We live according to the Julian calendar. Gregorian calendar - history and current state

Before the transition to the Gregorian calendar, which different countries happened in different time, the Julian calendar was widely used. It is named after the Roman emperor Gaius Julius Caesar, who is believed to have carried out a calendar reform in 46 BC.

The Julian calendar appears to be based on the Egyptian solar calendar. A Julian year was 365.25 days. But there can only be an integer number of days in a year. Therefore, it was supposed: to consider three years equal to 365 days, and the fourth year following them equal to 366 days. This year with an extra day.

In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII issued a bull prescribing "to return the vernal equinox to March 21." By that time, it had gone ten days from the designated date, which were removed from that 1582 year. And so that the error does not accumulate in the future, it was prescribed to throw out three days out of every 400 years. Years that are a multiple of 100 but not a multiple of 400 became non-leap years.

The Pope threatened with excommunication anyone who did not switch to the "Gregorian calendar". Almost immediately, Catholic countries switched to it. After some time, their example was followed by Protestant states. V Orthodox Russia and Greece, the Julian calendar was followed until the first half of the 20th century.

Which calendar is more accurate

Disputes, which of the calendars - Gregorian or Julian, more precisely, do not subside to this day. On the one hand, the year of the Gregorian calendar is closer to the so-called tropical year - the interval during which the Earth makes a complete revolution around the Sun. According to modern data, the tropical year is 365.2422 days. On the other hand, scientists in astronomical calculations still use the Julian calendar.

The purpose of the calendar reform of Gregory XIII was not to bring the length of the calendar year closer to the length of the tropical year. In his time, there was no such thing as a tropical year. The purpose of the reform was to comply with the decisions of the ancient Christian councils on the timing of the celebration of Easter. However, the task was not completely solved.

The widespread opinion that the Gregorian calendar is "more correct" and "more advanced" than the Julian calendar is just a propaganda cliché. The Gregorian calendar, according to some scientists, is astronomically unjustified and is a distortion of the Julian calendar.

How to recalculate the dates of Russian and Western European history, if Russia until 1918 lived according to? These and other questions we asked the candidate historical sciences, a specialist in medieval chronology Pavel Kuzenkov.

As you know, until February 1918, Russia, like most Orthodox countries, lived along. Meanwhile, in Europe, starting in 1582, it gradually spread, introduced by order of Pope Gregory XIII. In the year of the introduction of the new calendar, 10 days were skipped (instead of October 5, they began to consider October 15). Subsequently, the "Gregorian" calendar skipped leap years in years ending in "00", unless the first two digits of such a year form a multiple of "4". That is why the years 1600 and 2000 did not cause any “movements” in regular system transfer from the "old style" to the "new". However, in 1700, 1800, and 1900 leap years were omitted, and the difference between the styles increased to 11, 12, and 13 days, respectively. In 2100, the difference will increase to 14 days.

In general, the table of ratios between Julian and Gregorian dates is as follows:

julian date	Gregorian date
from 1582, 5.X to 1700, 18.II	1582, 15.X - 1700, 28.II	10 *days*
from 1700, 19.II to 1800, 18.II	1700, 1.III - 1800, 28.II	11 *days*
from 1800, 19.II to 1900, 18.II	1800, 1.III - 1900, 28.II	12 *days*
from 1900, 19.II to 2100, 18.II	1900, 1.III - 2100, 28.II	13 *days*

V Soviet Russia The "European" calendar was introduced by the government of Lenin on February 1, 1918, which began to be considered February 14 "according to the new style." However, in church life no changes have taken place: the Russian Orthodox Church continues to live according to the same julian calendar by which the apostles and holy fathers lived.

The question arises: how to correctly translate from the old style to the new historical dates?

It would seem that everything is simple: you need to use the rule that was in effect in this era. For example, if an event occurred in XVI-XVII centuries, add 10 days, if in the XVIII century - 11, in the XIX century - 12, finally, in the XX and XXI centuries- 13 days.

This is usually done in Western literature, and this is quite true with regard to dates from history. Western Europe. At the same time, it should be remembered that the transition to the Gregorian calendar took place in different countries at different times: if the Catholic countries almost immediately introduced the "papal" calendar, then Great Britain adopted it only in 1752, Sweden - in 1753.

However, the situation changes when it comes to the events of Russian history. It should be borne in mind that in Orthodox countries, when dating an event, attention was paid not only to the actual number of the month, but also to the designation of this day in the church calendar (holiday, memory of a saint). Meanwhile church calendar has not undergone any changes, and Christmas, for example, as it was celebrated on December 25 300 or 200 years ago, is celebrated on the same day and now. Another thing is that in the civil "new style" this day is designated as "January 7".

