The Unicorn is Found (from the Unicorn Tapestries) 1495–1505, The Met Museum. CC0 license.

An article on time in Period by HL Lorraine Devereaux

March 25 is New Year’s Day for my persona, and for anyone who lived in Norman England during most of SCA period. March 25 also is the new year for those living in Pisa, Florence, Flanders, Brabant, Treves, Luxemburg, Lotharingia, most of France before 1100, the Papal court for a few centuries, and in Spain before 1350.

Often called Lady Day, March 25 was the Feast of the Annunciation (Feast of the Incarnation), traditionally held to be the day the angel Gabriel told the Virgin Mary she would be the mother of Jesus.

Although the Norman English still celebrated January 1 as the start of the year (as part of the Yule celebration), the actual New Year for legal and political purposes began on March 25 starting in 1155 and continuing until the reform of the English calendar in the 18th century. It was the day annual rents were paid, and later, taxes.

March 25 was a good day to start the year because originally it was the spring equinox. This was during Caesar’s time, before errors in the calendar caused the dates of the equinoxes and solstices to change. Many cultures began the year at or around the spring equinox or the winter solstice. (A few notably began the year near the autumn equinox, such as the Egyptians and Babylonians. The Jewish calendar is similar to the Babylonian calendar.)

By the 4th century, when Constantine called for reform of the Christian calendar, the spring equinox fell on March 21. Rather than take the extra four days out of the calendar, the church fathers chose to move the official equinoxes and solstices to their new dates. By then the quarter days were tied to religious holidays, and the new year did not change with the calendar.

But what about SCA folk whose personas come from other places and other times?

If your persona comes from Christian Constantinople, or from Naples and Sicily (from the 11th century on), the new year starts on September 1. That is the date the Byzantines believe the world began.

Starting in 1100 the French began the new year on Easter. Of course the problem with that is some years are longer than others. This year, from Easter 2016 to Easter 2017, the year is 20 days longer than normal. That means that if you want to record the date April 2, for example, you have to record it as April 2, 2016 (first) or April 2, 2016 (final). Last year (2015 to 2016) was nine days too short. Despite the obvious problems with this system, the French will used it until 1563.

In England before the mid-12 century, and in Ireland and Scotland during the early Middle Ages, the new year began on either December 25 or March 25, but most often on December 25. That would be the evening of December 24, since the Britons and Anglo Saxons began the day at dusk. Later, Ireland and Scotland switched to March 25.

Italy is a hodge-podge of dating conventions. The Venetians begin the new year on March 1, the date used by the early Romans (before Caesar’s calendar reform) and Merovingian Franks. In the Papal court before the 10th century they used the Byzantine’s September 1 for the new year. After that they switch to March 25.

In Florence and Pisa the new year began on March 25. However in Pisa people began their anno domini dating from Jesus’s conception, not his birth. So if 2017 begins today in Florence, 2018 begins today in Pisa.

The Germans are just as divided. Before 1200 most Germans celebrated New Year’s Day on December 25, but for a brief period the Holy Roman Emperors used September 24, a date promoted by the English scholar the “Venerable” Bede (yet never used in his home country).

During the 13th century the Germans for the most part use March 25. But during the 14th and 15th centuries many parts of what will be Germany switch back to December 25. The exceptions are Treves, Luxemburg and Lotharingia. They stay with March 25.

Flanders and Brabrant also stay with March 25, except during some scattered periods when they use Easter like their neighbors in France. During the latter half of the 16th century many Germans adopt January 1 as their New Year’s Day.

The Spanish use March 25 for the most part, until around 1350, when they switch to December 25 for a couple of centuries. Beginning in 1556 the Spanish adopt January 1 as the date of the new year.

If your area of Europe wasn’t covered, most likely your persona celebrated New Year’s Day on December 25 or March 25. Some Eastern European countries, as well as Persia, parts of India and parts of central and southern Asia, celebrate the new year on or near the spring equinox.

And of course after 1582, when Pope Gregory reforms the calendar, most of Catholic Europe switches to January 1, the date Caesar chose nearly 16 centuries earlier. By the end of SCA period all of Catholic Europe and even a few Protestant countries switch to January 1. The English (including the American colonies) won’t make the change until 1752. Turkey, Greece and Russia finally adopt the Gregorian calendar in the early 20th century.

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By THL Lorraine Devereaux

As some of you know, I’m a nerd about calendars and clocks. So this weekend I decided to figure out the Roman-style date for Valentine’s Day.

First I needed to know whether February was a month when the Ides fell on the 13^th or the 15^th. In only four months of the year does the Ides fall on the 15^th – March, May, July and October. Remember how Caesar was killed on the Ides of March? For years I thought the Ides was always the 15th. That would have been too easy.

