Adoption of the Gregorian calendar

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Lunario Novo, Secondo la Nuova Riforma della Correttione del l'Anno Riformato da N.S. Gregorio XIII, printed in Rome by Vincenzo Accolti in 1582, one of the first printed editions of the new calendar.

The adoption of the Gregorian Calendar was an event in the early modern history of most cultures and societies, marking a change from their traditional (or "old style") dating system to the modern (or "new style") dating system – the Gregorian calendar – that is widely used around the world today. Some states adopted the new calendar from 1582, some did not do so before the early twentieth century, and others did so at various dates between. A few still have not, but except for these, the Gregorian calendar is now the world's civil calendar universally, although in many places an old style calendar remains used in religious or traditional contexts.[1][2][a] During – and for some time after – the change between systems, it has been common to use the terms "Old Style" and "New Style" when giving dates, to indicate which calendar was used to reckon them.

The

status quo ante: Catholic countries did this in 1582. Countries which did not change until the 18th century had by then observed an additional leap year
(1700), necessitating the dropping of eleven days. Some countries did not change until the 19th or 20th century, necessitating one or two further days to be omitted from the calendar.

Although Gregory's reform was enacted in the most solemn of forms available to the

Liturgical calendar
) were celebrated by different Christian churches diverged.

Adoption in Catholic countries

Italian principalities, Poland–Lithuania, Spain (along with her European and overseas possessions), Portugal, and the Catholic states of the Holy Roman Empire
were first to change to the Gregorian calendar. Thursday, 4 October 1582, was followed by Friday, 15 October 1582, with ten days skipped.

much of Italy. In these territories, as well as in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (ruled by Anna Jagiellon) and in the Papal States, the new calendar was implemented on the date specified by the bull, with Julian Thursday, 4 October 1582, being followed by Gregorian Friday, 15 October 1582; the Spanish and Portuguese colonies followed somewhat later de facto because of delay in communication.[4]

Other Catholic countries soon followed. France adopted the new calendar with Sunday, 9 December 1582, being followed by Monday, 20 December 1582.[5] The

Swiss cantons adopted the new calendar in January 1584.[7]

Adoption in Protestant countries

Many

dispensation from observing the new calendar, as it signalled their disloyalty.[10]

Prussia

The Lutheran

Hohenzollern, such as Berlin-based Brandenburg
, a fief of the Holy Roman Empire.

Denmark and Norway

In 1700, through

lunar portion, instead calculating the date of Easter astronomically using the instant of the vernal equinox and the full moon according to Kepler's Rudolphine Tables of 1627; this combination was referred to by the Protestant estates as the "improved calendar" (Verbesserte Kalender) and considered to be distinct from the Gregorian. They finally adopted the Gregorian calculation of Easter in 1774.[12]

Rest of the Dutch Republic

The remaining provinces of the Dutch Republic adopted the Gregorian calendar on 12 July 1700 (Gelderland), 12 December 1700 (Overijssel and Utrecht), 12 January 1701 (Friesland and Groningen) and 12 May 1701 (Drenthe).[13]

Sweden

Further information: Swedish calendar
Almanach
of 1753

Sweden's transition to the Gregorian calendar was difficult and protracted. Sweden started to make the change from the Julian calendar and towards the Gregorian calendar in 1700, but it was decided to make the (then 11-day) adjustment gradually by excluding the leap days (29 February) from each of 11 successive leap years, 1700 to 1740. Meanwhile, the Swedish calendar would be out of step with both the Julian calendar and the Gregorian calendar for 40 years; also, the difference would not be constant but would change every four years. This system had the potential for confusion when working out the dates of Swedish events in this 40-year period. To add to the confusion, the system was poorly administered, and the leap days that should have been excluded in 1704 and 1708 were not excluded. The Swedish calendar (according to the transition plan) should have been 8 days behind the Gregorian but was 10 days behind. King Charles XII recognised that the gradual change to the new system was not working, and he abandoned it.

