When the Gregorian calendar was approved. Julian and Gregorian calendar - how they differ

Humanity has been using chronology since ancient times. Take, for example, the famous Mayan circle that made a lot of noise in 2012. By measuring day by day, calendar pages take weeks, months and years away. Almost all countries in the world today live according to the generally recognized gregorian calendar, however, for many years the state was julian... What is the difference between them, and why is the latter now used only by the Orthodox Church?

Julian calendar

The ancient Romans counted days by lunar phases. Such a simple calendar had 10 months named after the gods. The Egyptians had the usual modern chronology: 365 days, 12 months, 30 days each. In 46 BC. the emperor of ancient Rome Gaius Julius Caesar ordered the leading astronomers to create a new calendar. The solar year with its 365 days and 6 hours was taken as a model, and the starting date was January 1. New way the calculation of days then, in fact, was called the calendar, from the Roman word "kalenda" - that was the name of the first days of each month when interest was paid on debts. To the glory of the ancient Roman commander and politician, in order to perpetuate his name in the history of a grand invention, one of the months was named July.

After the assassination of the emperor, the Roman priests got a little confused and declared every coming third year a leap year in order to equalize the six-hour shift. The calendar was finally aligned under Emperor Octavian Augustus. And his contribution was recorded by the new name of the month - August.

Julian to Gregorian

Centuries after julian calendar the states lived. It was also used by Christians during the First Ecumenical Council, when the date for the celebration of Easter was approved. Interestingly, this day is celebrated differently each year depending on the first full moon after the vernal equinox and the Jewish Passover. This rule could only be changed on pain of anathema, but in 1582 the head of the Catholic Church, Pope Gregory XIII, took a risk. The reform was successful: the new calendar, called the Gregorian, was more accurate and returned the equinox to March 21st. The hierarchs of the Orthodox Church condemned the innovation: it turned out that the Jewish Passover happened later than the Christian Passover. This was not allowed by the canons of the Eastern tradition, and another point appeared in the discrepancies between Catholics and Orthodox.

Chronology in Russia

In 1492 New Year in Russia began to celebrate church tradition September 1, although earlier the New Year began simultaneously with spring and was considered "from the creation of the world." Emperor Peter I established that he received from Byzantium julian calendar within the territory of Russian Empire is valid, however the New Year was now celebrated without fail on 1 January. The Bolsheviks transferred the country to gregorian calendar , on which the whole of Europe has lived for a long time. It is interesting that in this way the then February became the most in a short month in the history of chronology: February 1, 1918 turned into February 14.

FROM Julian to Gregorian calendar in 1924 Greece officially passed, followed by Turkey, and in 1928, Egypt. In our time, according to the Julian chronology, only some Orthodox churches live - Russian, Georgian, Serbian, Polish, Jerusalem, as well as eastern - Coptic, Ethiopian and Greek Catholic. Therefore, there are discrepancies in the celebration of Christmas: Catholics celebrate the birthday of Christ on December 25, and in the Orthodox tradition this holiday falls on January 7. The same with secular holidays - embarrassing foreigners, is celebrated on January 14 as a tribute to the previous calendar. However, it doesn't matter who lives by what calendar: the main thing is not to waste precious days.

Kaluga region, Borovsky district, Petrovo village

Welcome to the ! On January 6, 2019, the magic of Christmas Eve will envelop the entire park, and its visitors will find themselves in a real winter's tale!

All guests of the park will enjoy an exciting thematic program of the park: interactive excursions, craft master classes, street games with mischievous buffoons.

Enjoy the winter views of ETNOMIR and the festive atmosphere!

On which day of September should the New Year be celebrated if we live in the 21st century? When, in terms of our time, Archpriest Avvakum and Boyarnya Morozova were born, when St. Kiril Beloezersky? How to recount the dates of Russian and Western European history, if Russia until 1918 lived according to the Julian calendar? This article has provided answers to these and other questions.

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Julian calendar, developed by a group of Alexandrian astronomers led by Sozigen, was introduced Julius Caesar from January 1, 45 BC e. The year according to the Julian calendar began on January 1, since it was on this day from 153 BC. e. the consuls elected by the People's Assembly took office.

