The history of the introduction of the new chronology. How is the Gregorian calendar different from the Julian. Julian calendar in Russia
Any modern person, ask him what year it is now, without hesitation, he will answer - the year is 2010. Ask him what era is now - he will be surprised, but he will answer that now is “our era”. And the date “year 2010 AD” can be written as “year 2010 from the birth of Christ”. In other words, almost all modern humanity, without really thinking about it, lives according to the chronology from the date of the birth of Jesus Christ.
However, not everyone will be able to answer how, when and where this very date of the “Nativity of Christ” was calculated, and most importantly, when the system of counting years from this date became so familiar that today we don’t even think about its origin?
Let's try to find an answer to this question. To do this, we will have to go back far in time, to the deep past, and reach the founder of the Christian religion - Jesus Christ himself.
Controversy over the historicity of Christ, i.e. whether Jesus Christ is real historical figure are still being conducted among scientists and connoisseurs of theology. However, most historians today tend to conclude that, most likely, the myth of Christ is based on real person- probably, it was the head of a small religious-philosophical sect close to Judaism, as well as a wandering preacher and a self-proclaimed "prophet" and "messiah". There were many characters like Christ in Palestine at that time (1st century BC - 1st century AD), which was due to the general crisis of Judaism and the influence of Hellenistic philosophy on the Jews.
Obviously, Christ was really crucified on the cross - a common way in the Roman Empire to execute dangerous criminals and troublemakers. However, following the death of Christ, the active preaching activity and fanaticism of his supporters led to the wide spread of a new religious doctrine in the Mediterranean, and, in the end, to its approval as the official religion of the Roman Empire at the beginning of the 4th century AD.
At the same time, however strange it may seem, the question of the exact date of the birth of Christ was not important for Christians for a very long time. The first Christians did not count the passing years from the date of the birth of Jesus. Counting years in different parts of the vast Roman Empire and beyond its borders was conducted according to its local, traditional chronology (“eras”). Some people at that time could count the years “from the destruction of Jerusalem” (69 CE), others “from the founding of Rome” (753 BC), very popular in the late Roman Empire was “ era of Diocletian” (284 AD). In the East, they used their own “eras” - “from the creation of the world” (the so-called “Constantinople era”), “the era of Nabossar”, “after Alexander the Great” and others. All these "eras" originated from the beginning of the reign or death of some ruler, important event, or even from the mythical moment of the creation of the world.
Even the Christmas holiday in the first centuries of the existence of the Christian religion was by no means the most important festival (it would acquire its significance only in the Middle Ages). Christians began to celebrate Christmas only in the III century, at first it fell on January 6, and then on December 25, most likely because the winter solstice falls at the end of December, which traditionally has great sacred significance in many cultures and religions. So, December 25 was the day of veneration of the Iranian pagan god Mithra, whose cult was widespread in the late Roman Empire, and Christians thus sought to supplant the “pagan” holiday. The Romans, on December 25, celebrated the Day of the Sun. Thus, tying their holidays to the well-known pagan holidays, Christians sought to expand the number of their supporters and facilitate the transition from paganism to the faith of Christ for new believers, as well as to oust the “pagan” memorable dates, replacing them with your own. The absence of the tradition of celebrating Christmas by the first Christians is also due to the fact that the very first followers of the faith of Christ were Jews, who, in principle, did not celebrate birthdays.
The main date of the year for the early Christians was, without a doubt, the date of the anniversary of the most important place in biblical myth about Christ - death on the cross and the resurrection of the Savior. Since these events took place on the Jewish holiday "Pesach" - the feast of the anniversary of the Exodus of the Jews from Egypt under the leadership of Moses, then "Pesach" automatically became the main holiday of Christians. This was all the easier because early Christianity, in fact, came out of the religion of the ancient Jews. Gradually, due to various sound distortions in the transmission of the Hebrew word in Greek and Latin, “Pesach” turned into the word “Passover”.
After a period of rapid development and spread, persecution by the Roman authorities, internal splits and controversy, Christianity finally became the official religion of the Roman Empire under Emperor Constantine I (323-337 AD). Immediately the question arose of introducing uniformity into rituals, texts of scriptures, dogmas and dates of holidays - in those days there were many separate directions and trends in Christianity (Nestorianism, Arianism, Manichaeism and others), which fiercely argued among themselves on various theological issues. . Finally, local Churches in different parts of the vast Roman Empire celebrated many rituals and holidays differently than in other places. One of the most important controversial issues was the question of the day of the celebration of Easter.
To resolve all these controversial issues in 325 AD, the first Ecumenical (i.e. all-Christian) church council (congress) was convened in the city of Nicaea (now Iznik, Turkey) in Asia Minor. The council was attended by many legates from all parts of the Christian world, and many bishops who later canonized as saints (for example, St. Nicholas, or Alexander of Alexandria). Emperor Constantine I himself presided over the council.
The main dogmas and postulates of the Christian faith, including the Creed (formula of religion), were adopted at the council. Among other things, the Council also clearly set the time for the celebration of Easter: on the first Sunday after the first full moon following the spring equinox (each year this different date). At the same time, Paschalia were compiled - tables of calculated dates for the celebration of Easter in the following years.
Here you can stop and ask - but how is this all connected with the reckoning from the "Nativity of Christ"? Oddly enough, but the most immediate. Such a long “Easter” story is given here because it was the question of the date of the celebration of Easter that had a decisive influence on the appearance of counting years from the date of the birth of Christ.
Let's get back to our story. In the years following the Council of Nicaea, Paschalia was repeatedly specified and extended by various church leaders. In the year 525, Pope John I (523-526) became preoccupied with the need for again complete the Easter tables. This work was entrusted to the learned Roman abbot Dionysius (Denis), nicknamed the Small because of his small stature, who had previously distinguished himself by collecting documents on the work of Nicea and other Ecumenical Councils.
Dionysius (the years of his life, alas, are unknown), set to work, and soon compiled new Easter tables. However, he was faced with the fact that his tables, like the first Paschalia, dated from the “era of Diocletian”. The Roman emperor Diocletian (284-305) was a prominent emperor of Rome and a reformer of the Empire, but among other things a notorious persecutor of Christians. The beginning of the era of his name fell on the beginning of his reign (the 284th year in our account). The "Era of Diocletian" was very popular in the 4th-6th centuries for counting years in Europe and the Middle East.
