When the calendar appeared in a new style. School encyclopedia

Gregorian calendar was introduced Pope Gregory XIII in catholic countries October 4, 1582 replacing the old Julian: the next day after Thursday, October 4th, was Friday, October 15th.

Reasons for the transition to the Gregorian calendar

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

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

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

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

The new calendar has a new, more precise leap year rule. A leap year, that is, it contains 366 days, if:

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

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

Switching to the Gregorian calendar

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

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

Orthodox calendar. How did the old and the new style come about? As you know, the Russian Orthodox Church uses the Julian calendar in its divine services, while Russian state, together with most countries, has been using the Gregorian calendar for some time now. At the same time, both in the Church itself and in society, from time to time, voices are heard calling for a transition to a new style.

The arguments of the defenders of the Julian calendar, which can be found in the Orthodox press, basically boil down to two. The first argument is that the Julian calendar is sanctified by centuries of use in the Church, and there is no compelling reason to abandon it. The second argument: in the transition to a "new style" with the preservation of traditional Easter (the system for calculating the date of the Easter holiday), many incongruities arise, and violations of the liturgical charter are inevitable.

Both of these arguments are for the believer an orthodox person quite convincing. However, they do not seem to relate to the Julian calendar as such. After all, the Church did not create a new calendar, but adopted the one that already existed in the Roman Empire. What if the calendar were different? Perhaps, then, it was the other calendar that would have been consecrated by the liturgical use, and it was with its consideration that the Passover would have been compiled?

This article is an attempt to consider some aspects of the calendar problem, providing the reader with material for independent reflection. The author does not consider it necessary to hide his sympathy for the Julian calendar, but realizes that it is impossible to prove its advantage in any way. Just as the superiority of the liturgical Church Slavonic language over Russian or the icons of St. Andrei Rublev in front of Raphael's painting.

The presentation will be conducted in three stages: first, brief conclusions, then a more detailed mathematical justification and, finally, a short historical sketch.

Any natural phenomenon can be used to measure time and compile a calendar if it is uniformly and periodically repeated: change of day and night, change of phases of the moon, seasons, etc. All these phenomena are associated with certain astronomical objects. In the book of Genesis we read: And God said: let there be lights in the firmament of heaven for ... times, and days, and years ... And God created two great lights: a greater one to rule the day, and a lesser one, to govern the night, and the stars(Genesis 1, 14-16). The Julian calendar is compiled just taking into account the three main astronomical objects - the Sun, the Moon and the stars. This gives reason to consider it a truly biblical calendar.

Unlike the Julian calendar, the Gregorian calendar takes into account only one object - the Sun. It is designed in such a way that the point of the vernal equinox (when the lengths of day and night are equal) would deviate as slowly as possible from the date of March 21. At the same time, the connection of the calendar with the Moon and the stars was destroyed; in addition, the calendar became more complicated and lost its rhythm (in comparison with the Julian).

Consider one property of the Julian calendar that has been most criticized. In the Julian calendar, the vernal equinox moves backwards along calendar dates at a rate of about 1 day in 128 years. (In general, the difference between the Julian and Gregorian dates is currently 13 days and increases by 3 days every 400 years.) This means, for example, that the day of the celebration of the Nativity of Christ, December 25, will eventually move to spring. But, firstly, this will happen in about 6,000 years, and secondly, and now in the southern hemisphere, Christmas is celebrated not even in spring, but in summer (since December, January and February are summer months there).

Taking into account all of the above, we can conclude that the statement "the Gregorian calendar is more accurate than the Julian" is far from indisputable. Everything here is determined by the accuracy criteria, and they can be different.

To substantiate the above statements, we present some astronomical and arithmetic reasoning and facts.

One of the main periods of time for us is the year. But it turns out that there are several different "types" of the year. Let us mention two that are most important for our consideration.

• Sidereal, or stellar, year. This is what they mean when they say that the Sun passes through twelve zodiacal signs in a year. For example, St. Basil the Great (IV century) in his "Conversations on the Six Days" writes: "The solar year is the return of the Sun, due to its own movement, from famous mark into the same sign. "
• Tropical year. It takes into account the changing seasons on Earth.