Please note that when translating the dates of holidays and memorable days into new style The church is governed by the current recount rule (+13). For example: the transfer of the relics of St. Philip, Metropolitan of Moscow, is celebrated on July 3, Art. Art. - or 16 July A.D. Art. - although in 1652, when this event occurred, in theory the Julian July 3 corresponded to the Gregorian July 13. But just theoretically: at that time, this difference could have been noticed and fixed only by the ambassadors of foreign states that had already switched to the “papal” calendar. Later, ties with Europe became closer, and in the 19th - early 20th centuries, calendars and periodicals put a double date: according to the old and new styles. But even here, with historical dating, priority should be given to the Julian date, since it was precisely on it that contemporaries were guided. And since the Julian calendar has been and remains the calendar of the Russian Church, there is no reason to translate dates differently than is customary in modern church publications, that is, with a difference of 13 days, regardless of the date of a particular event.

Examples

The Russian naval commander died on October 2, 1817. In Europe, this day was designated as (2 + 12 =) October 14. However, the Russian Church celebrates the memory of the righteous warrior Theodore on October 2, which in the modern civil calendar corresponds to (2 + 13 =) October 15.

The Battle of Borodino took place on August 26, 1812. On this day, the Church celebrates in memory of the miraculous deliverance from the hordes of Tamerlane. Therefore, although in the 19th century Julian August 12 corresponded September 7(and it was this day that was fixed in the Soviet tradition as the date of the Battle of Borodino), for Orthodox people the glorious feat of the Russian army was accomplished on the day of the Presentation - that is 8 September according to n.st.

It is hardly possible to overcome the trend that has become generally accepted in secular publications, namely: to transfer dates according to the old style according to the norms adopted for the Gregorian calendar in the era corresponding to the event. However, in church publications, one should rely on the living calendar tradition of the Orthodox Church and, taking the dates of the Julian calendar as a basis, recalculate them to civil style according to the current rule. Strictly speaking, the "new style" did not exist until February 1918 (it's just that different countries had different calendars). Therefore, it is possible to speak of dates “according to the new style” only in relation to contemporary practice when it is necessary to convert the Julian date to the civil calendar.

Thus, the dates of the events of Russian history before 1918 should be given according to the Julian calendar, indicating in brackets the corresponding date of the modern civil calendar - as is done for all church holidays. For instance: December 25, 1XXX (January 7, N.S.).

If it's a date international event, which was already dated by contemporaries by a double date, such a date can be indicated through a slash. For instance: August 26 / September 7, 1812 (September 8 NS).

- a number system for long periods of time, based on the periodicity of the visible movements of 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 accounted for more and more early dates. Particularly strong discontent was caused by the constant shift in the date of Easter, associated with the spring equinox. In 325, the Nicene Council issued a decree on a single date for Easter for the entire 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.

The Gregorian calendar was introduced at different times in different countries. 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 the October Revolution of 1917 - from February 14, 1918. The 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 regular nor leap years 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 UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), but the final decision on the issue 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

We use the calendar all our lives. This seemingly simple table of numbers with the days of the week has a very ancient and rich history. Civilizations known to us already then knew how to divide the year into months and days. For example, in ancient egypt, based on the laws of the movement of the moon and Sirius, a calendar was created. The year was approximately 365 days and was divided into twelve months, which, in turn, were divided into thirty days.

Innovator Julius Caesar

Around 46 BC. e. there was a transformation of the chronology. Roman emperor Julius Caesar created the Julian calendar. It was slightly different from the Egyptian one: the fact is that instead of the Moon and Sirius, the sun was taken as the basis. Now the year was 365 days and six hours. The beginning of the new time was considered the first of January, but Christmas began to be celebrated on January 7th.

In connection with this reform, the senate decided to thank the emperor by naming one month after him, which we know as "July". After the death of Julius Caesar, the priests began to confuse the months, the number of days - in a word, old calendar no longer looked like new. Every third year was considered a leap year. From 44 to 9 BC there were 12 leap years, which was not true.

After the emperor Octavian Augustus came to power, there were no leap years for sixteen years, so everything fell into place, and the situation with the chronology improved. In honor of Emperor Octavian, the eighth month was renamed from Sextilis to August.

When the question arose about the appointment of the celebration of Easter day, disagreements began. It was this question that was decided at the Ecumenical Council. The rules that were established at this Council, no one has the right to change to this day.