Dionysius expressed the opinion that it is not appropriate for Christians to associate the bright holiday of Easter in any way with the personality of the cruel “pagan” emperor and the persecutor of Christians. In other words, it is impious to date the Paschalia to "the era of Diocletian." But what to replace it with?
As mentioned above, at that time in Europe and the Middle East, several chronology systems were used at once - “from the foundation of the City” (it is also “from the foundation of Rome”), “from the creation of the world” and others, but none was purely “ Christian." Even dating “from the creation of the world” originated from the Old Testament, that is, from the Jews, in addition, it was widely used in the Byzantine Empire. In Byzantium, there was the Church of Constantinople, with which the popes of Rome always had a very difficult relationship.
In this situation, Dionysius proposed something completely new - to use in the Easter tables the count of years from the year of the birth of Jesus Christ. However, it turned out that no one had calculated the exact date of the birth of Christ for more than 500 years of the existence of Christianity! This may come as a surprise, but for five centuries Christians have lived without even knowing the exact date of the birth of their God!
Then the abbot Dionysius himself calculated the year of the birth of Christ - according to his calculations, it turned out to be the year 284 before the era of Diocletian, or the year 753 "from the founding of Rome." Thus, the current year for Dionysius himself was the 525th year after the birth of Christ (“from the birth of Christ”). As the birthday of Christ, Dionysius took the already established traditional date - December 25th.
We do not know exactly how Dionysius made his calculations. Today we can only hypothetically reconstruct the course of his thoughts and calculations.
There is no doubt that Dionysius based his calculations on the gospel texts - he simply had no other source of information about the life of Christ. However, the texts of the Gospels contain very vague evidence that Christ was "about 30 years old" at the time of the crucifixion. In what year Christ was born, and in what exact year he was crucified, the gospel texts did not report at all. The only clue to Dionysius could only be a direct indication in the Gospels that Christ was resurrected on March 25, on Sunday, on the feast of Easter (or rather, then still “Pesach”).
The closest year to Dionysius that Easter would fall on Sunday, March 25, was the year 279 of the "era of Diocletian" (AD 563). From this number Dionysius subtracted 532, and then another 30, and obtained the year 284 BC as the first year of the life of Christ.
But what kind of strange numbers did Dionysius take away? The number 30 is an indication of the age of Christ at the time of the crucifixion (“about 30 years old”). The number, to put it mildly, is not the most accurate, but with it, at least, everything is simple and clear. And the number 532?
The number 532 is the so-called "Great Indiction". The number 532 played a big role in the calculation of Paschal in those days. The "Great Indiction" consists of the multiplication of two numbers - the "circle of the Moon" (19) and the "circle of the Sun" (28). Indeed, 19x28=532.
“Circle of the Moon” is the number of years (19) after which all phases of the Moon fall on the same days of the month as in the previous “circle”. With regards to the “circle of the Sun”, 28 is the number of years when all the dates of the month fall again on the same days of the week in the Julian calendar as in the previous “circle”.
Because Easter, according to the decrees of the Council of Nicaea, is tied to the first Sunday after the first full moon following the spring equinox, then every 532 years (the number of the “Great Indiction”) Easter will fall on the same number. And if Easter fell on Sunday March 25 in the Gospel record of the crucifixion of Christ, and the Easter closest to Dionysius with the same parameters was in the 279th year of the “era of Diocletian”, then the previous occurrence of the same Easter was in the 254th year before the onset of the era Diocletian. It remained to take another 30 years (the estimated age of Christ at the time of the crucifixion) and get the year of Christ's birth, which became the 1st year of the new era.
It is easy to see that the calculation of the date of the birth of Christ by Dionysius was based on very fragmentary and sometimes freely interpreted information from biblical texts. By the way, at present, according to various theories and assumptions of historians, the estimated date of the birth of Christ falls on the interval from 12 to 4 BC, so Dionysius was still mistaken.
Be that as it may, Dionysius did his job - he founded a new era, where the years were counted from the date of the birth of Jesus Christ. However, Dionysius himself did not even know this - he came up with a new dating exclusively for his Paschals and did not use it anywhere else. As a result, his account of years remained for a very long time exclusively the invention of Dionysius for Paschal. In Rome, the chronology was still preferred either “from the foundation of the City”, or “from the creation of the world”. The second option was also the main one in the Byzantine Empire and in general in the Christian Churches in the East.
It was not until the beginning of the 8th century that a learned Anglo-Saxon monk and theologian from Northumbria named Bede the Venerable (673-735) first used Dionysius' chronology outside the Easter tables, using it to date events in his famous historical work. church history people of the Angles” (“Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum”), which he completed around 731. The account of years from the birth of Christ at Bede was called “years from the Appearance of the Lord”.
In fact, Bede rediscovered and introduced into wide use the account of the years of Dionysius, which was facilitated by the great popularity of his historical work. Most likely, the appearance of counting years as “years from the Appearance of the Lord” in Bede’s work occurred only because a significant part of the Anglo-Saxon monk’s chronicle is devoted to the calculation of the dates of the celebration of Easter, which means that Bede could not help but use Dionysius’ Paschals.
In 742, the date recorded as “the year from the birth of Christ” first appeared in an official document - one of the capitularies of the mayordom (military-political ruler) of the Frankish state of Carloman (741-747). Most likely, this appearance of a date recorded in the years from the birth of Christ was an independent initiative of the Franks, independently of Bede's work.
During the time of the emperor of the Franks, Charles I the Great (774-814), the countdown of years from the birth of Christ (“from the incarnation of our Lord”) was already widely distributed in his state in official documents yard. The 9th century finally introduces the chronology familiar to us into various legal and political documents in Europe, and starting from the 10th century, most of the documents, chronicles and decrees of kings in Western Europe are dated exactly to the years according to Christ. At the same time, the dating different names- “from the incarnation of our Lord”, “from the coming of the Lord into the world”, “from the birth of the Lord”, “from the Nativity of Christ”, etc.
In the end, the wording “from the Nativity of Christ”, or in Latin spelling - “Anno Domini” (literally “Year of the Lord”), became common in Europe when recording the year. short form was “from A.D.” - A.D.