Rather than proceeding directly to the Gregorian calendar, it was decided to revert to the Julian calendar. This was achieved by introducing

Swedish kingdom at that time, hence it did the same.[14] The Russian Empire's 1809 conquest of Finland
did not revert this, since autonomy was granted, but government documents in Finland were dated in both the Julian and Gregorian styles. This practice ended when independence was gained in 1917.

Great Britain and its colonies

Main article: Old Style and New Style dates
William Hogarth painting: Humours of an Election (c. 1755), which is the main source for the "Give us our Eleven Days" mythical riots.

Through enactment of the

computation for the date of Easter that achieved the same result as Gregory's rules, without actually referring to him.[15]

With the same Act, the Empire (except Scotland, which had already done so from 1600) changed the start of the civil year from 25 March to 1 January. Consequently, the custom of dual dating (giving a date in both old and new styles) can refer to the Julian/Gregorian calendar change, or to the start of year change, or to both.

Adoption in the Americas

The European colonies of

the Americas adopted the change when their mother countries did. New France and New Spain had adopted the new calendar in 1582. The Gregorian calendar was applied in the British colonies in Canada and the future United States east of the Appalachian Mountains
in 1752.

Alaska

Alaska remained on the Julian calendar along with the rest of Russia until 1867, when it was sold to the United States. At noon on Saturday, 7 October 1867 (Julian), the date changed to Friday, 18 October 1867 (Gregorian). Although the Julian calendar was 12 days behind the Gregorian calendar, only 11 days were skipped because Alaska also moved from the Eurasian side of the International Date Line to the American side.[16]

Rest of Switzerland

As noted above, the Catholic cantons of Switzerland adopted the new calendar in 1582. Geneva and several Protestant cantons adopted it in January 1701 or at other dates throughout the 18th century. The two Swiss communes of Schiers and Grüsch were the last areas of Western and Central Europe to switch to the Gregorian calendar, in 1812.[7]

Adoption in Eastern Europe

Many of the countries of

Eastern Orthodox
countries as late as the 20th century – and some religious groups in some of these countries still use the "old style" (O.S.) Julian calendar for ecclesiastical purposes.

The

First World War. 31 March was followed by 14 April 1916.[17]

The Ottoman Empire's Rumi calendar, used for fiscal purposes, was realigned from a Julian to a Gregorian starting on 16 February / 1 March 1917. The beginning of the year was reset to 1 January starting in 1918. The numbering of the years, though, remained uniquely Turkish until the Gregorian calendar was introduced for general purposes on 1 January 1926.[c]

Russia

Main article: Soviet calendar
Partial Russian text of the decree adopting the Gregorian calendar in Russia as published in Pravda on 25 January 1918 (Julian) or 7 February 1918 (Gregorian). It instructed citizens to count the day after January 31 as 14th February.

In

decree that Wednesday, 31 January 1918, was to be followed by Thursday, 14 February 1918, thus dropping 13 days from the calendar. With the change, the October Revolution itself, once converted, took place on 7 November. Articles about the October Revolution that mention this date difference tend to do a full conversion to the dates from Julian to the Gregorian calendar. For example, in the article "The October (November) Revolution" the Encyclopædia Britannica uses the format of "25 October (7 November, New Style)" to describe the date of the start of the revolution.[18]

Ukraine

In the territory of modern

Roman Catholic Church in Ukraine switched to the new calendar at the same time. However, the Orthodox churches in the Commonwealth refused to accept a calendar instigated by a Roman Catholic Pope, so the Orthodox Church of Ukraine
continued to follow to the old Julian calendar until 2023.

In 2018, the

Pentecostals) switched to the Gregorian calendar the same year. On 1 September 2023, the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church switched to the Gregorian calendar, while the Orthodox Church of Ukraine opted for the Revised Julian calendar. At the same time, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate)
declared that it would continue to celebrate the birth of Christ according to the Julian calendar.

