When did the Julian calendar appear? The difference between the Julian and Gregorian calendars or why Christmas has two dates

JULIAN AND GRIGORIAN CALENDARS

Calendar- the table of days, numbers, months, seasons, years familiar to all of us - the oldest invention of mankind. It records the periodicity of natural phenomena based on the pattern of movement of celestial bodies: the Sun, Moon, stars. The Earth rushes along its solar orbit, counting down the years and centuries. It makes one revolution around its axis per day, and around the Sun per year. The astronomical, or solar, year lasts 365 days 5 hours 48 minutes 46 seconds. Therefore, there is no whole number of days, which is where the difficulty arises in drawing up a calendar, which must keep the correct time count. Since the time of Adam and Eve, people have used the "cycle" of the Sun and Moon to keep time. The lunar calendar used by the Romans and Greeks was simple and convenient. From one rebirth of the Moon to the next, about 30 days pass, or more precisely, 29 days 12 hours 44 minutes. Therefore, by changes in the Moon it was possible to count days, and then months.

The lunar calendar initially had 10 months, the first of which were dedicated to the Roman gods and supreme rulers. For example, the month of March was named after the god Mars (Martius), the month of May is dedicated to the goddess Maia, July is named after the Roman emperor Julius Caesar, and August is named after the emperor Octavian Augustus. In the ancient world, from the 3rd century BC, according to the flesh, a calendar was used, which was based on a four-year lunar-solar cycle, which gave a discrepancy with the value of the solar year by 4 days in 4 years. In Egypt, a solar calendar was compiled based on observations of Sirius and the Sun. The year in this calendar lasted 365 days, it had 12 months of 30 days, and at the end of the year another 5 days were added in honor of the “birth of the gods.”

In 46 BC, the Roman dictator Julius Caesar introduced an accurate solar calendar based on the Egyptian model - Julian. The solar year was taken as the size of the calendar year, which was slightly larger than the astronomical one - 365 days 6 hours. January 1 was legalized as the beginning of the year.

In 26 BC. e. The Roman Emperor Augustus introduced the Alexandrian calendar, in which 1 more day was added every 4 years: instead of 365 days - 366 days a year, that is, 6 extra hours annually. Over 4 years, this amounted to a whole day, which was added every 4 years, and the year in which one day was added in February was called a leap year. Essentially this was a clarification of the same Julian calendar.

For the Orthodox Church, the calendar was the basis of the annual cycle of worship, and therefore it was very important to establish the simultaneity of holidays throughout the Church. The question of when to celebrate Easter was discussed at the First Ecumenical Council. Cathedral*, as one of the main ones. The Paschalia (rules for calculating the day of Easter) established at the Council, together with its basis - the Julian calendar - cannot be changed under pain of anathema - excommunication and rejection from the Church.

In 1582, the head of the Catholic Church, Pope Gregory XIII, introduced a new style of calendar - Gregorian. The purpose of the reform was supposedly to more accurately determine the day of Easter, so that the spring equinox would return to March 21. The Council of Eastern Patriarchs in 1583 in Constantinople condemned the Gregorian calendar as violating the entire liturgical cycle and the canons of the Ecumenical Councils. It is important to note that in some years the Gregorian calendar violates one of the basic church rules for the date of celebration of Easter - it happens that the Catholic Easter falls earlier than the Jewish one, which is not allowed by the canons of the Church; Petrov’s fast also sometimes “disappears”. At the same time, such a great learned astronomer as Copernicus (being a Catholic monk) did not consider the Gregorian calendar more accurate than the Julian calendar and did not recognize it. The new style was introduced by the authority of the Pope in place of the Julian calendar, or the old style, and was gradually adopted in Catholic countries. By the way, modern astronomers also use the Julian calendar in their calculations.

In Rus' Since the 10th century, the New Year has been celebrated on March 1, when, according to biblical legend, God created the world. 5 centuries later, in 1492, in accordance with church tradition, the beginning of the year in Russia was moved to September 1, and was celebrated this way for more than 200 years. The months had purely Slavic names, the origin of which was associated with natural phenomena. The years were counted from the creation of the world.