It is interesting, however, that in the office of the popes, from where new era, the new chronology took root more slowly than in the decrees and laws of secular rulers - only in the 10th century, recording dates from the birth of Christ begins to be often used in acts of the Throne of St. Peter, and mandatory date“A.D.” in papal documents became only in the XV century. Thus, the Catholic Church fully and finally accepted the count of years, invented by its own minister, Abbot Dionysius, only after almost a millennium. Most of secular sovereigns moved to the era from Christ much earlier than the churchmen - the last country in Western Europe to do this was Portugal in 1422.
In the East, however, Orthodox Christians still used the "Constantinople era" - the count of years "from the creation of the world." In Russia, where Orthodoxy had Byzantine roots, the account “from the creation of the world” was used for a very long time, and only in 1699, by decree of Peter I (1689-1725), the account of years “from the Nativity of Christ” was introduced, with the wording in the decree “ better for the sake of agreement with the peoples of Europe in contracts and treatises.” Thus, December 31, 7208 "from the creation of the world" was followed by January 1, 1700 "from the birth of Christ." The introduction in Russia of counting years in the already established Christian era in Europe was one of the steps in the reforms of Peter I, designed to turn Russia onto the Western path of development.
In the XVIII-XX centuries, the spread of the era from the birth of Christ continued in the world. The wording “from the Nativity of Christ” in the name of the era, which has a religious connotation, was gradually replaced by a more neutral one: “our era”. Those. all years before the year of the birth of Christ began to be called “years before our era”, and after - “years of our era”. Year 1 BC was followed by year 1 AD. Currently, the chronology according to "our era" is used in almost all countries of the world. Even Muslim countries, which consider the years “from Hijra” (the year of the Prophet Muhammad’s migration from Mecca to Medina in 622), sometimes use the “Muslim” era in internal documents, but for foreign policy issues they still prefer “our era”.
Without a doubt, the introduction of a single system of Christian chronology was during the Middle Ages the most important step in religious and cultural consolidation. Western world. However, later, with the assignment of the neutral designation “our era” to the era, the religious background disappeared, and now the Christian chronology has become simply a standard and understandable tool for counting years, which we use today, without even remembering the reasons and history of its appearance.
For all of us, the calendar is a familiar and even ordinary thing. This ancient human invention records days, numbers, months, seasons, periodicity natural phenomena, which are based on the system of movement of celestial bodies: the Moon, the Sun, the stars. The Earth sweeps through the solar orbit, leaving years and centuries behind.
Moon calendar
In one day, the Earth makes one complete rotation around its own axis. It goes around the sun once a year. Solar or lasts three hundred and sixty-five days, five hours, forty-eight minutes, and forty-six seconds. Therefore, there is no integer number of days. Hence the difficulty in drawing up an accurate calendar for the correct timing.
The ancient Romans and Greeks used a convenient and simple calendar. The rebirth of the moon occurs at intervals of 30 days, and to be precise, in twenty-nine days, twelve hours and 44 minutes. That is why the days, and then the months, could be counted according to the changes of the moon.
In the beginning, this calendar had ten months, which were named after the Roman gods. From the third century to the ancient world, an analogue was used, based on a four-year lunisolar cycle, which gave an error in the value of the solar year in one day.
In Egypt, they used a solar calendar based on observations of the Sun and Sirius. The year according to it was three hundred and sixty-five days. It consisted of twelve months of thirty days. After its expiration, five more days were added. This was formulated as "in honor of the birth of the gods."
History of the Julian calendar
Further changes took place in 46 BC. e. Emperor ancient rome Julius Caesar introduced the Julian calendar following the Egyptian model. In it, the solar year was taken as the value of the year, which was slightly longer than the astronomical one and was three hundred and sixty-five days and six hours. The first of January was the beginning of the year. Christmas according to the Julian calendar began to be celebrated on the seventh of January. So there was a transition to a new chronology.
In gratitude for the reform, the Senate of Rome renamed the month Quintilis, when Caesar was born, into Julius (now it is July). A year later, the emperor was killed, and the Roman priests, either out of ignorance or deliberately, again began to confuse the calendar and began to declare every third year a leap year. As a result, from the forty-fourth to the ninth year BC. e. instead of nine, twelve leap years were declared.
The Emperor Octivian August saved the situation. By his order, there were no leap years for the next sixteen years, and the rhythm of the calendar was restored. In his honor, the month of Sextilis was renamed Augustus (August).
For the Orthodox Church, the simultaneity of church holidays was very important. The date of the celebration of Easter was discussed at the First and this issue became one of the main ones. The rules established at this Council for the exact calculation of this celebration cannot be changed under pain of anathema.
Gregorian calendar
Chapter catholic church Pope Gregory the Thirteenth in 1582 approved and introduced new calendar. It was called "Gregorian". It would seem that the Julian calendar was good for everyone, according to which Europe lived for more than sixteen centuries. However, Gregory the Thirteenth considered that the reform was necessary to determine a more accurate date for the celebration of Easter, as well as to ensure that the day returned to the twenty-first of March.
In 1583, the Council of the Eastern Patriarchs in Constantinople condemned the adoption of the Gregorian calendar as violating the liturgical cycle and calling into question the canons of the Ecumenical Councils. Indeed, in some years it violates the basic rule of celebrating Easter. It happens that Bright Sunday Catholic falls in time earlier than Jewish Easter, and this is not allowed by the canons of the church.
The chronology in Russia
On the territory of our country, starting from the tenth century, the New Year was celebrated on the first of March. Five centuries later, in 1492, in Russia, the beginning of the year was moved, according to church traditions, to the first of September. This went on for over two hundred years.
On December 19, seven thousand two hundred and eight, Tsar Peter the Great issued a decree that the Julian calendar in Russia, adopted from Byzantium along with baptism, was still valid. The start date has changed. It has been officially approved in the country. New Year according to the Julian calendar was to be celebrated on the first of January "from the Nativity of Christ".
After the revolution of the fourteenth of February, one thousand nine hundred and eighteen, new rules were introduced in our country. The Gregorian calendar ruled out three within each four hundred years. It was this that was adopted.
What is the difference between the Julian and Gregorian calendars? The difference between in the calculation of leap years. It increases over time. If in the sixteenth century it was ten days, then in the seventeenth it increased to eleven, in the eighteenth century it was already equal to twelve days, thirteen in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, and by the twenty-second century this figure will reach fourteen days.