Others

Other countries of Eastern Europe, most notably

Eastern Orthodox countries, adopted the Gregorian calendar for secular purposes in the 1910s or early 1920s. By the 20th century, the date on the Julian calendar was 13 days behind that on the Gregorian calendar. Romania
adopted the Gregorian in 1919, with 31 March 1919 being followed by 14 April 1919.

The last country of Eastern Orthodox Europe to adopt the Gregorian calendar for secular purposes was Greece, at the time under military administration following the

11 September 1922 Revolution. The date of change was 1 March 1923, As a consequence, Wednesday 15 February 1923 in the Greek calendar was followed by Thursday 1 March 1923.[11][19]
The decree expressly limited the reform to lay (i.e. non-religious) matters, so the reform did not affected the dates of religious holidays. (See below.)

Turkey adopted the Gregorian calendar on 1 January 1926.

Non-adoption by Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox churches

See also: Coptic calendar, Ethiopian calendar, and Old Calendarists

While the civil administrations of Eastern European countries adopted the Gregorian calendar in the 1910s or early 1920s, none of the national

Eastern Orthodox Churches have recognised the Gregorian calendar for church or religious purposes. Instead, the Revised Julian calendar was proposed in May 1923 at the Council of Constantinople
. It uses a different leap year rule, leading to the mean year being slightly shorter than that of the Gregorian calendar, while being constructed in such a way as to maximise the time before its dates start to diverge from the Gregorian. There will be no difference between the two calendars until 2800.

The

Greek Old Calendarists
did not accept the Revised Julian calendar, and continue to celebrate Christmas on 25 December in the Julian calendar, which is 7 January in the Gregorian calendar until 2100.

All of the other Eastern churches, the

Malankara Jacobite Syriac Orthodox Church
.

The Armenian Apostolic Church adopted the Gregorian calendar in 1923, except in the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem, where the old Julian calendar is still in use.[21][22]

Countries that used lunisolar calendars

Adoption in East Asia

Japan, Korea, and China started using the Gregorian calendar on 1 January 1873, 1 January 1896, and 1 January 1912, respectively.[23][24]
They previously used lunisolar calendars. The Old Style and New Style dates in these countries usually mean the older lunisolar dates and the newer Gregorian calendar dates respectively. In these countries, the old style calendars were similar but not all the same. The Arabic numerals may be used for both calendar dates in modern Japanese and Korean languages, but not for Chinese old-style dates.

Japan

Japan decided to officially replace its traditional lunisolar calendar with the Gregorian calendar in 1872, so the day following 31 December 1872 as "the second day of the twelfth month of Meiji 5" (明治5年12月2日, Meiji gonen jūnigatsu futsuka) became 1 January 1873,[23] locally known as "the first day of the first month of Meiji 6" (明治6年1月1日, Meiji rokunen ichigatsu tsuitachi). (The Japanese rendering of the Western months is simply ichi-gatsu or "One-month" for January, ni-gatsu or "Two-month" for February, etc.[25]) This brought Japan's calendar in alignment with that of the major Western powers (excluding Russia).

To this day, however, it is common to use

Reiwa
6.

Korea

Replacing its years numbered from 1392, the founding of the

China, which still used the lunisolar calendar.[24] Yet Korean era names were used for its years through 1910; and between 1910 and 1945, when Korea was under Japanese rule, Japanese era names
were used to count the years of the Gregorian calendar used in Korea.

In

Juche era, the first year of which is 1912, the year of Kim Il Sung
's birth, with Gregorian months and days. The current Gregorian year 2024 corresponds to Juche year 113.

China and Taiwan

At its founding on 1 January 1912, the Republic of China (ROC) government under Provisional President Sun Yat-sen abolished the lunisolar Chinese calendar and adopted the Gregorian calendar. The public, however, resisted the change and continued to observe traditional holidays. President Yuan Shikai switched to a dual-calendar policy, under which the Gregorian calendar was to be used for most purposes except traditional holidays, which were to be timed according to the Chinese calendar; this would also be followed by the short-lived Empire of China.[d] With the 1928 unification of China under the Kuomintang, the Nationalist government decreed that, effective 1 January 1929, the Gregorian calendar would be used. The Republic of China calendar would retain the Chinese traditions of numbering the months with a modified era system, determined according to the traditional Chinese era names, but using the founding of the Republic of China government in 1912 as the start (epoch) rather than the regnal year of an emperor. The current Gregorian year 2024 corresponds to the ROC year 113. This system is still in use in Taiwan where the ROC government retains control since 1945.