IN Kievan Rus the Julian calendar dates back to Vladimir Svyatoslavovich with the beginning of the introduction of Christianity. For example, the Tale of Bygone Years uses the Julian calendar with Roman month names and the Byzantine era. The chronology was led from the Creation of the world, taking as a basis 5508 BC. e. - the Byzantine version of this date. The beginning of the new year was decided to be calculated from March 1, in accordance with the ancient Slavic calendar.

The Julian calendar, which replaced the old Roman calendar, was known in Kievan Rus under the name of the "Peaceful circle", "Church circle", indict and "Great indiction".

The feast of the Church New Year, when the year begins on September 1, was established by the holy fathers of the First Ecumenical Council, who determined to begin the reckoning of the Church year from that day. In Russia, at the time Ivan III in 1492, the September style became predominant, displacing the March style, the beginning of the year was postponed to September 1. The scribes of some chronicles took into account the transitions to new styles of chronology and made amendments to the chronicles. This explains the fact that the chronology in different chronicles may differ by one or two years. IN modern Russia the Julian calendar is commonly called old style.

Currently, the Julian calendar is used by some local Orthodox churches: Jerusalem, Russian, Serbian, Georgian. In 2014, the Polish Orthodox Church returned to the Julian calendar. Some monasteries and parishes in other European countries, as well as in the USA, monasteries and other institutions of Athos, Greek old calendarists and other old calendarists who did not accept the transition to the New Julian calendar in the Church of Greece and other churches in the 1920s adhere to the Julian calendar.

In a number of countries where the Julian calendar was used until the beginning of the 20th century, such as, for example, in Greece - the dates of historical events that occurred before the transition to a new stylecontinue to nominally celebrate on the same dates on which they occurred in the Julian calendar. So, all Orthodox churches that have adopted the new calendar, except for the Church of Finland, still calculate the day of the celebration of Easter and the holidays, the dates of which depend on the date of Easter, according to the Julian calendar.

In the 16th century, astronomical calculations were carried out in the West, as a result of which it was declared that the Julian calendar is true, although there are some errors in it - for example, an extra day accumulates every 128 years.

At the time of the introduction of the Julian calendar, the day of the vernal equinox fell on March 21, both according to the adopted calendar system and in fact. But by the 16th century, the difference between the solar and Julian calendar was already about ten days. As a result, the day of the vernal equinox fell on 11 March, not 21st.

Because of this, for example, Christmas, which initially almost coincided with the winter solstice, is gradually shifting towards spring. The difference is most noticeable in spring and autumn near the equinox days, when the rate of change in the length of the day and the position of the sun is maximum. Astronomers took these errors into account, and October 4, 1582 Pope Gregory XIII introduced a mandatory calendar for all Western Europe... The preparation of the reform at the direction of Gregory XIII was carried out by astronomers Christopher Clavius and Aloysius Lily... The results of their labor were recorded in the papal bull, signed by the pontiff at Villa Mondragone and named after the first line Inter gravissimas ("Among the most important"). So the Julian calendar was replaced by gregorian.

The next day after the fourth October in 1582 was not the fifth, but the fifteenth of October. However, in the next year, 1583, the Council of the Eastern Patriarchs in Constantinople condemned not only the Gregorian Easter, but also the entire Gregorian month, anathematizing all the followers of these Latin innovations. In Sigilion the Patriarch and the Synodal, approved by the three Eastern Patriarchs - Jeremiah of Constantinople, Sylvester of Alexandria and Sophronius of Jerusalem, was noted:

Whoever does not follow the customs of the Church and the way the Seven Holy Ecumenical Councils ordered us to follow Holy Pascha and the month and the good, but wants to follow the Gregorian Easter and the month, he, like the godless astronomers, opposes all the definitions of the Holy Councils and wants to change them, or weaken - let it be anathema - excommunicated from the Church of Christ and the assembly of the faithful.