The Julian year averages 365.25 days, that is, it lies between the sidereal and tropical years. The Gregorian year averages 365.2425 days, it is very close to the tropical one.

In order to better understand the aesthetics and logic of the calendar, it is useful to highlight some of the problems that arise when creating it. Strictly speaking, the construction of the calendar includes two fairly independent procedures. The first is empirical: the duration of astronomical cycles should be measured as accurately as possible. (Note that the durations of the sidereal and tropical years were found with great accuracy in the 2nd century BC by the Greek astronomer Hipparchus.) The second procedure is already purely theoretical: based on the observations made, compose a time measurement system that, on the one hand, it would deviate as little as possible from the chosen space landmarks, and on the other hand, it would not be very cumbersome and complicated.

Suppose, for example, you want to create a calendar based on a tropical year (after measuring the duration of the last - 365.24220 days). It is clear that each year of such a calendar should contain either 365 or 366 days (in the latter case, the year is called a leap year). At the same time, we must try to ensure that, firstly, the average number of days in a year is as close as possible to 365.2422 and, secondly, so that the rule of alternating simple and leap years is as simple as possible. In other words, you need to define a cycle with a duration of N years, of which M will be leap years. In this case, firstly, the fraction m / n should be as close to 0.2422 as possible, and secondly, the number N should be as small as possible.

These two requirements contradict each other, since accuracy is achieved only at the cost of increasing the number N. simple solution the problem is the fraction 1/4, on which the Julian calendar is based. The cycle consists of four years, every fourth year (the ordinal number of which is evenly divisible by 4) is a leap year. The Julian year averages 365.25 days, which is 0.0078 days longer duration tropical year. In this case, the error in one day accumulates over 128 years (0.0078 x 128 ~ 1).

The Gregorian calendar is based on the fraction 97/400, i.e. there are 97 leap years in a 400-year cycle. Leap years are considered to be years, the ordinal number of which is either divisible by 4 and not divisible by 100, or is divisible by 400. The Gregorian year averages 365.2425 days, which is 0.0003 days longer than the duration of the tropical year. In this case, the error in one day accumulates over 3333 years (0.0003 x 3333 ~ 1).

From the above, it can be seen that the advantage of the Gregorian calendar over the Julian calendar is controversial even as it is oriented only to a tropical year - accuracy is achieved at the cost of complication.

Let us now consider the Julian and Gregorian calendars from the point of view of correlation with the Moon.

The change in the phases of the moon corresponds to a synodic, or lunar, month, which is 29.53059 days. During this time, all phases of the moon change - new moon, first quarter, full moon, last quarter. A whole number of months does not fit into one year without a remainder, therefore, to build almost all operating lunisolar calendars, a 19-year cycle was used, bearing the name of the Greek astronomer Meton (5th century BC). In this cycle, the relation

19 years ~ 235 synodic months,

that is, if the beginning of a certain year coincides with the appearance of a new moon in the sky, then this coincidence will also take place in 19 years.

If the year is Gregorian (365.2425 days), then the error of the Metonian cycle is

235 x 29.53059 - 19 x 365.2425 ~ 0.08115.

For the Julian year (365.25 days), the error is less, namely

235 x 29.53059 - 19 x 365.25 ~ 0.06135.

Thus, we find that the Julian calendar is better correlated with the changes in the phases of the moon (see also: Klimishin I.A. ).

In general, the Julian calendar is a combination of simplicity, rhythm (a cycle lasting only 4 years), harmony (correlation immediately with the Sun, Moon and stars). It is also appropriate to mention its practicality: the same number of days in each century and the continuous counting of time over two millennia (disrupted by the transition to the Gregorian calendar) simplify astronomical and chronological calculations.