The Orthodox Church of Russia uses the Julian calendar, following the decisions of the Ecumenical Councils, and the Catholics use the Gregorian.
You can often hear the question of why the whole world celebrates Christmas on the twenty-fifth of December, and we - on the seventh of January. The answer is quite obvious. The Orthodox Russian Church celebrates Christmas according to the Julian calendar. This also applies to other major church holidays.
Today, the Julian calendar in Russia is called the "old style". At present, its scope is very limited. It is used by some Orthodox Churches - Serbian, Georgian, Jerusalem and Russian. In addition, the Julian calendar is used in some Orthodox monasteries in Europe and the United States.
in Russia
In our country, the issue of calendar reform has been raised repeatedly. In 1830 it was set Russian Academy Sciences. Prince K.A. Lieven, who at that time was the Minister of Education, considered this proposal untimely. Only after the revolution, the issue was submitted to a meeting of the Council of People's Commissars Russian Federation. Already on January 24, Russia adopted the Gregorian calendar.
Features of the transition to the Gregorian calendar
For Orthodox Christians, the introduction of a new style by the authorities caused certain difficulties. The new year turned out to be shifted into when any fun is not welcome. Moreover, January 1 is the day of memory of St. Boniface, who patronizes everyone who wants to give up drunkenness, and our country celebrates this day with a glass in hand.
Gregorian and Julian calendar: differences and similarities
Both of them consist of three hundred and sixty-five days in a normal year and three hundred and sixty-six in a leap year, have 12 months, 4 of which are 30 days and 7 are 31 days, February is either 28 or 29. The difference lies only in the frequency of leap years. years.
Julian calendar leap year occurs every three years. In this case, it turns out that the calendar year is 11 minutes longer than the astronomical year. In other words, after 128 years there is an extra day. The Gregorian calendar also recognizes that the fourth year is a leap year. The exceptions are those years that are a multiple of 100, as well as those that can be divided by 400. Based on this, an extra day appears only after 3200 years.
What awaits us in the future
Unlike the Gregorian, the Julian calendar is simpler for chronology, but it is ahead of the astronomical year. The basis of the first became the second. According to the Orthodox Church, the Gregorian calendar violates the sequence of many biblical events.
Due to the fact that the Julian and Gregorian calendars increase the difference in dates over time, Orthodox churches that use the first of them will celebrate Christmas from 2101 not on January 7, as it happens now, but on January 8, but from nine thousand of the nine hundred and first year, the celebration will take place on the eighth of March. In the liturgical calendar, the date will still correspond to the twenty-fifth of December.
In countries where the Julian calendar was used by the beginning of the twentieth century, such as Greece, the dates of all historical events that occurred after October fifteenth, one thousand five hundred and eighty-two, are nominally noted on the same dates when they happened.
Consequences of calendar reforms
Currently, the Gregorian calendar is fairly accurate. According to many experts, it does not need to be changed, but the question of its reform has been discussed for several decades. In this case, we are not talking about the introduction of a new calendar or any new methods of accounting for leap years. It's about about rearranging the days of the year so that the beginning of each year falls on one day, such as Sunday.
Today calendar months number from 28 to 31 days, the length of the quarter ranges from ninety to ninety-two days, with the first half of the year shorter than the second by 3-4 days. This complicates the work of financial and planning authorities.
What are the new calendar projects
Over the past one hundred and sixty years, various projects have been proposed. In 1923, a calendar reform committee was created under the League of Nations. After the end of the Second World War, this issue was referred to the Economic and Social Committee of the United Nations.
Despite the fact that there are quite a lot of them, preference is given to two options - the 13-month calendar of the French philosopher Auguste Comte and the proposal of the French astronomer G. Armelin.
In the first variant, the month always starts on Sunday and ends on Saturday. In a year, one day has no name at all and is inserted at the end of the last thirteenth month. In a leap year, such a day occurs in the sixth month. According to experts, this calendar has many significant shortcomings, so more attention is paid to the project of Gustave Armelin, according to which the year consists of twelve months and four quarters of ninety-one days each.
In the first month of the quarter there are thirty-one days, in the next two - thirty. The first day of each year and quarter begins on Sunday and ends on Saturday. In a normal year, one extra day is added after December 30th, and in a leap year after June 30th. This project approved by France, India, Soviet Union, Yugoslavia and some other countries. For a long time the General Assembly delayed the approval of the project, and recently this work in the UN has stopped.
Will Russia return to the "old style"
It is rather difficult for foreigners to explain what the concept of "Old New Year" means, why we celebrate Christmas later than Europeans. Today there are people who want to make the transition to the Julian calendar in Russia. Moreover, the initiative comes from well-deserved and respected people. In their opinion, 70% of Russian Orthodox Russians have the right to live according to the calendar used by the Russian Orthodox Church.
Citizens of the Soviet country, having gone to bed on January 31, 1918, woke up on February 14. Entered into force "Decree on the introduction of Russian Republic Western European calendar". Bolshevik Russia switched to the so-called new, or civil, style of calculating time, which coincided with the church Gregorian calendar used in Europe. These changes did not affect our Church: she continued to celebrate her holidays according to the old, Julian calendar.
The calendar split between Western and Eastern Christians (believers began to celebrate the main holidays in different time) occurred in the 16th century, when Pope Gregory XIII undertook another reform that replaced the Julian style with the Gregorian one. The aim of the reform was to correct the growing gap between astronomical year and calendar.
Obsessed with the idea of world revolution and internationalism, the Bolsheviks, of course, did not care about the Pope and his calendar. As stated in the decree, the transition to the Western, Gregorian style was made "in order to establish in Russia the same time calculation with almost all cultural peoples" .... At one of the first meetings of the young Soviet government in early 1918, two draft reforms of time were considered "The first proposed a gradual transition to the Gregorian calendar, each year dropping 24 hours. This would take 13 years. The second provided for doing it in one fell swoop. It was he who liked the leader of the world proletariat Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, who surpassed the current ideologist of multiculturalism Angela Merkel in globalist projects.