Innovator Gregory XIII

In 1582, Gregory XIII replaced the Julian calendar with the Gregorian one.. The movement of the vernal equinox was main reason changes. It was according to him that the day of Easter was calculated. At the time when the Julian calendar was introduced, March 21 was considered this day, but around the 16th century the difference between the tropical and Julian calendar was about 10 days, therefore, March 21 was replaced by 11.

In 1853, in Constantinople, the Council of the Patriarchs criticized and condemned the Gregorian calendar, according to which the Catholic Bright Sunday was celebrated before Jewish Easter, which was contrary to established rules Ecumenical Councils.

Differences between old and new style

So, how is the Julian calendar different from the Gregorian?

Unlike the Gregorian, the Julian was adopted much earlier and is 1,000 years older.
At the moment, the old style (Julian) is used to calculate the celebration of Easter day among Orthodox Christians.
The chronology created by Gregory is much more accurate than the previous one and will not be subject to change in the future.
Leap year according to the old style - this is every fourth year.
In Gregorian, leap years are not those years that are divisible by four and end in two zeros.
Everyone is marked according to the new style church holidays.

As we can see, between the Julian calendar and Gregorian difference obvious not only by calculations, but also by popularity.

An interesting question arises. What calendar are we living on now?

The Russian Orthodox Church uses the Julian, which was adopted during the Ecumenical Council, while the Catholics use the Gregorian. Hence the difference in the dates of the celebration of the Nativity of Christ and Easter. Orthodox Christians celebrate Christmas on January 7, following the decision of the Ecumenical Council, and Catholics on December 25.

These two chronologies have received names - the old and the new style of the calendar.

The area where the old style is used is not very large: the Serbian, Georgian, Jerusalem Orthodox Churches.

As we can see, after the introduction of the new style, the life of Christians around the world has changed. Many gladly accepted the changes and began to live according to it. But there are also those Christians who are faithful to the old style and live according to it even now, albeit in very small numbers.

There will always be disagreements between Orthodox and Catholics, and this is not connected with the old or new style of reckoning. Julian and Gregorian calendars - the difference is not in faith, but in the desire to use one or another calendar.

With the measurement of some quantities, no problems arise. When it comes to length, volume, weight - no one has any disagreements. But one has only to touch upon the measurement of time, and one immediately encounters 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.

The difference between Catholic and Orthodox holidays

It's no secret to anyone that Catholics celebrate Christmas not on January 7, like the Orthodox, but on December 25. With the rest Christian holidays the matter is the same.

A whole series of questions arise:

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

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

However, history is written by the victors, and we will never know how “ barbaric were the 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 he decided to introduce new calendar - Julian .

What calendars and for how long did you use them?

You can’t refuse the ruler’s modesty, but he made too much contribution to the history of the whole world to be criticized on trifles. Suggested calendar:

It was much more accurate than the previous versions.
All years consisted of 365 days.
In every fourth year there was 1 more day.
The calendar was consistent with the 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 XIV century a new calendar was introduced, this was facilitated by the then Pope - Gregory XIII. This version of the reference was reduced to the fact that:

In a normal year there are 365 days. A leap year still 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 did it have to change something, could it really not be possible to leave everything as it is? The fact is that according to astronomers, The Julian calendar is not entirely accurate..

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

How is the Julian calendar different from the Gregorian calendar?

Fundamental differences between the two calendars are that:

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

What can lead to an error of a few days?

But is it really so important to observe this accuracy, maybe it is better to pay tribute to traditions? What terrible thing will happen if the calendar shifts by 4 days in five centuries, 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 disperse at least for a day.

Just imagine that warming comes already in February, the first flowering begins. But with all this, the ancestors describe February as a harsh and frosty winter month.

Here, a slight misunderstanding may already arise, what is happening with nature and the planet? Especially if in November there are snowdrifts instead of fallen leaves. And in October, the colorful foliage on the trees does not please the eye, because all of it has long been rotting on the ground. This seems insignificant at first glance, when the margin of error is only 24 hours in 128 years.

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

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

Significant features of the calendars

Distinguishing between two calendars:

A more accurate measurement using the Gregorian.
Irrelevance of the Julian calendar: except Orthodox Church almost no one uses it.
The universal use of the Gregorian calendar.
Throwing out 10 days of delay and introducing a new rule - all years ending in 00 and not divisible by 4 are no longer leap years.
Thanks to this, the difference between the calendars is inexorably increasing. For 3 days every 400 years.
Julian was adopted by Julius Caesar, 2 thousand years ago.
Gregorian is more "young", he is not even five hundred years old. It was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII.

What are the Julian and Gregorian calendars, the difference between them and the reasons for their introduction can be known for general development. V real life this information will never be useful. Unless, if 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 in terms of religion and mathematics: