Old New Year or how the Gregorian calendar differs from the Julian calendar. Gregorian calendar: history of origin and main characteristics

God created the world outside of time, the change of day and night, seasons allows people to put their time in order. For this purpose, humanity invented the calendar, a system for calculating the days of the year. The main reason for switching to another calendar was disagreement about the celebration the most important day for Christians - Easter.

Julian calendar

Once upon a time, back during the reign of Julius Caesar, in 45 BC. The Julian calendar appeared. The calendar itself was named after the ruler. It was the astronomers of Julius Caesar who created a chronology system based on the time of successive passage of the equinox by the Sun , therefore the Julian calendar was a “solar” calendar.

This system was the most accurate for those times; each year, not counting leap years, contained 365 days. In addition, the Julian calendar did not contradict the astronomical discoveries of those years. For fifteen hundred years, no one could offer this system a worthy analogy.

Gregorian calendar

However, at the end of the 16th century, Pope Gregory XIII proposed a different chronology system. What was the difference between the Julian and Gregorian calendars, if there was no difference in the number of days between them? Every fourth year was no longer considered a leap year by default, as in the Julian calendar. According to the Gregorian calendar, if a year ended in 00 but was not divisible by 4, it was not a leap year. So 2000 was a leap year, but 2100 will no longer be a leap year.

Pope Gregory XIII was based on the fact that Easter should be celebrated only on Sunday, and according to the Julian calendar, Easter fell on each time different days weeks. 24 February 1582 the world learned about the Gregorian calendar.

Popes Sixtus IV and Clement VII also advocated reform. The work on the calendar, among others, was carried out by the Jesuit order.

Julian and Gregorian calendars – which is more popular?

The Julian and Gregorian calendars continued to exist together, but in most countries of the world it is the Gregorian calendar that is used, and the Julian remains for calculating Christian holidays.

Russia was among the last to adopt the reform. In 1917, immediately after the October Revolution, the “obscurantist” calendar was replaced with a “progressive” one. In 1923, they tried to transfer the Russian Orthodox Church to the “new style,” but even with pressure on His Holiness Patriarch Tikhon, there was a categorical refusal from the Church. Orthodox Christians, guided by the instructions of the apostles, calculate holidays according to the Julian calendar. Catholics and Protestants count holidays according to the Gregorian calendar.

The issue of calendars is also a theological issue. Despite the fact that Pope Gregory XIII considered the main issue to be astronomical and not religious, later discussions appeared about the correctness of a particular calendar in relation to the Bible. In Orthodoxy, it is believed that the Gregorian calendar violates the sequence of events in the Bible and leads to canonical violations: Apostolic rules do not allow the celebration of Holy Easter before the Jewish Passover. Go to new calendar would mean the destruction of Easter. Scientist-astronomer Professor E.A. Predtechensky in his work “Church Time: Reckoning and Critical Review” existing rules definitions of Easter" noted: “This collective work (Editor's note - Easter), in all likelihood by many unknown authors, was carried out in such a way that it still remains unsurpassed. The later Roman Paschal, now accepted western church, is, in comparison with the Alexandrian one, so ponderous and clumsy that it resembles a popular print next to an artistic depiction of the same subject. Despite all this, this terribly complex and clumsy machine does not yet achieve its intended goal.”. In addition, toe Holy Fire at the Holy Sepulcher is celebrated on Holy Saturday according to the Julian calendar.

During times Ancient Rome it was accepted that debtors pay interest in the first days of the month. This day had a special name - the day of the Kalends, and the Latin calendarium is translated literally as “debt book”. But the Greeks did not have such a date, so the Romans ironically said about inveterate debtors that they would repay the loan before the Greek calendar, that is, never. This expression subsequently became popular around the world. Nowadays, the Gregorian calendar is almost universally used to calculate large periods of time. What are its features and what is its construction principle - this is exactly what will be discussed in our article.

How did the Gregorian calendar come about?

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

Transition to the Gregorian calendar

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

Prospects

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

We have been using a calendar all our lives. This seemingly simple table of numbers with days of the week has a very ancient and rich history. The civilizations known to us already knew how to divide the year into months and days. For example, in ancient Egypt, based on the pattern of movement of the Moon and Sirius, a calendar was created. A 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 chronology. The 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 a basis. The year was now 365 days and six hours. The first of January was considered the beginning of the new time, and Christmas began to be celebrated on January 7.

In connection with this reform, the Senate decided to thank the emperor by naming one month in his honor, which we know as “July.” After the death of Julius Caesar, the priests began to confuse the months, the number of days - in one 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 Emperor Octavian Augustus came to power, there were no leap years for sixteen years, so everything returned to normal, and the situation with chronology was corrected. In honor of Emperor Octavian, the eighth month was renamed from Sextilis to Augustus.

