When was the new calendar introduced? By decree of Peter I, Russia switched to the chronology according to the Julian calendar

Since by this time the difference between the old and new styles was 13 days, the decree ordered that after January 31, 1918, not February 1, but February 14 be counted. By the same decree, until July 1, 1918, after the number of each day according to the new style, in brackets, write the number according to the old style: February 14 (1), February 15 (2), etc.

From the history of chronology in Russia.

The ancient Slavs, like many other peoples, initially based their calendar on the period of change in the lunar phases. But already by the time of the adoption of Christianity, that is, by the end of the tenth century. n. e., Ancient Russia used the lunisolar calendar.

Calendar of the ancient Slavs. It was not finally possible to establish what the calendar of the ancient Slavs was. It is only known that initially time was counted according to the seasons. Probably, the 12-month lunar calendar was also used at that time. In later times, the Slavs switched to the lunisolar calendar, in which an additional 13th month was inserted seven times every 19 years.

The oldest monuments of Russian writing show that the months had purely Slavic names, the origin of which was closely connected with natural phenomena. At the same time, the same months, depending on the climate of those places in which different tribes lived, received different names. So, January was called where the cross section (the time of deforestation), where it was blue (after the winter cloudiness, a blue sky appeared), where it was jelly (because it became cold, cold), etc .; February - cut, snow or fierce (severe frosts); March - berezosol (there are several interpretations here: birch begins to bloom; they took birch sap; burned birch for coal), dry (the poorest in precipitation in ancient Kievan Rus, in some places the earth was already drying up, sap (a reminder of birch sap); April - pollen (flowering gardens), birch (beginning of birch flowering), oak, plum tree, etc .; May - grass (grass turns green), summer, pollen; June - worm (cherries turn red), isok (grasshoppers are chirping - “isoki”), milky; July - Lipets (linden blossom), worm (in the north, where phenological phenomena are late), sickle (from the word "sickle", indicating harvest time); August - sickle, stubble, glow (from the verb "roar" - the roar of deer, or from the word "glow" - cold dawns, and possibly from "pazors" - polar lights); september - veresen (heather bloom); ruen (from the Slavic root of the word meaning tree, giving yellow paint); october - leaf fall, "pazdernik" or "kastrychnik" (pazders - hemp bonfires, the name for the south of Russia); November - breast (from the word "pile" - a frozen rut on the road), leaf fall (in the south of Russia); December - jelly, breast, blueberry.

The year began on March 1, and from about that time they started agricultural work.

Many of the ancient names of the months later passed into a number of Slavic languages ​​and have largely survived in some modern languages, in particular in Ukrainian, Belarusian and Polish.

At the end of the tenth century Ancient Russia adopted Christianity. At the same time, the chronology used by the Romans passed to us - the Julian calendar (based on the solar year), with the Roman names of the months and the seven-day week. The account of years in it was conducted from the "creation of the world", which allegedly occurred 5508 years before our reckoning. This date - one of the many options for eras from the "creation of the world" - was adopted in the 7th century. in Greece and has long been used by the Orthodox Church.

For many centuries, March 1 was considered the beginning of the year, but in 1492, in accordance with church tradition, the beginning of the year was officially moved to September 1 and was celebrated this way for more than two hundred years. However, a few months after the Muscovites celebrated their regular New Year on September 1, 7208, they had to repeat the celebration. This happened because on December 19, 7208, a personal decree of Peter I was signed and promulgated on the reform of the calendar in Russia, according to which a new beginning of the year was introduced - from January 1 and a new era - the Christian chronology (from the "Christmas").

Petrovsky's decree was called: "On writing henceforth Genvar from the 1st of 1700 in all papers of the summer from the Nativity of Christ, and not from the creation of the world." Therefore, the decree ordered the day after December 31, 7208 from the "creation of the world" to be considered January 1, 1700 from the "Christmas". In order for the reform to be adopted without complications, the decree ended with a prudent clause: “And if anyone wants to write both those years, from the creation of the world and from the Nativity of Christ, in a row freely.”

Meeting of the first civil New Year in Moscow. The day after the announcement on Red Square in Moscow of the decree of Peter I on the reform of the calendar, that is, on December 20, 7208, a new decree of the tsar was announced - "On the celebration of the New Year." Considering that January 1, 1700 is not only the beginning of a new year, but also the beginning of a new century (Here a significant mistake was made in the decree: 1700 is the last year of the 17th century, and not the first year of the 18th century. New century came on January 1, 1701. An error that is sometimes repeated even today.), the decree prescribed to celebrate this event with particular solemnity. It gave detailed instructions on how to organize a holiday in Moscow. On New Year's Eve, Peter I himself lit the first rocket on Red Square, thus signaling the opening of the holiday. The streets were illuminated with illumination. The ringing of bells and cannon fire began, the sounds of trumpets and timpani were heard. The king congratulated the population of the capital on the New Year, the festivities continued all night. Multi-colored rockets flew up from the courtyards into the dark winter sky, and “along the large streets, where there is space”, fires burned - bonfires and tar barrels attached to poles.

The houses of the inhabitants of the wooden capital were dressed up in needles “from trees and branches of pine, spruce and juniper”. For a whole week the houses stood decorated, and at nightfall the lights were lit. Shooting "from small cannons and from muskets or other small weapons", as well as launching "rockets" were entrusted to people "who do not count gold." And the “meager people” were offered “everyone, at least a tree or a branch on the gate or over his temple.” Since that time, the custom has been established in our country every year on January 1 to celebrate New Year's Day.

