of the equinoxes in the Gregorian calendar will accumulate in about 10 thousand years (in the Julian - in about 128 years).

Time of approval of the Gregorian calendar

The Gregorian calendar, adopted in most countries of the world, was not immediately put into use:
1582 - Italy, Spain, Portugal, Poland, France, Lorraine, Holland, Luxembourg;
1583 - Austria (part), Bavaria, Tyrol.
1584 - Austria (part), Switzerland, Silesia, Westphalia.
1587 - Hungary.
1610 - Prussia.
1700 - Protestant German states, Denmark.
1752 - Great Britain.
1753 - Sweden, Finland.
1873 - Japan.
1911 - China.
1916 - Bulgaria.
1918 - Soviet Russia.
1919 - Serbia, Romania.
1927 - Turkey.
1928 - Egypt.
1929 - Greece.

Gregorian calendar in Russia

As you know, until February 1918, Russia, like most Orthodox countries, lived according to the Julian calendar. The "new style" of chronology appeared in Russia from January 1918, when the Soviet People's Commissars replaced the traditional Julian calendar with the Gregorian. As stated in the Decree of the Council of People's Commissars, this decision was made "in order to establish in Russia the same time calculation with almost all cultural peoples." In accordance with the decree, the terms of all obligations were considered to have come 13 days later. Until July 1, 1918, a kind of transitional period was established, when it was allowed to use the old style chronology. But at the same time, the order of writing old and new dates was clearly established in the document: it was necessary to write “after the number of each day according to the new calendar, in brackets the number according to the calendar that was still in force.”

Events and documents are dated with a double date in cases where it is required to specify the old and new styles. For example, for anniversaries, major events in all biographical works, and dates of events and historical documents international relations associated with countries where the Gregorian calendar was introduced earlier than in Russia.

Date according to the new style (Gregorian calendar)

- a number system for long periods of time, based on periodicity visible movements celestial bodies.

The most common solar calendar is based on the solar (tropical) year - the time interval between two successive passages of the center of the Sun through the vernal equinox.

A tropical year is approximately 365.2422 mean solar days.

The solar calendar includes the Julian calendar, the Gregorian calendar, and some others.

The modern calendar is called the Gregorian (new style) and was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582 and replaced the Julian calendar (old style) that had been in use since the 45th century BC.

The Gregorian calendar is a further refinement of the Julian calendar.

In the Julian calendar, proposed by Julius Caesar, the average length of the year in the interval of four years was 365.25 days, which is 11 minutes 14 seconds longer than the tropical year. Over time, the onset of seasonal phenomena according to the Julian calendar fell on ever earlier dates. Particularly strong discontent was caused by the constant shift in the date of Easter, associated with the spring equinox. In 325, the Council of Nicaea issued a decree on a single date for Easter for all christian church.

In the following centuries, many proposals were made to improve the calendar. The proposals of the Neapolitan astronomer and physician Aloysius Lilius (Luigi Lilio Giraldi) and the Bavarian Jesuit Christopher Clavius were approved by Pope Gregory XIII. On February 24, 1582, he issued a bull (message) introducing two important additions to the Julian calendar: 10 days were removed from the 1582 calendar - after October 4, October 15 immediately followed. This measure made it possible to keep March 21 as the date of the vernal equinox. In addition, three out of every four century years were to be considered ordinary and only those divisible by 400 were leap years.

1582 was the first year of the Gregorian calendar, called the new style.

Gregorian calendar in different countries was introduced at different times. Italy, Spain, Portugal, Poland, France, Holland and Luxembourg were the first to adopt the new style in 1582. Then in the 1580s it was introduced in Austria, Switzerland, Hungary. In the XVIII century, the Gregorian calendar began to be used in Germany, Norway, Denmark, Great Britain, Sweden and Finland, in the XIX century - in Japan. At the beginning of the 20th century, the Gregorian calendar was introduced in China, Bulgaria, Serbia, Romania, Greece, Turkey and Egypt.

In Russia, along with the adoption of Christianity (X century), the Julian calendar was established. Since the new religion was borrowed from Byzantium, the years were counted according to the Constantinople era "from the creation of the world" (for 5508 BC). By decree of Peter I in 1700, the European chronology was introduced in Russia - "from the Nativity of Christ."

December 19, 7208 from the creation of the world, when the reformation decree was issued, in Europe corresponded to December 29, 1699 from the birth of Christ according to the Gregorian calendar.

At the same time, the Julian calendar was preserved in Russia. The Gregorian calendar was introduced after October revolution 1917 - from February 14, 1918. Russian Orthodox Church, preserving traditions, lives according to the Julian calendar.

The difference between the old and new styles is 11 days for the 18th century, 12 days for the 19th century, 13 days for the 20th and 21st centuries, 14 days for the 22nd century.

Although the Gregorian calendar is quite consistent with natural phenomena, it is also not completely accurate. The length of the year in the Gregorian calendar is 26 seconds longer than the tropical year and accumulates an error of 0.0003 days per year, which is three days in 10 thousand years. The Gregorian calendar also does not take into account the slowing of the Earth's rotation, which lengthens the day by 0.6 seconds per 100 years.

The modern structure of the Gregorian calendar also does not quite meet the needs public life. Chief among its shortcomings is the variability of the number of days and weeks in months, quarters and half-years.

There are four main problems with the Gregorian calendar:

- Theoretically, the civil (calendar) year should have the same duration as the astronomical (tropical) year. However, this is impossible because the tropical year does not contain an integer number of days. Because of the need to add extra days to the year from time to time, there are two types of years - ordinary and leap years. Since a year can start on any day of the week, this gives seven types of common years and seven types of leap years, for a total of 14 types of years. For their full reproduction, you need to wait 28 years.

— The length of the months is different: they can contain from 28 to 31 days, and this unevenness leads to certain difficulties in economic calculations and statistics.|

- neither normal nor leap years do not contain an integer number of weeks. Half-years, quarters and months also do not contain a whole and equal number of weeks.

- From week to week, from month to month and from year to year, the correspondence of dates and days of the week changes, so it is difficult to establish the moments of various events.

In 1954 and 1956, the drafts of the new calendar were discussed at the sessions of the Economic and Social Council UN (ECOSOC), however final decision question was postponed.

In Russia State Duma was proposing to return to the country from January 1, 2008 the Julian calendar. Deputies Victor Alksnis, Sergey Baburin, Irina Savelyeva and Alexander Fomenko proposed to establish a transitional period from December 31, 2007, when the chronology will be carried out simultaneously according to the Julian and Gregorian calendars for 13 days. In April 2008, the bill was voted down by a majority vote.

The material was prepared on the basis of information from RIA Novosti and open sources