Competently
Historian of religion Alexei Yudin - about how christian churches celebrate Christmas:
First, let's make it clear right away: to say that someone celebrates on December 25, and someone on January 7 is incorrect. Everyone celebrates Christmas on the 25th, but according to different calendars. In the next hundred years, from my point of view, no unification of the celebration of Christmas is to be expected.
The old Julian calendar, adopted under Julius Caesar, lagged behind astronomical time. The reform of Pope Gregory XIII, which from the very beginning was called papist, was perceived extremely negatively in Europe, especially in Protestant countries, where the reformation was already firmly established. The Protestants were opposed primarily because "it was conceived in Rome." And this city in the XVI century was no longer the center of Christian Europe.
Red Army soldiers take out church property from the Simonov Monastery on a subbotnik (1925). A photo: wikipedia.org
The reform of the calendar, if desired, can, of course, be called a split, bearing in mind that the Christian world has already split not only along the East-West principle, but also within the West.
Therefore, the Gregorian calendar was perceived as Roman, papist, and therefore unsuitable. Gradually, however, the Protestant countries accepted it, but the process of transition took centuries. This is how things were in the West. The East paid no attention to the reform of Pope Gregory XIII.
The Soviet Republic switched to a new style, but this, unfortunately, was connected with the revolutionary events in Russia, the Bolsheviks, of course, did not think about any Pope Gregory XIII, they simply considered the new style to be the most adequate to their worldview. And the Russian Orthodox Church has an additional trauma.
In 1923, at the initiative of the Patriarch of Constantinople, a meeting of Orthodox churches was held, at which a decision was made to correct the Julian calendar.
Representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church, of course, were unable to travel abroad. But Patriarch Tikhon nevertheless issued a decree on the transition to the "New Julian" calendar. However, this caused protests among believers, and the decision was quickly canceled.
You can see that there were several stages of searching for a match on a calendar basis. But this did not lead to the final result. So far, this issue has not been included in a serious church discussion at all.
Is the Church afraid of another schism? Undoubtedly, some ultra-conservative groups within the Church will say: "The sacred time has been betrayed." Any Church is a very conservative institution, especially when it comes to everyday life and liturgical practices. And they rest against the calendar. And the church-administrative resource in such matters is ineffective.
Every Christmas, the theme of switching to the Gregorian calendar pops up. But this is politics, profitable media presentation, PR, whatever you want. The Church itself does not participate in this and is reluctant to comment on these issues.
Why does the Russian Orthodox Church use the Julian calendar?
Father Vladimir (Vigilyansky), rector of the Church of the Holy Martyr Tatiana at Moscow State University:
Orthodox churches can be roughly divided into three categories: those that serve all church holidays according to the new (Gregorian) calendar, those that serve only according to the old (Julian) calendar, and those that mix styles: for example, in Greece, Easter is celebrated according to the old calendar, and all other holidays are celebrated in a new way. Our churches (Russian, Georgian, Jerusalem, Serbian and Athos monasteries) have never changed church calendar and they did not mix it with Gregorian, so that there would be no confusion in the holidays. We have a single calendar system, which is tied to Easter. If we switch to celebrating, say, Christmas according to the Gregorian calendar, then two weeks are “eaten up” (remember how in 1918, after January 31, February 14 came), each day of which carries a special semantic significance for an Orthodox person.
The church lives according to its own order, and in it many significant things may not coincide with secular priorities. For example, in church life there is a clear system of progression of time, which is tied to the Gospel. Every day, excerpts from this book are read, in which there is a logic associated with the gospel story and the earthly life of Jesus Christ. All this lays down a certain spiritual rhythm in the life of an Orthodox person. And those who use this calendar do not want and will not violate it.
A believer has a very ascetic life. The world can change, we see how before our very eyes fellow citizens have a lot of opportunities, for example, for recreation during the secular New Year holidays. But the Church, as one of our rock singers sang, "will not bend under the changing world." We will not make our church life dependent on the ski resort.
The Bolsheviks introduced a new calendar "in order to calculate the same time with almost all cultural peoples." A photo: Publishing project of Vladimir Lisin "Days of 1917 100 years ago"
Since by this time the difference between the old and new styles was 13 days, the decree ordered that after January 31, 1918, not February 1, but February 14 be counted. By the same decree, until July 1, 1918, after the number of each day according to the new style, in brackets, write the number according to the old style: February 14 (1), February 15 (2), etc.
From the history of chronology in Russia.
The ancient Slavs, like many other peoples, initially based their calendar on a period of change lunar phases. But already by the time of the adoption of Christianity, that is, by the end of the tenth century. n. e., Ancient Russia used the lunisolar calendar.
Calendar of the ancient Slavs. It was not finally possible to establish what the calendar of the ancient Slavs was. It is only known that initially time was counted according to the seasons. Probably, the 12-month lunar calendar was also used at that time. In later times, the Slavs switched to the lunisolar calendar, in which an additional 13th month was inserted seven times every 19 years.
The oldest monuments of Russian writing show that the months had purely Slavic names, the origin of which was closely connected with natural phenomena. At the same time, the same months, depending on the climate of those places in which different tribes lived, received different names. So, January was called where the section is (the time of deforestation), where is the blue (after winter clouds appeared blue sky), where is the jelly (because it became cold, cold), etc.; February - cut, snow or fierce (severe frosts); March - berezosol (there are several interpretations here: birch begins to bloom; they took birch sap; burned birch for coal), dry (the poorest in precipitation in ancient Kievan Rus, in some places the earth was already drying up, sap (a reminder of birch sap); April - pollen (flowering gardens), birch (beginning of birch flowering), oak, plum tree, etc .; May - grass (grass turns green), summer, pollen; June - worm (cherries turn red), isok (grasshoppers are chirping - “isoki”), milky; July - Lipets (linden blossom), worm (in the north, where phenological phenomena are late), sickle (from the word "sickle", indicating harvest time); august - sickle, stubble, glow (from the verb "roar" - the roar of deer, or from the word "glow" - cold dawns, and possibly from "pazors" - polar lights); september - veresen (heather bloom); ruen (from the Slavic root of the word meaning tree, giving yellow paint); october - leaf fall, "pazdernik" or "kastrychnik" (pazders - hemp bonfires, the name for the south of Russia); November - breast (from the word "pile" - a frozen rut on the road), leaf fall (in the south of Russia); December - jelly, breast, blueberry.