Upon its foundation in 1949, the

People's Republic of China continued to use the Gregorian calendar with numbered months and adopted Western numbered years, but timed traditional holidays according to the Chinese calendar and abolished the ROC Era System. Today mainland China (including Hong Kong and Macau), Taiwan, Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore all observe traditional holidays based on the traditional calendar, such as Chinese New Year, while timing other holidays, especially national anniversaries, according to the Gregorian calendar. The adopted calendar in both mainland China and Taiwan is called the Public Calendar (simplified Chinese: 公历; traditional Chinese: 公曆; pinyin: Gōnglì), or "New Calendar" (simplified Chinese: 新历; traditional Chinese: 新曆; pinyin
: Xīnlì).

The Chinese language may distinguish old and new style dates in different ways:

Grammar Chinese calendar Gregorian calendar
Writing a date in Chinese characters Yes as the rule[28][29] Yes as an option[30]
Writing a date in Arabic numerals No[e][f] Yes as an option[30]
Omitting 日 (rì, day) from a date Yes as an option[28] No, unless also omitting 月 (yuè, month), e.g. 一·二八 (January 28) and 一二·九 (December 9)[31]
Prefixing 初 (chū, initial) for the first 10 days of a month[32] Yes as an option[28][33] No[g]
正月 (zhēngyuè) as the first month[34] Yes[35] No
元月 (yuányuè) or 一月 (yīyuè) as the first month[36] Yes as an option Yes
冬月 (dōngyuè) as the eleventh month[37] Yes as an option No, write as month 11
臘月 (làyuè) as the twelfth month[38] Yes as an option No, write as month 12

In speaking, people generally call the date in the Gregorian calendar month "No. dd" (simplified Chinese: dd号; traditional Chinese: dd號); for example, the Spring Festival of year 2017 is No. 28 of Month 1 (simplified Chinese: 1月28号; traditional Chinese: 1月28號). On the other hand, people never call dates on the Chinese calendar as "No. dd"., which avoids any possible ambiguity.

When referencing dates before the introduction of the Gregorian calendar in 1582, the official Chinese calendar may either inherit the issues with earlier calendars to be historically correct[h] or follow the proleptic Gregorian calendar if so specified.[i]

Adoption in Southeast Asia

Main article: Burmese calendar § Current status

The Gregorian calendar replaced the

Siam also switched to the Gregorian calendar as the official civil calendar, with the Rattanakosin Era (with 1782 as Year 1).[40] The Thai lunar calendar remains in use for religious purposes. Since the British conquest of the Konbaung dynasty in 1886, the Gregorian calendar has been used alongside the Burmese calendar in Myanmar
.

Islamic calendar

The Islamic calendar is a lunar one so there are twelve lunar months in a year of 354 or 355 days, being 11 days shorter than a solar year. Consequently, holy days in Islam migrate around the solar year on a 32-year cycle.[41] Some countries in the Islamic world use the Gregorian calendar for civil purposes, while retaining the Islamic calendar for religious purposes. For example, Saudi Arabia adopted the Gregorian calendar for the purpose of paying public sector staff effective 1 October 2016; private sector employers had already adopted the Gregorian calendar for pay purposes.[41][42]

Present situation

See also: Civil calendar

Today, the vast majority of countries use the Gregorian calendar as their sole civil calendar. The four countries which have not adopted the Gregorian calendar are Ethiopia (Ethiopian calendar),[43] Nepal (Vikram Samvat and Nepal Sambat), Iran and Afghanistan (Solar Hijri calendar).[44]

Some countries use other calendars alongside the Gregorian calendar, including India (

Minguo calendar
).