This decision was later confirmed by the Councils of Constantinople in 1587 and 1593. At the meetings of the Commission of the Russian Astronomical Society in 1899 on the reform of the calendar, Professor V. V. Bolotov stated:

The Gregorian reform does not have for itself not only an excuse, but even an apology ... The Council of Nicaea did not decreed anything like that. I find the abolition of the Julian style in Russia itself undesirable. I am still a determined admirer of the Julian calendar. Its extreme simplicity is its scientific advantage over all other revised calendars. I think that the cultural mission of Russia on this issue is to keep the Julian calendar in life for several more centuries and thus make it easier for Western peoples to return from the unnecessary Gregorian reform to the unspoiled old style..

Protestant countries abandoned the Julian calendar gradually, over the course of the 17th and 18th centuries, the last were Great Britain and Sweden. Often, the transition to the Gregorian calendar was accompanied by serious riots, riots, and even murders. Now the Gregorian calendar is officially adopted in all countries except Thailand and Ethiopia. In Russia, the Gregorian calendar was introduced by a decree of January 26, 1918 of the Council of People's Commissars, according to which in 1918, after January 31, February 14 follows.

The difference between the dates of the Julian and Gregorian calendar is constantly increasing due to different rules for determining leap years: in the Julian calendar, all years that are multiples of 4 are such, while in the Gregorian years, multiples of 100 and not multiples of 400 are not leap years.

More early dates are indicated in accordance with the proleptic calendar, which is used to indicate dates earlier than the date of appearance of the calendar. In countries where the Julian calendar was adopted, dates before 46 BC. e. are indicated according to the proleptic Julian calendar, and where it did not exist, according to the proleptic Gregorian.

In the 18th century, the Julian calendar lagged behind the Gregorian by 11 days, in the 19th century - by 12 days, in the 20th century - by 13. In the 21st century, a difference of 13 days remains. In the XXII century, the Julian and Gregorian calendars will diverge by 14 days.

The Orthodox Church of Russia uses the Julian calendar and celebrates the Nativity of Christ and others church holidays according to the Julian calendar, following the decisions of the Ecumenical Councils, and Catholics - according to the Gregorian. However, the Gregorian calendar violates the sequence of many biblical events and leads to canonical violations: for example, the Apostolic rules do not allow the celebration of Holy Passover before the Jewish Passover. Due to the fact that the Julian and Gregorian calendars increase the difference in dates over time, the Orthodox churches that use the Julian calendar will celebrate Christmas from 2101 not on January 7, as it happens now, but on January 8, but from 9901 onwards. will take place already on March 8th. In the liturgical calendar, the date will still correspond to December 25.

Here is a table for calculating the difference between the Julian and Gregorian calendar dates:

In accordance with the generally accepted rule, dates between 1582 and the time of the adoption of the Gregorian calendar in the country are indicated both in the old and in the new style. In this case, the new style is indicated in brackets.

For example, Christmas is celebrated in Russia on December 25 (January 7), where December 25 is the date according to the Julian calendar (according to the old style), and January 7 is the date according to the Gregorian calendar (according to the new style).

Consider detailed example... Hieromartyr and Confessor Archpriest Avvakum Petrov was executed on April 14, 1682. According to the table, we find the time period that is suitable for this year - this is the very first line. Day difference between Julian and gregorian calendar in this period of time was 10 days. The date April 14 is indicated here according to the old style, and to calculate the date according to the new style for the 17th century - we add 10 days, it turns out, April 24 - according to the new style for 1682. But in order to calculate the date of the new style for our, XXI century, it is necessary to add not 10, but 13 days to the date according to the old style - thus, it will be the date of April 27.

- notation system for large periods of time, based on the periodicity of the visible movements of celestial bodies.

The most common solar calendar, which is based on a solar (tropical) year - the time interval between two successive passages of the center of the Sun through the vernal equinox.

The tropical year is approximately 365.2422 solar mean days.

The solar calendar includes the Julian calendar, the Gregorian calendar, and some others.

The modern calendar is called the Gregorian (new style), it was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582 and replaced the Julian calendar ( old style), which has been in use since the 45th century BC.

The Gregorian calendar is a further refinement of the Julian calendar.