The year began on March 1, and from about that time they started agricultural work.
Many of the ancient names of the months later moved to the series Slavic languages and are largely retained in some modern languages, in particular in Ukrainian, Belarusian and Polish.
At the end of the tenth century Ancient Russia adopted Christianity. At the same time, the chronology used by the Romans passed to us - the Julian calendar (based on the solar year), with the Roman names of the months and the seven-day week. The account of years in it was conducted from the "creation of the world", which allegedly occurred 5508 years before our reckoning. This date - one of the many options for eras from the "creation of the world" - was adopted in the 7th century. in Greece and long time used by the Orthodox Church.
For many centuries, March 1 was considered the beginning of the year, but in 1492, in accordance with church tradition, the beginning of the year was officially moved to September 1 and was celebrated this way for more than two hundred years. However, a few months after the Muscovites celebrated their regular New Year on September 1, 7208, they had to repeat the celebration. This happened because on December 19, 7208, a personal decree of Peter I was signed and promulgated on the reform of the calendar in Russia, according to which a new beginning of the year was introduced - from January 1 and a new era - the Christian chronology (from the "Christmas").
Petrovsky's decree was called: "On writing henceforth Genvar from the 1st of 1700 in all papers of the summer from the Nativity of Christ, and not from the creation of the world." Therefore, the decree ordered the day after December 31, 7208 from the "creation of the world" to be considered January 1, 1700 from the "Christmas". In order for the reform to be adopted without complications, the decree ended with a prudent clause: “And if anyone wants to write both those years, from the creation of the world and from the Nativity of Christ, in a row freely.”
Meeting of the first civil New Year in Moscow. The day after the announcement on Red Square in Moscow of the decree of Peter I on the reform of the calendar, i.e. December 20, 7208, a new decree of the tsar was announced - "On the celebration of the New Year." Considering that January 1, 1700 is not only the beginning of a new year, but also the beginning of a new century (Here a significant mistake was made in the decree: 1700 is last year XVII century, and not the first year of the XVIII century. New century came on January 1, 1701. A mistake that is sometimes repeated even today.), the decree prescribed to celebrate this event with particular solemnity. It gave detailed instructions on how to organize a holiday in Moscow. On New Year's Eve, Peter I himself lit the first rocket on Red Square, thus signaling the opening of the holiday. The streets were illuminated with illumination. started bell ringing and cannon fire, the sounds of trumpets and timpani rang out. The king congratulated the population of the capital on the New Year, the festivities continued all night. Multi-colored rockets flew up from the courtyards into the dark winter sky, and “along the large streets, where there is space,” fires burned - bonfires and tar barrels attached to poles.
The houses of the inhabitants of the wooden capital were dressed up in needles “from trees and branches of pine, spruce and juniper”. For a whole week the houses stood decorated, and at nightfall the lights were lit. Shooting "from small cannons and from muskets or other small weapons", as well as launching "rockets" were entrusted to people "who do not count gold." And the “meager people” were offered “everyone, at least a tree or a branch on the gate or over his temple.” Since that time, the custom has been established in our country every year on January 1 to celebrate New Year's Day.
After 1918, there were more calendar reforms in the USSR. In the period from 1929 to 1940, calendar reforms were carried out in our country three times, caused by production needs. So, on August 26, 1929, the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR adopted a resolution "On the transition to continuous production in enterprises and institutions of the USSR", in which it was recognized as necessary from the 1929-1930 financial year to begin a systematic and consistent transfer of enterprises and institutions to continuous production. In the autumn of 1929, a gradual transition to "continuous work" began, which ended in the spring of 1930 after the publication of a resolution by a special government commission under the Council of Labor and Defense. This resolution introduced a single production time sheet-calendar. The calendar year provided for 360 days, i.e. 72 five-day periods. It was decided to consider the remaining 5 days as holidays. Unlike the ancient Egyptian calendar, they were not located all together at the end of the year, but were timed to coincide with Soviet memorable days and revolutionary holidays: January 22, May 1 and 2, and November 7 and 8.
The employees of each enterprise and institution were divided into 5 groups, and each group was given a day of rest every five days for the whole year. This meant that after four days of work there was a day of rest. After the introduction of the "continuity" there was no need for a seven-day week, since days off could fall not only on different days of the month, but also on different days of the week.
However, this calendar did not last long. Already on November 21, 1931, the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR adopted a resolution "On the Intermittent Production Week in Institutions", which allowed the people's commissariats and other institutions to switch to a six-day interrupted production week. For them, regular days off were set on the following dates of the month: 6, 12, 18, 24 and 30. At the end of February, the day off fell on the last day of the month or was postponed to March 1. In those months that contained but 31 days, the last day of the month was considered a full month and paid separately. The decree on the transition to a discontinuous six-day week came into force on December 1, 1931.
Both the five-day and six-day days completely broke the traditional seven-day week with a common day off on Sunday. The six-day week was used for about nine years. Only on June 26, 1940, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR issued a decree “On the transition to an eight-hour working day, to a seven-day working week and on the prohibition of unauthorized departure of workers and employees from enterprises and institutions”, In the development of this decree, on June 27, 1940, the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR adopted a resolution in which it established that “beyond Sundays non-working days are also:
January 22, May 1 and 2, November 7 and 8, December 5. The same decree abolished the existing rural areas six special days rest and non-working days on March 12 (Day of the overthrow of the autocracy) and March 18 (Day of the Paris Commune).
On March 7, 1967, the Central Committee of the CPSU, the Council of Ministers of the USSR and the All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions adopted a resolution "On the transfer of workers and employees of enterprises, institutions and organizations to a five-day work week with two days off", but this reform did not in any way affect the structure of the modern calendar.
But the most interesting thing is that the passions do not subside. The next round happens already in our new time. Sergey Baburin, Victor Alksnis, Irina Savelyeva and Alexander Fomenko contributed in 2007 to State Duma the bill - on the transition of Russia from January 1, 2008 to the chronology according to the Julian calendar. In the explanatory note, the deputies noted that "the world calendar does not exist" and proposed to establish a transitional period from December 31, 2007, when within 13 days the chronology will be carried out simultaneously according to two calendars at once. Only four deputies took part in the voting. Three are against, one is for. There were no abstentions. The rest of the elect ignored the vote.