While many religious organizations reckon their liturgical year by the Gregorian civil calendar, others have retained their own calendars. Alternative calendars are used in many regions of the world today to mark cycles of religious and astrological events.

Possible date conflicts

The use of different calendars had the potential to cause confusion between contemporaries. For example, it is related

Napoleon's victory at the Battle of Austerlitz was the confusion between the Russians, who were using the Julian calendar, and the Austrians, who were using the Gregorian calendar, over the date that their forces should combine.[46] However, this tale is not supported in a contemporary account from a major-general of the Austrian Imperial and Royal Army, Karl Wilhelm von Stutterheim, who tells of a joint advance of the Russian and Austrian forces (in which he himself took part) five days before the battle,[47] and it is explicitly rejected in Goetz's 2005 book-length study of the battle.[48]

Timeline

Main article:
List of adoption dates of the Gregorian calendar per country

The date when each country adopted the Gregorian calendar, or an equivalent, is marked against a horizontal timeline. The vertical axis is used for expansion to show separate national names for ease in charting, but otherwise has no significance.

Notes

  1. ^ The international standard for the representation of dates and times, ISO 8601, uses the Gregorian calendar. Section 3.2.1.
  2. ^ The average year in the Gregorian calendar is 365.2425 days.
  3. ^ See discussion and references at Rumi calendar.
  4. ^ The Government Gazette of the Empire of China would be dated in the Gregorian calendar in the first year of Hongxian, i.e. 1916.
  5. GB
    /T 15835-1995 or 33661-2017
  6. Central Weather Bureau used to issue lunisolar calendars in Chinese characters through 2008, but Arabic numerals from 2009 to 2014
    .
  7. GB
    /T 15835-1995
  8. specific needs. It uses Arabic numerals for both new and old style dates to ease programming, and considers AD 4 a common year to correct the leap year error
    .
  9. ^ Simpler computer programming may just treat 1 January 1 as Monday as in the proleptic Gregorian calendar, though historically incorrect.

