In the early Middle Ages, Western Europe used a calendar based on liturgical feasts in an effort to remove all forms of paganism from its dating system. The Romans had three major chronological reference points in their calendar: the first Olympiad, the foundation of Rome, and the start of the Julian calendar. The Church challengned these Roman methods with dates of their own. August 29, 284 represented the beginning of the era of Diocletian, and from there, dates were calculated based on the office of the last serving consul. The Roman calendar would pick three days of each month and use those to calculate dates: the first day of the month being Calends of Kalends, Nones the fifth or seventh day, the Ides on the 13th or 15th day, etc. These days would vary from month to month.
For the Christian calendar, the monk Dionysius Exiguous used the birth of Christ as the focal point: December 25th of year 1. Dionysius calculated this date based on text from the gospel of Luke, though it’s likely the Catholic Church chose the date as the birth of Christ to supplant the pagan holiday of the Winter Solstice.
This early Christian calendar only took into account events that occurred after the birth of Christ. Events prior to this date were calculated based on information from the Bible going all the way back to Genesis. This system of dating was not generally accepted until Bede began to use it. After Bede’s acceptance, the Anglo-Saxons embraced it, followed by France in the late eighth century, Germany in the ninth century, and the papacy in the tenth century. December 25th of year 1 would not become the focal point of events pre-Christ (BC or BCE) until sometime in the 17th century.
Additional Reading:
A. Allan McArthur, The Evolution of the Christian Year (London: SCM Press, 1955); Azriel Eisenberg, The Story of the Jewish Calendar (London: Abelard-Schuman, 1958).
Source:
English, Edward D. “Calendars during the Middle Ages.” Encyclopedia of the Medieval World, vol. 1. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2005. Ancient and Medieval History Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?
ItemID=WE49&iPin=EMW0272&SingleRecord=True (accessed February 3, 2009).
Just out of curiousity…
Do you typically use BCE or simply BC when you refer to ancient dates?
Personally, I’ve always preferred the more traditional method with BC, but I suppose secular scholars are beginning to look down on that now. Oh well.
Thanks!
Zach – I believe the more modern approach is to use BCE, but personally, I use both. It doesn’t matter so much to me.
Hi Steven, Nice explanation of the calendar. Would you consider including the hours (nones, terce, etc.)? I can never remember them, but found it interesting that, in lieu of clocks, they made up terms to identify the time of day.
Hi Loretta, thanks for stopping by my site. I actually did a post on the Canonical Hours last September that might be what you’re looking for. Here is the link: https://steventill.com/2008/09/09/the-canonical-hours/. Let me know if that helps or not.
That’s exactly it, Steven. Thank you!
You’re very welcome!