IIGS™ Newsletter - May/June 1999
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IIGS™ Newsletter - May/June 1999
Calendars are considered by some to be the first real accomplishment of humankind. From that first ability to measure time, ancient people developed other kinds of measurement. The Egyptians used a calendar as long ago as 4236 B.C. The Babylonians, the Greeks, the Romans---each developed their own calendar based upon what they knew of the earth's relationship to the sun and the moon.Genealogy would be an impossible task without calendars. There would be no sense in locating ancestors who lived three hundred years ago if we had no concept of "year." Unfortunately, calendars also can make the genealogical task tougher.
Each of the ancients developed their own unique calendars. The Babylonian year was divided into twelve months of twenty-nine or thirty days each. Because their calendar did not account for the six days they lost each year, the Babylonians threw in an extra month every several years to--so to speak--make up for lost time.
The Greek calendar was similar to the Babylonian calendar in terms of number of months per year, but the Greeks alternated the length of their months---twenty-nine days in one month and thirty in the next. So every other year they added an extra month to balance things out.
The first Roman calendar had ten months while later Roman calendars had twelve. The Romans not only struggled with coordinating calendar divisions with the earth's revolution around the sun and the appearance of the full moon, but they used it for political purposes. If, for example, they needed to raise more taxes, they would just add a month to the calendar year.
The year under the Julian calendar, named after Julius Caesar who ordered it in 46 B.C., had 365 1/4 days, slightly more than ten minutes shorter than the solar year. In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII tried to correct the deficiencies in the Julian calendar. The Gregorian calendar is still in use today.
It is important for genealogists to understand, however, that the Gregorian calendar was not adopted by every nation and still isn't today. Most Catholic countries adopted the Gregorian, or New Style, calendar almost immediately in 1582, but non-Catholic countries tended to stick with the Julian, or Old Style, calendar. Nations adopted the Gregorian calendar slowly and even reluctantly.
England didn't adopt the Gregorian calendar until 1752. Adoption of the New Style calendar meant that eleven days were lost. For example, George Washington was born on February 11 under the Julian calendar and on February 22 under the Gregorian calendar. Russia adopted the Gregorian calendar in 1918 and the Greek Orthodox Church finally adopted it in 1923.
Genealogists need to remember, too, that in some countries adoption of the Gregorian calendar sometimes occurred at different times in different sections of the country. National boundaries were particularly fluid during the time that the Gregorian calendar came into being.
For example, before 1871 Germany consisted of a number of nearly autonomous principalities. New Style calendar adoption dates in Germany range anywhere from 1582 to 1700. Turkey adopted the calendar in 1921 while Japan adopted it in 1873.
To make matters really confusing, consider that the French introduced the French Republican Calendar in 1792. By 1806, it was no longer in use. Places all over the world under the control of France during those years would have been using the French Republican Calendar. Areas of Germany, Africa, the Orient and the Americas would be affected.
You can find Gregorian calendar adoption dates at http://hwins.uia.ac.be/u/pavp/cal2.html
Lest you think the Gregorian calendar solved all the inconsistencies of earlier calendars, consider this: The solar year is growing shorter. As a result, the Gregorian calendar is about 26.3 seconds longer than the solar year now and the difference increases about a half second every century. By 4316, the calendar will be one full day longer than the solar year!
For an explanation of the French Republican Calendar
http://hwins.uia.ac.be/u/pavp/cal8.htmlCalendar Stories
http://hwins.uia.ac.be/u/pavp/calendars.htmlTerry Day's column on calendars in the Tri-City Herald
http://www.tri-cityherald.com/genealogy/DAY/day8.htmlGregorian Calendar
http://www.greenheart.com/billh/gregory.htmlCalendar Change Oddities
http://hwins.uia.ac.be/u/pavp/cal1.html