In the Julian calendar, proposed by Julius Caesar, the average length of a year in the interval of four years was 365.25 days, which is 11 minutes 14 seconds longer than the tropical year. Over time, the onset of seasonal phenomena according to the Julian calendar fell on ever earlier dates. Particularly strong discontent was caused by the constant shift of the date of Easter, associated with the vernal equinox. In 325, the Council of Nicaea issued a decree on a single date for Easter for the entire Christian church.

© Public Domain

© Public Domain

In the following centuries, many proposals were made to improve the calendar. The proposals of the Neapolitan astronomer and physician Aloysius Lilia (Luigi Lilio Giraldi) and the Bavarian Jesuit Christopher Clavius \u200b\u200bwere approved by Pope Gregory XIII. He issued a bull (message) on February 24, 1582, introducing two important additions to the Julian calendar: 10 days were removed from the 1582 calendar - after October 4, October 15 immediately followed. This measure allowed to keep March 21 as the date of the vernal equinox. In addition, three out of every four secular years were to be considered normal, and only those divisible by 400 were leap years.

1582 was the first year of the Gregorian calendar called the New Style.

Gregorian calendar in different countries was introduced at various times. Italy, Spain, Portugal, Poland, France, Holland and Luxembourg were the first to adopt the new style in 1582. Then in the 1580s it was introduced in Austria, Switzerland, Hungary. In the 18th century, the Gregorian calendar began to be used in Germany, Norway, Denmark, Great Britain, Sweden and Finland, in the 19th century - in Japan. At the beginning of the 20th century, the Gregorian calendar was introduced in China, Bulgaria, Serbia, Romania, Greece, Turkey and Egypt.

In Russia, along with the adoption of Christianity (X century), the Julian calendar was established. Since the new religion was borrowed from Byzantium, the years were counted according to the Constantinople era "from the creation of the world" (for 5508 BC). By the decree of Peter I in 1700, the European chronology was introduced in Russia - "from the Nativity of Christ".

December 19, 7208 from the creation of the world, when the reformation decree was issued, in Europe corresponded to December 29, 1699 from the birth of Christ according to the Gregorian calendar.

At the same time, the Julian calendar was preserved in Russia. The Gregorian calendar was introduced after the October Revolution of 1917 - from February 14, 1918. The Russian Orthodox Church, keeping traditions, lives according to the Julian calendar.

The difference between the old and new styles is 11 days for the 18th century, 12 days for the 19th century, 13 days for the 20th and 21st centuries, 14 days for the 22nd century.

Although the Gregorian calendar is quite consistent with natural phenomena, it is also not completely accurate. The length of a year in the Gregorian calendar is 26 seconds longer than a tropical year and accumulates an error of 0.0003 days per year, which is three days in 10 thousand years. The Gregorian calendar also does not account for the slowing of the Earth's rotation, which lengthens the day by 0.6 seconds in 100 years.

The modern structure of the Gregorian calendar also does not fully meet the needs of public life. Chief among its shortcomings is the variability of the number of days and weeks in months, quarters and semesters.

There are four main problems with the Gregorian calendar:

- In theory, a civil (calendar) year should have the same duration as an astronomical (tropical) year. However, this is not possible, since the tropical year does not contain a whole number of days. Due to the need to add additional days per year from time to time, there are two types of years - regular and leap years. Since the year can start on any day of the week, this gives seven types of regular and seven types of leap years - a total of 14 types of years. For their full reproduction, you need to wait 28 years.

- The length of months is different: they can contain from 28 to 31 days, and this unevenness leads to certain difficulties in economic calculations and statistics. |

- Neither regular nor leap years contain a whole number of weeks. Semi-years, quarters and months also do not contain a whole and equal number of weeks.

- From week to week, from month to month and from year to year, the correspondence of dates and days of the week changes, so it is difficult to establish the moments of various events.

In 1954 and 1956, the drafts of the new calendar were discussed at sessions of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), but the final resolution of the issue was postponed.

In Russia The State Duma was proposing to return to the country from January 1, 2008, the Julian calendar. Deputies Viktor Alksnis, Sergei Baburin, Irina Savelyeva and Alexander Fomenko proposed to establish a transition period from December 31, 2007, when, within 13 days, chronology will be carried out simultaneously according to the Julian and Gregorian calendars. In April 2008, the bill was rejected by a majority vote.

