Many times we heard: "old style", "new style", "old style date", "old new year", and such phrases are quite common. How to figure out what is the essence, why did this happen? This article analyzes the new calendar that we use today, how it came about, who invented it, which of the popes reformed the calendar.
Briefly about calendars
There is a hypothesis that the Mayan calendar was the most accurate, but modern scientists have not yet been able to fully decipher and understand it. The ancient Egyptians carefully observed the sun and kept a solar calendar: one solar year they had 365 days, 12 months, and each month exactly thirty days. During the year, five missing days accumulated, they were added at the end of the year “at the behest of the gods.”
The ancient Romans used the lunar calendar, called the months by nameRoman gods, there were 10 months in a year. Later, Caesar introduced the Julian calendar, by analogy with the Egyptian one: he set the beginning of the year on January 1, and made the months 30, 31, 28 days, 29 in a leap year. The Julian calendar began counting from the founding of Rome - from 753 BC. e., it was invented by ancient Roman astronomers, taking into account the movement of the sun, stars and moon. It is customary in Russia to call it the "old calendar".
Which of the popes reformed the calendar
The Julian calendar made mistakes, overtook astronomical time, so every year 11 extra minutes accumulated. The time for the approval of the Gregorian calendar is ripe: by the 16th century, the day of the vernal equinox, when the day and night of the same length - March 21, according to which Easter was considered, moved eleven days forward. The Catholic Church needed a new calendar, they needed to calculate the day of Easter so that it fell on a Sunday near the vernal equinox. The question arises as to which of the popes carried out the reform of the calendar. It is known that the new calendar was developed by the Italian astronomer Luigi Lilio. A thousand years after Julius Caesar, Pope Gregory XIII introduced a new calendar and named it after himself - the Gregorian.
Many European countries immediately followed his example, but there were also those who joined much later: for example, in 1752 - Great Britain, and Greece, Turkey, Egypt - in 1924-1928. The Gregorian calendar has no connection with the moon and stars, it is more complex thanJulian.
Difference between Julian and Gregorian calendars
The Julian calendar is built on the basis of the movement of the sun, stars and moon, and the Gregorian is based only on the sun, so the solar year is also called tropical. Every fourth Julian year is a leap year (29 days in February and 366 days a year), the new method is similar, but there is an exception: if the year is not divisible by 400 and ends in two zeros (for example, 2300, 2200, 2100, 1900, 1800, 1700), then it is not a leap year. For four centuries, the difference between the old and the new style increases by 3 days. Christmas at the beginning coincided with the day of the winter solstice - December 21, but gradually the beginning shifts to spring, in the XX-XXI centuries Catholics celebrate December 25 according to the old style, Orthodox - 13 days later, from 2101 the dates of the holidays will be December 26 and January 8 respectively.
Calendars in Russia
Until the X century in Russia, the New Year began in March (March style), then Russia switched to the Byzantine chronology, the beginning of the year was transferred to September 1 (September style). Russians began to celebrate the New Year twice a year - on March 1 and September 1.
Peter I, imitating the Europeans, moved the new year to January 1, the chronology began to count from the Nativity of Christ. The emperor obliged everyone to congratulate each other on the New Year, give gifts and decorate the house with coniferous trees.
The time of approval of the Gregorian calendar is Soviet. V. I. Lenin signed a decree on this on January 24, 1918year.
But the Russian Orthodox Church did not agree to it, all church holidays come according to the Julian calendar until today. We have two New Year holidays - January 1 (Gregorian style) and January 13 (Julian calendar), Russian people traditionally like to duplicate New Year holidays. According to church canons, Christmas should come earlier than the New Year, believers fast on January 1, fun and food excesses are prohibited, fasting ends on January 7 - the day of Orthodox Christmas. The New Year without festive dishes and a cheerful mood is boring, so it is logically correct to celebrate it on January 13.
Calendars today
Some Asian and Arab countries, Muslims and Buddhists use their own calendars. Thailand, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Laos, Myanmar live according to the Buddhist calendar, in Ethiopia the calendar is 8 years behind. Pakistan, Iran use only the Islamic calendar. In India, different tribes use different timing. In Japan, China, Israel they live according to the Gregorian style, and for religious holidays they use their own calendars. The vast majority of countries use the Gregorian calendar, and few people are interested in which of the popes carried out the reform. The Julian style is used by the Orthodox churches of Jerusalem, Serbia, Georgia, Russia, the Gregorian new - by the Catholic and Protestant churches. The secular world lives according to the Gregorian calendar. It is hoped that the Gregorian style will continue and there will be no more confusion with the calendars.