Today, shortly before the new year, we would like to talk about the main calendars of the peoples of the world and the chronology systems that exist on the planet, because not everyone knows what date it is customary to celebrate this very New Year, and not everyone knows what year in the account we generally celebrate.
And there is nothing unusual that we are confused, because time is an amazing substance that cannot be touched and felt, the fourth dimension of our three-dimensional physical world. According to modern physicists - theorists, adherents of string theory, time does not exist.But we are born, grow up, grow up, grow old and go somewhere... And our only constant companions on this planet are the measures of time - seconds, minutes, hours, years. Despite the fact that our planet is not so big, we do not yet have a single calendar - a single system of chronology.
The main existing systems of reckoning
And, if in one part of the earth it is now 2014, then in another goes already 2500, in the third, the 8th millennium generally arrived! In this article we want to talk about some of the existing this moment systems of chronology among various peoples of the world. And let's start with ourselves, namely with our ancestors, calendars and chronology of the Slavic peoples.
Chronology and Calendars of the Slavs
Our ancestors - the Ancient Slavs used the calendar, which is now known under the name - "Slavic Aryan" or "Vedic". It is still used by Yngliists - Old Believers, representatives of the most ancient stream of Slavic Aryans.
And it’s good that they kept it, because lately, more and more people are returning to their roots and want to study and use this valuable knowledge. Moreover, they are not outdated, but on the contrary, they provide answers to many questions that interest us today.
Slavic-Aryan calendar
The Slavic Aryan calendar was officially used in Russia for 7208 years! And time in that calendar was measured in "Circles of Life". One circle of life was equal to 144 years (as the year used to be called).In one circle of life, our planet, which the Ancient Slavs called Mirgard, made a revolution around the center of the Universe, visiting all 16 "houses" in succession - so many constellations were distinguished by the Slavs, in contrast to the Chinese stellar calendar with its only 12 Constellation Houses.
What is the year of the Slavs now?
Now, according to the Slavic Aryan calendar, we live in 7523 years. The years are officially counted from the “Creation of the World in the Star Temple” - most sources say that there is a direct, rather than allegorical meaning here - meaning the signing of a peace treaty, between our Ancestors - representatives of the “Power of the Great Race” (Russia, Aryans) and “ Empire of the Great Dragon" (Modern China).
And the famous icon depicting, as they say, George the Victorious, killing the Dragon, actually illustrates those ancient events. Since China symbolizes a dragon or a snake.
What were the months, weeks and hours of the Slavs
Slavic-Aryan calendar calculated on the basis of the 16-digit system of calculus.
Respectively, The day of the Slavs consisted of 16 hours. They started in the evening. Each hour had its own name and was approximately equal to 90 minutes.
The month consisted of 40 days, and was called forty years.. (A reflection of this is the tradition that has survived to this day to celebrate the 40th day with the remembrance of the departed, which we have already written about separately, and 9 days exactly the same as it was Slavic week).
In addition, nine sorokovniks (months) - a whole summer (year) - is a complete cycle of our Earth's circulation around Yarila (Sun). Summer consisted of three seasons, three forties each - Spring, Winter, Autumn. Each sorokovnik had its own name and these names were very poetic and accurate:
"Fortieth White Radiance"
"Fortieth Awakening of Nature"
"Fortieth of Sowing and Naming".
Weeks in the calendar of our ancestors of the Slavs, as I said, consisted of nine days and were named after our planets solar system. There were even smaller parts of the measurement of time: an hour, a fraction, an instant, a moment, a sig.
To understand and admire the wisdom of our ancestors, I will say that - 1 sig is approximately equal to 30 oscillations of the electromagnetic wave of the cesium atom, taken as the basis for modern atomic clocks, and such a small fraction still does not exist in more than one clock in the world.
This fact alone shows how distorted the truth is by those who seek to show our ancient ancestors as illiterate savages!
Gregorian and Julian calendars
Julian calendar
Julian calendar was introduced by Guy Julius Caesar himself - the great commander and ruler of Rome. And it happened in 45 BC. With the introduction of Christianity into Russia by Vladimir Svyatoslavovich, the Grand Duke, approximately in the year 1000, the Julian calendar also began to spread widely among the Slavic peoples and was used simultaneously with the Vedic.
All holidays of the Orthodox Church are calculated from that time to this day according to church calendar- The Julian calendar.
Moreover, modern astronomers have recognized that the Julian calendar (old style) is actually more accurate from an astronomical point of view than the widely used Gregorian (new style), since it lags less behind astronomical (natural) cycles.
Gregorian calendar. New and modern chronology
So, in the summer of 7208, Peter the Great issues a Decree, according to which, on the territory of Russia, all previously existing calendars are abolished and the new chronology will start from the Nativity of Christ, then the year was 1700.
Why New Year's Day January 1st
The beginning of the year began to be celebrated on January 1, instead of magical day autumn equinox as was the case with the Slavs. This calendar is called the Gregorian calendar in honor of Pope Gregory 13, and is valid both in Europe and in the territories of the countries of the former USSR and in many other countries of the world, for the convenience of people.
Have you ever wondered why the beginning of the year is celebrated on January 1st? On December 24, the entire Catholic world celebrates Christmas - the birthday of the baby Jesus. It is from this day that the current calendar begins.
Jesus was a Jew, and on the 8th day the Jews celebrate the rite of circumcision of male babies. This day was the transition from the old year to the new year! It is amazing that every year, gathering with loved ones around the New Year's table, we celebrate the Jewish rite of circumcision of the baby Jesus! But what is interesting is that in fact the Jews themselves have and widely use their own Jewish calendar.
Hebrew or Judaic calendar
The chronology according to the Jewish calendar is conducted from the creation of the world by the Lord. Which, according to the beliefs of the Jews, took place on October 7, 3761 BC - which is called Era from Adam.The Jewish calendar is lunisolar. That is, both celestial bodies exert their influence on the length of the year. Average year approximately equal to Gregorian, but sometimes the values \u200b\u200bcan fluctuate, and the difference is 30-40 days.
Another interesting point is that the Jewish calendar does not consist of numbers, but the letters of the alphabet are used. And it is read from right to left, like all books in Hebrew. Each month of the Jewish calendar has a zodiac sign.