On December 19, 7208 (“from the creation of the world”) Peter I signed a decree on calendar reform. The calendar remained Julian, as before the reform, adopted by Russia from Byzantium along with baptism. A new beginning of the year was introduced - January 1 and the Christian chronology "from the Nativity of Christ." The tsar’s decree prescribed: “The day after December 31, 7208 from the creation of the world (the Orthodox Church considers the date of the creation of the world to be September 1, 5508 BC) should be considered January 1, 1700 from the Nativity of Christ. The decree also ordered that this event be celebrated with particular solemnity: “And as a sign of that good undertaking and the new century, in joy, congratulate each other on the New Year... Along noble and thoroughfares, at the gates and houses, make some decorations from trees and pine branches , spruce and juniper trees... to fire small cannons and rifles, fire rockets, as many as anyone can, and light fires.” The counting of years from the birth of Christ is accepted by most countries of the world. With the spread of godlessness among the intelligentsia and historians, they began to avoid mentioning the name of Christ and replace the counting of centuries from His Nativity with the so-called “our era.”

After the great October socialist revolution, the so-called new style (Gregorian) was introduced in our country on February 14, 1918.

The Gregorian calendar eliminated three leap years within each 400th anniversary. Over time, the difference between the Gregorian and Julian calendar increases. The initial value of 10 days in the 16th century subsequently increases: in the 18th century - 11 days, in the 19th century - 12 days, in the 20th and 21st centuries - 13 days, in the 22nd - 14 days.
The Russian Orthodox Church, following the Ecumenical Councils, uses the Julian calendar - unlike Catholics, who use the Gregorian.

At the same time, the introduction of the Gregorian calendar by civil authorities led to some difficulties for Orthodox Christians. The New Year, which is celebrated by the entire civil society, was moved to the Nativity Fast, when it is not appropriate to have fun. In addition, according to the church calendar, on January 1 (December 19, old style), the memory of the holy martyr Boniface is celebrated, who patronizes people who want to get rid of alcohol abuse - and our entire huge country celebrates this day with glasses in hand. Orthodox people celebrate the New Year “in the old way,” on January 14.

Since 46 BC, most countries in the world have used the Julian calendar. However, in 1582, by the decision of Pope Gregory XIII, it was replaced by Gregorian. That year, the next day after the fourth of October was not the fifth, but the fifteenth of October. Now the Gregorian calendar is officially adopted in all countries except Thailand and Ethiopia.

Reasons for adopting the Gregorian calendar

The main reason for the introduction of a new chronology system was the movement of the vernal equinox, depending on which the date of the celebration of Christian Easter was determined. Due to discrepancies between the Julian and tropical calendars (the tropical year is the period of time during which the sun completes one cycle of changing seasons), the day of the vernal equinox gradually shifted to earlier dates. At the time of the introduction of the Julian calendar, it fell on March 21, both according to the accepted calendar system and in fact. But by the 16th century, the difference between the tropical and Julian calendars was already about ten days. As a result, the vernal equinox no longer fell on March 21, but on March 11.

Scientists paid attention to the above problem long before the adoption of the Gregorian chronology system. Back in the 14th century, Nikephoros Grigora, a scientist from Byzantium, reported this to Emperor Andronicus II. According to Grigora, it was necessary to revise the calendar system that existed at that time, since otherwise the date of Easter would continue to shift to a later and later time. However, the emperor did not take any action to eliminate this problem, fearing protest from the church.

Subsequently, other scientists from Byzantium also spoke about the need to switch to a new calendar system. But the calendar continued to remain unchanged. And not only because of the rulers’ fear of causing indignation among the clergy, but also because the further the Christian Easter moved away, the less chance it had of coinciding with the Jewish Passover. This was unacceptable according to church canons.

By the 16th century, the problem had become so urgent that the need to solve it was no longer in doubt. As a result, Pope Gregory XIII assembled a commission, which was tasked with carrying out all the necessary research and creating a new calendar system. The results obtained were displayed in the bullet “Among the most important”. It was she who became the document with which the adoption of the new calendar system began.

The main disadvantage of the Julian calendar is its lack of accuracy in relation to the tropical calendar. In the Julian calendar, all years that are divisible by 100 without a remainder are considered leap years. As a result, the difference with the tropical calendar increases every year. Approximately every century and a half it increases by 1 day.

The Gregorian calendar is much more accurate. It has fewer leap years. In this chronology system, leap years are considered to be years that:

divisible by 400 without remainder;
divisible by 4 without a remainder, but not divisible by 100 without a remainder.

Thus, 1100 or 1700 years in the Julian calendar are considered leap years, since they are divisible by 4 without a remainder. In the Gregorian calendar, from those that have already passed since its adoption, 1600 and 2000 are considered leap years.

Immediately after the introduction of the new system, it was possible to eliminate the difference between the tropical and calendar years, which at that time was already 10 days. Otherwise, due to errors in calculations, an extra year would accumulate every 128 years. In the Gregorian calendar, an extra day occurs only every 10,000 years.