Two surprising circumstances are associated with the Julian calendar. The first astronomical circumstance is the closeness of the fractional part of the length of the year (both sidereal and tropical) to such a simple fraction 1/4 (we suggest that the reader, familiar with methods of testing statistical hypotheses, calculate the corresponding probability). However, the second circumstance is even more surprising - for all its merits, the Julian calendar was never used anywhere until the 1st century. BC

The predecessor of the Julian calendar can be considered the calendar used in Egypt for many centuries. In the Egyptian calendar, each year contained exactly 365 days. Of course, the error of this calendar was very large. For about one and a half thousand years, the day of the vernal equinox "ran" all the numbers of the calendar year (which consisted of 12 months of 30 days and five additional days).

About 1700 BC the northern part of the Nile Delta fell under the rule of the nomadic Hyksos tribes. One of the Hyksos rulers who made up the 15th dynasty of Egypt carried out a calendar reform. After 130 years, the Hyksos were expelled, the traditional calendar was restored, and since then, each pharaoh, ascending the throne, took an oath not to change the length of the year.

In 238 BC, Ptolemy III Everget, a descendant of one of the military leaders of Alexander the Great, who ruled in Egypt, tried to reform, adding an extra day every 4 years. This would make the Egyptian calendar almost identical to the Julian one. However, according to unknown reasons the reform was not carried out.

And now the time of the incarnation of God and the founding of the Church approached. Some of the participants in the events described by the evangelists have already walked the land of Palestine. From January 1, 45 BC, a new calendar was introduced in the Roman Empire by order of Gaius Julius Caesar (100-44). This calendar, now called Julian, was developed by a group of Alexandrian astronomers led by Sosigenes. From then until the 16th century, that is, approximately 1600 years, Europe lived according to the Julian calendar.

In order not to deviate from our topic, we will not consider calendar systems. different countries and peoples. Note that some of them are rather unfortunate (one of the worst, it seems, was the calendar used in the Roman Empire before the introduction of the Julian). We will mention only one calendar, which is interesting in that the calendar year in it is closer to the tropical one than in the Gregorian one created later. From 1079 to the middle of the XIX century. Iran had a Persian calendar developed by a commission led by the scientist and poet Omar Khayyam (1048-1123). The Persian calendar is based on the fraction 8/33, that is, the cycle is 33 years, of which 8 are leap years. Leap years were the 3rd, 7th, 11th, 15th, 20th, 24th, 28th and 32nd years of the cycle. The average length of a year in the Persian calendar is 365.24242 days, which is 0.00022 more than in the tropical one. The error in one day accumulates over 4545 years (0.00022 x 4545 ~ 1).

In 1582, the Gregorian calendar was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII. During the transition from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian, 10 days were thrown away, that is, after October 4, October 15 went immediately. The calendar reform of 1582 caused many protests (in particular, almost all universities spoke out against it Western Europe). Nevertheless, for obvious reasons, Catholic countries almost immediately switched to the Gregorian calendar. The Protestants did this gradually (for example, Great Britain - only in 1752).

In November 1917, immediately after the Bolsheviks seized power in Russia, the question of the calendar was brought up for discussion by the Council of People's Commissars and the RSFSR. On January 24, 1918, the "Decree on the introduction of the Western European calendar in the Russian Republic" was adopted.

Local Orthodox Churches adhered to the Julian calendar until the 1920s, when the Ecumenical (Constantinople) Patriarchate rejected it. The main purpose of this decision was apparently to celebrate Christian holidays together with Catholics and Protestants.

Over the next decades, the new style was adopted by most of the Local Churches, and the formal transition was made not to the Gregorian, but to the so-called New Julian calendar based on the fraction 218/900. However, until 2800, it completely coincides with the Gregorian.

The unity of the Local Orthodox Churches is expressed in the joint celebration of the Easter of Christ and the so-called passing holidays associated with it (the only exception is the Finnish Orthodox Church, which celebrates Easter on the same day as Western Christians). The date of Easter is calculated according to a special lunisolar calendar, inextricably linked with the Julian one. In general, the method of calculating the date of Easter is the most important point in comparing the Julian and Gregorian calendars as church calendars. However, this topic, which requires both scientific and theological consideration, is beyond the scope of this article. We only note that the creators of the Orthodox Easter achieved the same goal as the creators of the Julian calendar - the greatest possible simplicity with a reasonable level of accuracy.

Alexander Chkhartishvili

Wikipedia

As in other Christian countries, from the end of the 10th century in Russia the Julian calendar was used, based on observations of the apparent movement of the Sun across the sky. Introduced him into Ancient Rome Guy Julius Caesar in 46 BC NS.

The calendar was developed by the Alexandrian astronomer Sozigen based on the calendar of Ancient Egypt. When Russia adopted Christianity in the 10th century, the Julian calendar came with it. However, the average length of a year in the Julian calendar is 365 days and 6 hours (i.e. there are 365 days in a year, and an extra day is added every fourth year). While the duration of the astronomical solar year is 365 days 5 hours 48 minutes and 46 seconds. That is, the Julian year was 11 minutes 14 seconds longer than the astronomical year and, therefore, lagged behind the real change of years.

By 1582, the difference between the Julian calendar and the actual change of years was already 10 days.

This led to the reform of the calendar, which was carried out in 1582 by a special commission created by Pope Gregory XIII. The difference was eliminated when, after October 4, 1582, it was ordered to count not October 5, but immediately on October 15. In the name of the pope, the new, reformed calendar came to be called the Gregorian calendar.

In this calendar, unlike the Julian calendar, the ending year of the century, if it is not divisible by 400, is not a leap year. Thus, the Gregorian calendar has 3 leap years less than the Julian calendar every 400 years. The Gregorian calendar retained the name of the months of the Julian calendar, an additional day in leap year- February 29 and the beginning of the year - January 1.

The transition of the countries of the world to the Gregorian calendar was long. First, the reform took place in Catholic countries (Spain, Italian states, the Commonwealth, a little later in France, etc.), then in Protestant (in Prussia in 1610, in all German states by 1700, in Denmark in 1700, in Great Britain in 1752, in Sweden in 1753). And only in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries the Gregorian calendar was adopted in some Asian (in Japan in 1873, China in 1911, Turkey in 1925) and Orthodox (in Bulgaria in 1916, in Serbia in 1919, in Greece in 1924 year) states.

In the RSFSR, the transition to the Gregorian calendar was carried out by the decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR "On the introduction of the Western European calendar in the Russian Republic" dated February 6, 1918 (January 26, old style).

The calendar problem in Russia has been discussed many times. In 1899, the Astronomical Society had a Commission on the Reform of the Calendar in Russia, which included Dmitry Mendeleev and the historian Vasily Bolotov. The Commission proposed to modernize the Julian calendar.

“Taking into account: 1) that in 1830 the petition of the Imperial Academy of Sciences to introduce the Gregorian calendar in Russia was rejected by Emperor Nicholas I and 2) that the Orthodox states and the entire Orthodox population of the East and West rejected the attempts of representatives of Catholicism to introduce the Gregorian calendar in Russia, the Commission unanimously decided to reject all proposals on the introduction of the Gregorian calendar in Russia and, not hesitating to choose a reform, to stop at one that would combine the idea of ​​truth and possible accuracy, both scientific and historical, in relation to the Christian chronology in Russia, "reads Resolution of the Commission on the Reform of the Calendar in Russia from 1900.

Such a long-term use of the Julian calendar in Russia was due to the position of the Orthodox Church, which had a negative attitude towards the Gregorian calendar.

After the church was separated from the state in the RSFSR, the link between the civil calendar and the church calendar lost its relevance.

The difference in calendars created inconveniences in relations with Europe, which was the reason for the adoption of the decree "in order to establish in Russia the same reckoning of time with almost all cultural peoples."

The question of reform was raised in the fall of 1917. One of the projects under consideration proposed a gradual transition from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar, dropping days each year. But, since the difference between the calendars at that time was 13 days, the transition would take 13 years. Therefore, Lenin supported the option of a one-time transition to a new style. The church refused to switch to the new style.

“The first day after January 31 of this year is not counted as February 1, but February 14, the second day is to be counted as 15, etc.,” read the first paragraph of the decree. The rest of the paragraphs indicated how to calculate the new deadlines for the fulfillment of any obligations and in what numbers citizens will be able to receive a salary.

The change of dates has created confusion with the celebration of Christmas. Before the transition to the Gregorian calendar in Russia, Christmas was celebrated on December 25, but now it has moved to January 7. As a result of these changes, in 1918 there was no Christmas at all in Russia. In 1917, we celebrated the last Christmas, which fell on December 25. And next time Orthodox holiday was celebrated already on January 7, 1919.

The citizens of the Soviet country, having gone to bed on January 31, 1918, woke up on February 14. The "Decree on the Introduction of the Western European Calendar in the Russian Republic" came into force. Bolshevik Russia switched to the so-called new, or civil, style of time reckoning, which coincided with the Church Gregorian calendar, which was 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 at different times) occurred in the 16th century, when Pope Gregory XIII undertook another reform that replaced the Julian style with the Gregorian one. The purpose of the reform was to correct the growing difference between the astronomical year and the calendar year.

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 reckoning of time that is the same with almost all cultural peoples." The first envisioned a gradual transition to the Gregorian calendar, dropping 24 hours each year. This would take 13 years. The second envisaged doing it in one fell swoop. It was he who liked the leader of the world proletariat, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, who surpassed the current ideologue of multiculturalism Angela Merkel in globalist projects.

Competently

The historian of religion Alexei Yudin - about how christian churches celebrate Christmas:

First, let's make it clear right away: to say that someone is celebrating December 25, and someone on January 7 is incorrect. Everyone celebrates Christmas on the 25th, but on different calendars. In the next hundred years, from my point of view, no unification of the celebration of Christmas can 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 extremely negatively perceived in Europe, especially in Protestant countries, where the reformation was already firmly established. The Protestants were opposed primarily because "it was planned in Rome." And this city in the XVI century was no longer the center of Christian Europe.

The Red Army men take church property out of the Simonov Monastery (1925) at a subbotnik. Photo: Wikipedia.org

The reform of the calendar, if desired, can, of course, be called a schism, meaning 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, papal, and therefore unusable. Gradually, however, the Protestant countries adopted it, but the transition process took centuries. This was the case in the west. The East did not pay attention to the reform of Pope Gregory XIII.

The Soviet republic switched to a new style, but this, unfortunately, was associated with revolutionary events in Russia, the Bolsheviks, of course, did not think about any Pope Gregory XIII, they simply considered the new style the most adequate to their worldview. And the Russian Orthodox Church has an additional trauma.

In 1923, on 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 decree was quickly canceled.

As you can see, there were several stages of searching for a match on calendar grounds. But this did not lead to the final result. So far, in a serious church discussion, this issue is generally absent.

Does the Church fear another split? Certainly, some ultra-conservative groups within the Church will say: "We betrayed the sacred time." Any Church is a very conservative institution, especially with regard to everyday life and liturgical practices. And they run into the calendar. And the church-administrative resource in such matters is ineffective.

Every Christmas, the topic of the transition to the Gregorian calendar comes 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 did not mix it with the Gregorian, so that there was no confusion in the holidays. We have a unified calendar system that is tied to Easter. If we switch to celebrating, say, Christmas according to the Gregorian calendar, then two weeks are "eaten" (remember, in 1918, after January 31, it was February 14), each day of which carries a special meaning 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 time progression system that is tied to the gospel. Every day, excerpts from this book are read, in which there is logic associated with gospel story and earthly life 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 break it.

A believer has a very ascetic life. The world can change, we see how many opportunities appear before our eyes, for example, for recreation during the secular New Year holidays. But the Church, as one of our rock performers sang, "will not cave in under the changing world." Dependent on our ski resort church life we will not.

The Bolsheviks introduced a new calendar "in order to reckon time with almost all cultural peoples." Photo: Publishing project of Vladimir Lisin "Days of 1917 100 years ago"