The material was prepared on the basis of information from RIA Novosti and open sources

As you know, Russian Orthodox Church uses the Julian calendar in its divine services, while the 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: the Julian calendar is sanctified by centuries of use in the Church, and good reason there is no way to give it up. The second argument: during 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 quite convincing for a believing Orthodox person. 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, it was with his account for the Passover?

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, however, he 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 before 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 moon phases, 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 govern 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 vernal equinox point (when the length 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 calendars is currently 13 days and is increasing 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 6000 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 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 a known sign to 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. As a matter of fact, the construction of the calendar includes two fairly independent procedures. The first is empirical: the duration of astronomical cycles must 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, it would not be very cumbersome and complicated.

Suppose, for example, you want to create a calendar based on a tropical year (after the length of the last is measured - 365.24220 days). It is clear that each year of such a calendar must 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 for 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, 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 than the 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 what has been said, it is clear 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 are replaced - 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 in the sky new moon, then this coincidence will 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 changes in the phases of the moon (see also: Klimishin I.A.Calendar and chronology. - 3rd ed., Revised and supplemented. - M., Nauka, 1990. - p. 92 ).

In general, the Julian calendar is a combination of simplicity, rhythm (a cycle lasting only 4 years), harmony (correlation with the Sun, Moon and stars at once). 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 proximity of the fractional part of the length of the year (both sidereal and tropical) to such a simple fraction of 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. B.C.

The predecessor of the Julian calendar can be considered a calendar that was 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, for unknown reasons, the reform was not implemented.

And now the time of the incarnation and foundation of the Church has 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 the Julian calendar, was developed by a group of Alexandrian astronomers led by Sozigen. 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 the calendar systems of 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 it has a calendar year closer to the tropical one than 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 in Western Europe spoke out against it). 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 of 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 goal this decision was, apparently, the celebration of 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.

It is expressed in the joint celebration of the Easter of Christ and the so-called rolling 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 ones. However, this topic, which requires both scientific and theological consideration, is beyond the scope of this article. We only note that the creators of Orthodox Easter achieved the same goal as the creators of the Julian calendar - the greatest possible simplicity with a reasonable level of accuracy.

Before the transition to the Gregorian calendar, which occurred at different times in different countries, the Julian calendar was widely used. It was named so in honor of the Roman emperor Gaius Julius Caesar, who, as it is believed, in 46 BC, the calendar reform.

The Julian calendar seems to be based on the Egyptian solar calendar. The Julian year was 365.25 days. But there can only be a whole number of days in a year. Therefore, it was assumed: three years are considered equal to 365 days, and the fourth year following them is equal to 366 days. This year is with an extra day.

In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII issued a bull ordering to "return the vernal equinox to March 21st." It had by that time gone from the designated date by ten days, which were removed from that 1582 year. And so that the error did not accumulate in the future, it was prescribed to throw out three days out of every 400 years. Years are not leap years, the numbers of which are multiples of 100, but not multiples of 400.

The pope threatened to excommunicate anyone who did not switch to the Gregorian calendar. Almost immediately Catholic countries moved to it. After some time, Protestant states followed their example. In Orthodox Russia and Greece, the Julian calendar was adhered to until the first half of the 20th century.

Which calendar is more accurate

The debate about which of the calendars - the Gregorian or the Julian, or rather, does not subside to this day. On the one hand, the year of the Gregorian calendar is closer to the so-called tropical year - the interval during which the Earth makes a complete revolution around the Sun. According to modern data, the tropical year is 365.2422 days. On the other hand, scientists still use the Julian calendar for astronomical calculations.

The purpose of the calendar reform of Gregory XIII was not to bring the length of the calendar year closer to the size of the tropical year. In his time, there was no such thing as a tropical year. The purpose of the reform was to comply with the decisions of the ancient Christian councils on the timing of the celebration of Easter. However, he did not completely solve the task.

The widespread belief that the Gregorian calendar is "more correct" and "more advanced" than the Julian calendar is just a propaganda cliche. The Gregorian calendar, according to a number of scientists, is astronomically unjustified and is a distortion of the Julian calendar.