Not all modern states adopted the new chronology system immediately. The Catholic states were the first to switch to it. In these countries, the Gregorian calendar was officially adopted either in 1582 or shortly after the decree of Pope Gregory XIII.

In a number of states, the transition to a new calendar system was associated with popular unrest. The most serious of them took place in Riga. They lasted for five whole years - from 1584 to 1589.

There were also some funny situations. So, for example, in Holland and Belgium, due to the official adoption of the new calendar, after December 21, 1582, January 1, 1583 came. As a result, the inhabitants of these countries were left without Christmas in 1582.

Russia was one of the last to adopt the Gregorian calendar. The new system was officially introduced on the territory of the RSFSR on January 26, 1918 by decree of the Council of People's Commissars. In accordance with this document, immediately after January 31 of that year, February 14 came on the territory of the state.

Later than in Russia, the Gregorian calendar was introduced only in a few countries, including Greece, Turkey and China.

After the official adoption of the new chronology system, Pope Gregory XIII sent a proposal to Constantinople to switch to a new calendar. However, she was met with refusal. Its main reason was the inconsistency of the calendar with the canons of celebrating Easter. However, later most Orthodox churches switched to the Gregorian calendar.

Today, only four Orthodox churches use the Julian calendar: Russian, Serbian, Georgian and Jerusalem.

Rules for specifying dates

In accordance with the generally accepted rule, dates falling between 1582 and the moment the Gregorian calendar was adopted in the country are indicated in both the old and new styles. In this case, the new style is indicated in quotation marks. Earlier dates are indicated according to the proleptic calendar (i.e., a calendar used to indicate dates earlier than the date the calendar appeared). In countries where the Julian calendar was adopted, dates before 46 BC. e. are indicated according to the proleptic Julian calendar, and where there was none - according to the proleptic Gregorian calendar.

There are no problems with measuring certain quantities. When it comes to length, volume, weight - no one has any disagreements. But as soon as you touch the dimension of time, you will immediately come across different points of view. Special attention should be paid to what the Julian and Gregorian calendars are; the difference between them has really changed the world.

Difference between Catholic and Orthodox holidays

It's no secret that Catholics celebrate Christmas not on January 7, like the Orthodox, but on December 25. The situation is the same with other Christian holidays.

A whole series of questions arises:

Where did these 13 days difference come from?
Why can't we celebrate the same event on the same day?
Will the 13 day difference ever change?
Maybe it will shrink over time and disappear altogether?
At least find out what it's all about?

To answer these questions we will have to mentally travel to pre-Christian Europe. However, there was no talk of any integral Europe at that time; civilized Rome was surrounded by many disparate barbarian tribes. Subsequently, they were all captured and became part of the Empire, but that's another conversation.

However, history is written by the victors, and we will never know to what extent “ barbaric"were neighbors of Rome. It's no secret that great rulers have a hand in all events in the state. Julius Caesar was no exception when I decided to introduce a new calendar - Julian .

What calendars did you use and for how long?

The ruler cannot be denied modesty, but he made too much of a contribution to the history of the whole world to be criticized over trifles. The calendar he proposed:

It was much more accurate than previous versions.
All years consisted of 365 days.
Every fourth year there was 1 more day.
The calendar was consistent with astronomical data known at that time.
For one and a half thousand years, not a single worthy analogue has been proposed.

But nothing stands still; at the end of the 14th century, a new calendar was introduced, with the help of the then pope, Gregory XIII. This version of the countdown boiled down to the fact that:

A normal year has 365 days. A leap year contains the same 366.
But now not every fourth year was considered a leap year. Now if the year ends with two zeros, and at the same time divisible by both 4 and 100, it is not a leap year.
For a simple example, 2000 was a leap year, but 2100, 2200 and 2300 will not be leap years. Unlike 2400.

Why was it necessary to change something, was it really impossible to leave everything as it was? The fact is that, according to astronomers, The Julian calendar is not entirely accurate.

The error is only 1/128 of a day, but over 128 years a whole day accumulates, and over five centuries - almost four full days.

How does the Julian calendar differ from the Gregorian calendar?

Fundamental differences between the two calendars are that:

Julian was adopted much earlier.
It lasted 1000 years longer than the Gregorian.
Unlike the Gregorian calendar, the Julian calendar is now almost never used anywhere.
The Julian calendar is used only for calculating Orthodox holidays.
The Gregorian calendar is more accurate and avoids minor errors.
The calendar adopted by Gregory XIII is presented as the final version, an absolutely correct frame of reference that will not change in the future.
In the Julian calendar, every 4th year is a leap year.
In Gregorian, years that end in 00 and are not divisible by 4 are not leap years.
Almost every century ends with the difference between the two calendars increasing by another day.
The exception is centuries divisible by four.
According to the Gregorian calendar, almost all Christians in the world celebrate church holidays - Catholics, Protestants, Lutherans.
According to Julian Orthodox Christians celebrate, guided by apostolic instructions.