References

  1. ^ Introduction to Calendars Archived 13 June 2019 at the Wayback Machine. United States Naval Observatory. Retrieved 15 January 2009.
  2. ^ Calendars Archived 1 April 2004 at the Wayback Machine by L. E. Doggett. Section 2.
  3. ISBN 0300078005
    .
  4. ^ "Pragmatica" on the Ten Days of the Year World Digital Library, the first known South American imprint, produced in 1584 by Antonio Ricardo, of a four-page edict issued by King Philip II of Spain in 1582, decreeing the change from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar.
  5. ^ Nørby, Toke (29 February 2000). "The Perpetual Calendar: What about France?". Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  6. ^ Fruin (1934), p. 10.
  7. ^ a b AB, Hellmut Gutzwiller /. "Calendriers". HLS-DHS-DSS.CH.
  8. JSTOR 24966597
    .
  9. JSTOR 10.5325/j.ctv1c9hn8h
    .
  10. ^ Morgan, Hiram (1 April 2006). "'The Pope's new invention': the introduction of the Gregorian calendar in Ireland, 1583–1782". Pontifical Irish College, Rome: "Ireland, Rome and the Holy See: History, Culture and Contact", a UCC History Department symposium. Archived from the original (MS Word) on 19 July 2011. Retrieved 17 October 2010.
  11. ^ a b Nørby, Toke. The Perpetual Calendar
  12. Bibcode:1920PA.....28...18L
    .
  13. ^ Fruin (1934), pp. 10–11.
  14. ^ Mike Spathaky, "Old Style and New Style Dates and the change to the Gregorian Calendar: A summary for genealogists"
  15. ^ "Calendar (New Style) Act 1750 | Chapter 23 24 Geo 2". Parliament of Great Britain.
  16. ^ Sumner (1875), p. 348.
  17. ^ See "Закон за въвеждане на Грегориянския календар [Law on Introduction of the Gregorian Calendar]", Държавен вестник [Durzhaven Vestnik (State Gazette)], vol. XXXVII, Sofia: Government of Bulgaria, 21 March 1916.
  18. ^ "Russia: The October (November) Revolution". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 2007. Retrieved 18 March 2007.
  19. S2CID 129260817
    .
  20. ^ Barsoum (2003).
  21. ^ The Armenian Church | Christmas Archived 1 February 2010 at the Wayback Machine (c. 2010). Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern).
  22. ^ Ardem A. Tajerian (n.d.). When Is Easter This Year? Archived 11 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine CAKE Foundation. Retrieved 7 January 2009.
  23. ^ a b "The Japanese Calendar History". National Diet Library, Japan. 2002. Archived from the original on 3 December 2002. Retrieved 19 March 2007.
  24. ^ a b Lankov, Andrei (6 February 2005). "The Dawn of Modern Korea (266) Lunar Calendar". The Korea Times. Archived from the original on 17 December 2005. Retrieved 27 August 2017.
  25. ^ "How to Say the Months, Days, and Seasons in Japanese". thoughtco.com. Retrieved 15 August 2019.
  26. ^ Lee (1996), p. 382.
  27. ^ Lee (1996), p. p. 520 (note 13).
  28. ^
    GB
    /T 15835-1995, General rules for writing numerals in publications, Section 4.2.1
  29. GB
    /T 33661-2017, Calculation and promulgation of the Chinese calendar, Sections 6.2 and 6.3.1
  30. ^
    GB
    /T 15835-1995, General rules for writing numerals in publications, Section 4.3
  31. GB
    /T 15835-1995, General rules for writing numerals in publications, Section 4.2.3
  32. ^ The Ministry of Education Mandarin Chinese Dictionary defines 初 as the adjective for the first ten days of a month of the Chinese calendar only.
  33. GB
    /T 33661-2017, Calculation and promulgation of the Chinese calendar, Section 6.3.1
  34. ^ The Ministry of Education Mandarin Chinese Dictionary defines 正月 as the first month of the Chinese calendar only.
  35. GB
    /T 33661-2017, Calculation and promulgation of the Chinese calendar, Sections 3.22 and 6.2
  36. ^ The Ministry of Education Mandarin Chinese Dictionary defines 元月 as the first month of either the Chinese or Gregorian calendar.
  37. ^ The Ministry of Education Mandarin Chinese Dictionary defines 冬月 as the eleventh month of the Chinese calendar only.
  38. ^ The Ministry of Education Mandarin Chinese Dictionary defines 臘月 as the twelfth month of the Chinese calendar only.
  39. ISBN 9780700715312
    .
  40. ^ Smith, Ronald Bishop (1966). Siam; Or, the History of the Thais: From 1569 A.D. to 1824 A.D. Vol. 2. Decatur Press. p. 11.
  41. ^ a b "The prince's time machine: Saudi Arabia adopts the Gregorian calendar". The Economist. 17 December 2016.
  42. ^ "Saudi Arabia has switched to a 'Western' calendar to save money". The Independent. 3 October 2016. Archived from the original on 3 October 2016. Retrieved 7 December 2019.
  43. ^ "The Ethiopian Calendar", Appendix IV, C.F. Beckingham and G.W.B. Huntingford, The Prester John of the Indies (Cambridge: Hakluyt Society, 1961)
  44. ^ M. Heydari-Malayeri, A concise review of the Iranian calendar, Paris Observatory.
  45. ^ Lord Robertson (2000). "Prospects for NATO–Russian relations" (.pdf). p. 1, para. 1. NATO. Retrieved 19 March 2007.
  46. ISBN 0-02-523660-1
    .
  47. ^ Stutterheim, Karl (1807). A Detailed Account of The Battle of Austerlitz. Translated by Pine-Coffin, John. London: Goddard. p. 44. battle of austerlitz.
  48. OCLC 1285476742
    .

Works cited

External links

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