When the question arose about the purpose of celebrating Easter, disagreements began. It was this issue that was resolved at the Ecumenical Council. No one has the right to change the rules that were established at this Council to this day.

Innovator Gregory XIII

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

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

Differences between old and new style

So, how does the Julian calendar differ from the Gregorian calendar?

• Unlike Gregorian, Julian was adopted much earlier, and it is 1 thousand years older.
• On at the moment The old style (Julian) is used to calculate the celebration of Easter among Orthodox Christians.
• The chronology created by Gregory is much more accurate than the previous one and will not be subject to changes in the future.
• A leap year according to the old style is every fourth year.
• In Gregorian, years that are divisible by four and end in two zeros are not leap years.
• All church holidays are celebrated according to the new style.

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

Gets up interesting question. What calendar do we live by now?

Russian Orthodox Church uses Julian, which was adopted during the Ecumenical Council, while Catholics use Gregorian. Hence the difference in the dates of celebrating 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 chronology were named - old and new style of calendar.

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

As we see, after the introduction of the new style, the life of Christians around the world changed. Many happily 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 quantities.

There will always be disagreements between Orthodox and Catholics, and this has nothing to do with the old or new style of chronology. The Julian and Gregorian calendars - the difference is not in faith, but in the desire to use one or another calendar.

The Gregorian calendar is the most widely used chronological system today, named after the XII, who insisted on its introduction in the Catholic world. Many people mistakenly believe that it was Gregory who came up with this system, however, this is far from the case. According to one version, the main inspirer of this idea was the Italian doctor Aloysius, who theoretically substantiated the need to change the chronology that existed before this.

The problem of chronology has always been quite acute, because the development of historical science in the country, and even the worldview of ordinary citizens, largely depends on what is taken as the starting point and what a day, month and year are equal to.

There were and are many chronological systems: some take as a basis the movement of the moon around the Earth, others consider the creation of the world to be the starting point, and others consider the departure of Muhammad from Mecca. In many civilizations, each change of ruler led to a change in the calendar. Moreover, one of the main difficulties is that neither an earthly day nor an earthly year lasts for a round number of hours and days; the whole question is - what to do with the remaining balance?

One of the first most successful systems was the so-called one, named after the reign of which it appeared. The main innovation was that one day was added to every fourth year. This year began to be called a leap year.

However, the introduction only temporarily alleviated the problem. On the one hand, it continued, although not as much at a fast pace, as before, discrepancies between calendar year and tropical, and on the other hand, Easter Day fell on different days of the week, although, according to most Catholics, Easter should always fall on Sunday.

In 1582, after numerous calculations and based on clear astronomical calculations, in Western Europe There was a transition to the Gregorian calendar. This year in many European countries immediately after October 4th came the fifteenth.

The Gregorian calendar largely repeats the main provisions of its predecessor: normal year also consists of 365 days, and the leap year - of 366, also the number of days changes only in February - 28 or 29. The main difference is that the Gregorian calendar excludes from the number of leap years all years that are multiples of one hundred, with the exception of those that are divisible by 400. In addition, if according to the Julian calendar the New Year began on the first of September or the first of March, then in the new chronological system it was initially declared on December 1, and then shifted another month.

In Russia, under the influence of the church, a new calendar for a long time they did not recognize it, believing that according to it the entire sequence of evangelical events was disrupted. The Gregorian calendar was introduced in Russia only at the beginning of 1918, when the fourteenth day arrived immediately after the first of February.

Despite its much greater accuracy, the Gregorian system is still imperfect. However, if in the Julian calendar an extra day was formed in 128 years, then in the Gregorian calendar this would require 3200.

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

Difference between Julian and Gregorian calendars

At the time of the introduction of the Gregorian calendar, the difference between it and the Julian calendar was 10 days. However, this difference between Julian and Gregorian calendars gradually increases over time due to differences in the rules for determining leap years. Therefore, when determining which date of the “new calendar” a particular date of the “old calendar” falls on, it is necessary to take into account the century in which the event took place. For example, if in the 14th century this difference was 8 days, then in the 20th century it was already 13 days.

This follows the distribution of leap years:

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

Thus, 1600 and 2000 were leap years, but 1700, 1800 and 1900 were not leap years. Also, 2100 will not be a leap year. An error of one day compared to the year of the equinoxes in the Gregorian calendar will accumulate in approximately 10 thousand years (in the Julian calendar - approximately in 128 years).

Time of approval of the Gregorian calendar

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

Gregorian calendar in Russia

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

Events and documents are dated with a double date in cases where it is necessary to indicate the old and new styles. For example, for anniversary dates, main events in all works of a biographical nature and dates of events and documents on history international relations, associated with countries where the Gregorian calendar was introduced earlier than in Russia.

New style date (Gregorian calendar)