Although all four months in which the Ides falls on the 15^th  have 31 days, not all months with 31 days are the same. In January, August and December the Ides falls on the 13^th.

Once I determined the Ides fell on the 13^th, and that my chosen date (the 14^th) fell after the Ides, I needed know how many days there were in the month. This is especially tricky with February, since it is not only the shortest month, but once every four years it is a day longer.

Why do I need to know how long the month is? Because the Romans, in their infinite wisdom, decided that counting from the beginning to the end of the month was too simple. They preferred to count from the end of the month to the middle (the Ides). Then they counted from the Ides to the Nones (usually the 5^th, but in those four special months, it’s on the 7^th). And they counted from the Nones to the Kalends, or the first day of month.

Now, when I first got into this, I thought the “Nones” fell on the 9^th. Nones means nine, right? How mistaken I was. It actually means nine days before the Ides. If the Ides is on the 13^th, the Nones is nine days earlier, on the 5^th. Of course in those four months when the Ides falls on the 15^th the Nones is on the 7^th. Luckily, the Kalends doesn’t move.

So, if the date you’re interested in is February 3, the Roman date is “iii nonis Februarius” (three days before the Nones of February). And if the date you’re interested in is February 9 the Roman date is “v idus Feburarius” (five days before the Ides of February).

If you’re trying to do the math, and you can’t make it work, it’s because the Romans counted inclusively. The day before the Nones is also the second day before the Nones.

I had a hard time wrapping my head around this. Finally I remembered sitting in church on Easter morning. As I child I listened to the priest say “On the third day he arose.” I remember counting on my fingers – from Friday afternoon to Saturday afternoon is one day, from Saturday afternoon to Sunday morning is two days, where’s the third day? I was told for the early Church (the “Roman” church) it was one day for Friday, one day for Saturday and one day for Sunday (three days).

So the Nones is nine days before the Ides, because both the Nones and Ides are counted. And the Kalends is five days before the Nones, because the Nones and the Kalends are both counted.

Which brings us to the dates after the Ides. That’s the majority of the month. Any date after the Ides is counted as so many days before the Kalends of the next month. So for February 14, the date is written as “xvi kalendas Martius.” That’s 16 days before the Kalends of March. Washington’s birthday, Feburary 22, is “viii kalendas Martius” (you’ve got it – 8 days before the Kalends of March). Here’s a list of how you write the 14^th day of January, February, March and April:

January 14        xix kalendas Februarius
February 14     xvi kalendas Martius
March 14         pridie idus Martius*
April 14            xviii kalendas Maius

*Calling the day before the Ides (or Kalends or Nones) “pridie” solves the problem of having to call the day both ii idus and i idus.

The 14^th of the month is 19 days before, or 16 days before, or 18 days before the Kalends of the next month depending on how long the month is. Don’t ask me how such a convoluted system lasted for nearly two thousand years.

Two points to keep in mind. First, the tale ending of Roman nouns changes depending on how the word is used. I don’t pretend to understand the system. Sometimes it’s nones, sometimes it’s nonis, sometimes I see it as nonae. February is Februarias, Februariis or Februarius depending on usage. Second, I’ve used lower case Roman numerals because most of the medieval examples I’ve seen use lower case. The Romans themselves would have used capital letters (they used all caps all the time). The Carolingians loved the little letters. You may see examples of both.

If you want to see how all this works using a medieval Book of Hours calendar, check out this Khan Academy video created by the Getty Museum: https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/medieval-world/medieval-europe/v/medieval-calendar (4:29 minutes).

If you’re not interested in figuring it out a date for yourself, go to http://www.lieberknecht.de/~prg/calendar.htm. A medieval-minded German (Otfried Lieberknecht) put together a calendar utility that figures out any date, past or present, for you. It will also take a Roman-style date and translate it into modern reckoning.

Useful Resources:

Bridget Ann Henisch, The Medieval Calendar Year (University Park, Penn., Pennsylvania State University Press, 1999). This work analyzes the Labors of the Months and similar themes in medieval calendars. It includes many examples of medieval calendars in Books of Hours. It also includes a useful Appendix that details how to determine a date using Roman-style dating.

“Calendarium” includes the Roman sections of William Smith’s A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (John Murray, London, 1875). It goes into depth about the early Roman calendar and Caesar’s reforms, but near the end it has a useful chart for figuring the date using Roman-style dating: http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/secondary/SMIGRA*/Calendarium.html.

“Some Notes on Medieval English Genealogy” includes calendar charts for each year in the 11^th through 16^th centuries at http://www.medievalgenealogy.org.uk/cal/medcal.shtml.

Lovebirds in the 14th-century Codex Manesse (Cod. Pal. germ. 848, f. 249v). Universitätsbibliothek Heidelberg, CC BY-SA