Since ancient times, it has been customary to designate the 12 signs of the zodiac with the symbols of its constellations. Months are counted from spring, but New Year begins in autumn and is called Rosh Hashanah. In the evening, when three stars are visible in the sky, a new day begins.
Islamic calendar
In most countries whose dominant religion is Islam, there is a calendar - Islamic or Hijri. It is used both for religious purposes and as the main determinant of time.
Islamic is pure lunar calendar. Beginning of the month - new Moon, the week also consists of seven days, but the day off is Friday, there are only 12 months in a year.
The Muslim calendar is based on the year when the Prophet Muhammad made the Hajj from Mecca to Medina. (It was July 16, 622 Gregorian).
What year is it in the islamic calendar
Therefore, the Muslim New Year begins on the 1st of the month of Muharram. October 26, 2014 according to the Gregorian calendar 1436 Islamic calendar.
Islamic New Year is not a holiday in our understanding. On the eve of the evening, it is best for the faithful to fast, and on spend as much time as possible in prayer and good deeds in the name of the Almighty.Oriental or Chinese calendar
In most countries of the Asian world, despite the official operation of the Gregorian calendar, the majority of the population uses the chronology system created several thousand years ago (approximately 3 thousand years BC) during the reign of Emperor Huang Di.
And him distinctive feature is that it is both solar-lunar. That is, all months begin with the beginning of a new moon.
When is Chinese New Year 2015?
New Year's Eve Eastern calendar celebrated during The second new moon after the winter solstice is between January 21st and February 21st.. And the New Year is a big and noisy holiday, with bright lights, firecrackers, festive processions and a lot of noise.
The Chinese calendar system is based on the astronomical cycles of the Sun, Earth, Moon, Jupiter and Saturn. The 60-year cycle includes a 12-year Jupiter cycle and a 30-year Saturn cycle.
The ancient Asians and the creators of this chronology system believed that the normal movement of Jupiter brings happiness, goodness and virtue.
They divided the path of Jupiter into twelve equal parts and gave them the name of a certain animal, thus the peoples of Asia created solar-Jupiter 12-year calendar cycle.
There is a legend according to which, when the Buddha decided to celebrate the first New Year, he invited all the animals living on earth. However, only 12 came to the holiday. Then the Buddha, as a gift, decided to give their names to the years, so that every person born in the year of a certain animal acquires the character traits of this animal, both good and bad.
For example, now, December 11, 2014, is the year of the Blue Wood Horse, and c On February 19, 2015, the Year of the Blue Wood Goat will begin..
Thai calendar
When travelers first come to the countries of the south - East Asia. They see with amazement that the term on the packaging of goods has long exceeded the middle of the third millennium.
What year is it in Thailand?
This is true, in the Kingdom of Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and some other countries in 2015 will come - the year 2558! The chronology in these countries and among many Buddhists is from the day of Buddha Shakyamuni's departure to nirvana. Welcome to the future!
Moreover, almost every world religion I created my calendar, from the events that people wanted to perpetuate. So, for example, representatives of a fairly common religion at the present time - the Baha'is - created their own calendar.
Baha'i calendar
The Baha'i calendar is currently synchronized with the Gregorian calendar for convenience. It was originally introduced by the Báb. Navruz - the first day of the New Year is celebrated on the day spring equinox(March 20-22).
The Baha'i calendar is based on a solar year of 365 days, 5 hours, and 50 incremental minutes. In the Baha'i calendar, a year consists of 19 months of 19 days each (i.e. 361 days in total) with the addition of four (five in a leap year) days.
Celtic calendar (Irish)
For a long time, it was the Irish calendar that was used in the North Scandinavian countries, as well as in modern Ireland. The year was divided into four seasons. There are 13 months and one day in a year. Months are synchronized according to the lunar cycle. The names of the months correspond to the vowels of Ogham, the Celtic tree alphabet.
That is, this is the famous Druid calendar - very a complex system, where the time calculation takes into account both lunar and solar cycles.
Segments of time, approximately equal to our months, were given the names of trees. by the most big holidays the days of the equinox and solstice were considered. However, about the Celtic calendar, modern researchers are hotly debating. Many scholars believe that the knowledge of the Druid Calendar is based on a misconception by several authors whose writings have become too widely circulated.
We do not undertake to judge, we just want to acquaint the reader with some of the existing or existing systems of chronology.
In an article devoted to world chronology systems, it is impossible to keep silent about the famous "Mayan Calendar".
Mayan calendar
We owe the popularization of knowledge about the Maya Indian tribes, not least, to the mystic and novelist Frank Waters, the author of many novels and the ancient civilizations of the Maya, the inhabitants of Central America who have gone into centuries.
The main book about the Mayan calendar, which also touches on the predictions of the ancient Mayan astrologers, was the "Book of the Hopi". Not less than important role played “Mexico Mysticism: The Coming of the Sixth Age of Consciousness” - this is an unusual mixture of Mayan and Aztec philosophy, where the author suggested that the end of the Mayan calendar will be the backdrop for the transformation of the spiritual consciousness of people around the world.
However, people have chosen to simplify the information presented in the book, perhaps for the sake of sensation, perhaps due to misunderstanding. And so the legend was born, according to which the Mayan Indians predicted the end of the world in 2012, and the Mayan calendar ended on this date.
On the contrary, scientists, researchers of this ancient artifact, say that the Mayan calendar has not yet been deciphered! The information contained in it may not even belong to the Mayan civilization, but is much older. And scientists all over the world are working on the code of this calendar.
Almost any calendar is a mathematical system, Russian mathematician Vladimir Pakhomov, published a book: “ The calendar is a coded message”, which simply stirred up public opinion.
The fact is that the author, with the help of knowledge of mathematical laws, managed to present the calendar as a numerical mathematical matrix. With the help of which you can "decipher" the messages contained in ancient calendars. The scientist is sure that these messages hide the knowledge that was saved for us by our ancient ancestors who came from distant planets.
But whether it is true or not, today we will not tell you, since this is a separate and very long story, which we will gradually tell about on our learning and self-development portal over time. And today we say goodbye to you, we wish you a good New Year, no matter what calendar and chronology system you do it, and next time we will tell you how it is customary to celebrate the New Year among other peoples of the world.