What could an error of several days lead to?

But is it really so important to maintain this precision; maybe it’s better to pay tribute to traditions? What terrible thing will happen if in five centuries the calendar shifts by 4 days, is it noticeable?

In addition, those who decide to make changes will certainly not live to see the time when “ wrong“The calculation option will differ by at least a day.

Just imagine that already in February the weather warms up and the first flowering begins. But despite all this, the ancestors describe February as a harsh and frosty winter month.

At this point there may already be a slight misunderstanding about what is happening to nature and the planet? Especially if in November there are snowdrifts instead of fallen leaves. And in October, the variegated foliage on the trees is not pleasing to the eye, because all of it has been rotting on the ground for a long time. This seems insignificant at first glance, when the error is only 24 hours in 128 years.

But calendars regulate, among other things, the most important events in the life of many civilizations - sowing and harvesting. The more accurately all adjustments are made, the more O Larger food supplies will be available next year.

Of course, now this is not so important, in an era of rapid development of scientific and technological progress. But once upon a time it was a matter of life and death for millions of people.

Significant differences between calendars

Distinguishing between the two calendars:

More accurate measurement using Gregorian.
The irrelevance of the Julian calendar: besides the Orthodox Church, almost no one uses it.
The universal use of the Gregorian calendar.
By removing the 10 day lag and introducing a new rule - all years ending in 00 and not divisible by 4 are now not leap years.
Thanks to this, the difference between calendars is inexorably increasing. For 3 days every 400 years.
Julian was adopted by Julius Caesar, still 2 thousand years ago.
Gregorian is more “young”, it is not even five hundred years old. And Pope Gregory XIII introduced it.

What the Julian and Gregorian calendars are, the difference between them and the reasons for their introduction can be known for general development. In real life, this information will never be useful. Unless you want to impress someone with your erudition.

Video about the differences between Gregorian and Julian

In this video, Priest Andrei Shchukin will talk about the main differences between these two calendars from the point of view of religion and mathematics:

After the great October socialist revolution, the so-called new style (Gregorian) was introduced in our country on February 14, 1918.

In ancient Roman times, it was customary for debtors to pay interest in the first days of the month. This day had a special name - the day of the Kalends, and the Latin calendarium is translated literally as “debt book”. But the Greeks did not have such a date, so the Romans ironically said about inveterate debtors that they would repay the loan before the Greek calendar, that is, never. This expression subsequently became popular around the world. Nowadays, 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 modern chronology is the tropical year. This is what astronomers call the time interval between the spring equinoxes. It is equal to 365.2422196 average terrestrial solar days. Before the modern Gregorian calendar appeared, the Julian calendar, which was invented back in the 45th century BC, was in use throughout 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 length of the tropical year. Therefore, over time, the error of the Julian calendar constantly accumulated. Particular displeasure was caused by the constant shift in the day of 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 proposals were made to improve the calendar. But only the recommendations of astronomer Aloysius Lilius (Neapolitan astronomer) and Christopher Clavius (Bavarian Jesuit) were given the green light. It happened on February 24, 1582: the Pope, Gregory XIII, issued a special message that introduced two significant additions to the Julian calendar. In order for March 21 to remain the date of the vernal equinox in the calendar, 10 days were immediately removed from 1582, starting from October 4, and the 15th day followed. The second addition concerned the introduction of a leap year - it occurred every three years and differed from ordinary ones in that it was divisible by 400. Thus, the new improved chronology system began its countdown in 1582, it received its name in honor of the Pope, and among the people it began to be called a new style.

Transition to the Gregorian calendar

It should be noted that not all countries immediately adopted such innovations. The first countries to switch to the new time counting system were Spain, Poland, Italy, Portugal, Holland, France and Luxembourg (1582). 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 they were joined by Bulgaria, China, Romania, Serbia, Egypt, Greece and Turkey. The Gregorian calendar in Russia came into force a year later, after the 1917 revolution. However, the Orthodox Russian Church decided to preserve traditions and still lives according to the old style.

Prospects

Even though the Gregorian calendar is very accurate, it is still not perfect and accumulates an error of 3 days every ten thousand years. In addition, it does not take into account the slowing of our planet's rotation, 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 a new calendar took place back in 1954 at the UN level. However, then they could not come to a decision and the issue was postponed.