After 1918, there were more calendar reforms in the USSR. In the period from 1929 to 1940, calendar reforms were carried out in our country three times, caused by production needs. So, on August 26, 1929, the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR adopted a resolution "On the transition to continuous production in enterprises and institutions of the USSR", in which it was recognized as necessary from the 1929-1930 financial year to begin a systematic and consistent transfer of enterprises and institutions to continuous production. In the autumn of 1929, a gradual transition to "continuous work" began, which ended in the spring of 1930 after the publication of a resolution by a special government commission under the Council of Labor and Defense. This resolution introduced a single production time sheet-calendar. The calendar year provided for 360 days, i.e. 72 five-day periods. It was decided to consider the remaining 5 days as holidays. Unlike the ancient Egyptian calendar, they were not located all together at the end of the year, but were timed to coincide with Soviet memorable days and revolutionary holidays: January 22, May 1 and 2, and November 7 and 8.

The employees of each enterprise and institution were divided into 5 groups, and each group was given a day of rest every five days for the whole year. This meant that after four days of work there was a day of rest. After the introduction of the "continuity" there was no need for a seven-day week, since days off could fall not only on various numbers months, but also on different days of the week.

However, this calendar did not last long. Already on November 21, 1931, the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR adopted a resolution "On the Intermittent Production Week in Institutions", which allowed the people's commissariats and other institutions to switch to a six-day interrupted production week. For them, regular days off were set on the following dates of the month: 6, 12, 18, 24 and 30. At the end of February, the day off fell on the last day of the month or was postponed to March 1. In those months that contained but 31 days, the last day of the month was considered a full month and paid separately. The decree on the transition to a discontinuous six-day week came into force on December 1, 1931.

Both the five-day and six-day days completely broke the traditional seven-day week with a common day off on Sunday. The six-day week was used for about nine years. Only on June 26, 1940, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR issued a decree “On the transition to an eight-hour working day, to a seven-day working week and on the prohibition of unauthorized departure of workers and employees from enterprises and institutions”, In the development of this decree, on June 27, 1940, the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR adopted a resolution in which it established that “beyond Sundays non-working days are also:

January 22, May 1 and 2, November 7 and 8, December 5. The same decree abolished the existing rural areas six special days recreation and non-working days March 12 (Day of the overthrow of the autocracy) and March 18 (Day of the Paris Commune).

On March 7, 1967, the Central Committee of the CPSU, the Council of Ministers of the USSR and the All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions adopted a resolution "On the transfer of workers and employees of enterprises, institutions and organizations to a five-day work week with two days off", but this reform did not in any way affect the structure of the modern calendar.

But the most interesting thing is that the passions do not subside. The next round happens already in our new time. Sergey Baburin, Viktor Alksnis, Irina Savelyeva and Alexander Fomenko submitted a bill to the State Duma in 2007 - on the transition of Russia from January 1, 2008 to the Julian calendar. V explanatory note the deputies noted that "the world calendar does not exist" and proposed to establish a transitional period from December 31, 2007, when within 13 days the chronology will be carried out simultaneously according to two calendars at once. Only four deputies took part in the voting. Three are against, one is for. There were no abstentions. The rest of the elect ignored the vote.

We need to remember our history and go our own way.

Currently, we use the dating of the years from the birth of Christ and the Gregorian calendar.

The Julian calendar, the so-called "old style", is not forgotten either. Every year in January we remember him when we celebrate the "old" New Year. Also, the media carefully reminds of the change of years according to the Chinese, Japanese, Thai and other calendars.

Of course, this expands our horizons. Let's expand our horizons.

But, in order to make our horizons even wider, let's touch on the ancient tradition of the chronology of the Slavic peoples - the Daaryan Krugolet of Chislobog, according to which our Ancestors lived not so long ago.

Now this calendar is used only by the Old Believers - representatives of the most ancient Slavic-Aryan Faith - Ynglism.

The widespread use of our ancient calendar ceased a little over 300 years ago, when Tsar Peter 1, by his Decree, introduced a foreign calendar on the territory of Russia and ordered on the night of January 1 to celebrate the onset of the year 1700 from the birth of Jesus Christ. The calendar reform stole (at least) 5500 years of our stories.

And in Russia at that time it was Summer 7208 from the Creation of the World in the Star Temple.

But it does not say at all that the emperor did not just change the calendar, he actually “stole”, at least (!). five and a half thousand years of our true history.

After all, the event from which the years were counted - the Creation of the World in the Star Temple (5508 BC) did not mean the creation of the universe at all biblical god, but literally; the signing of a peace treaty in the year of the Star Temple for the Krugolet Chislobog after the victory of the Power of the Great Race (in the modern sense - Russia) over the empire of the Great Dragon (in the modern - China).

By the way, the symbolic image of a rider on a white horse slaying a dragon, known in Christian tradition as George the Victorious, actually symbolizes just this victory.

That is why this symbol has long been so widespread and revered in Russia among the Slavic-Aryan peoples.

From what events was the reckoning?

A natural question arises: what event was the reckoning from before the Creation of the World in the Star Temple?

The answer is obvious - from an earlier significant event.

Moreover, counting of years from different events could be carried out in parallel. That is how, with the mention of several time periods, the ancient chronicles began.

For example, here are a few dates of the current 2016 from RX:

Summer 7524 from the Creation of the World in the Star Temple

Summer 13024 from the Great Cooling

Summer 44560 from the Creation of the Great Kolo Rasseniya

Summer 106794 from the Founding of Asgard of Iria

Summer 111822 from the Great Migration from Daaria

Summer 143006 from the period of the Three Moons

Summer 153382 by Assa Dei

Summer 185782 from Thule Time

Summer 604390 from the Time of Three Suns, etc.

Obviously, in the context of the modern "official" chronology, these dates look simply fantastic,

But for an independently thinking person interested in ancient cultural heritage peoples of the Earth, such "an abyss of years" do not look so frightening.

After all, not only in the Slavic-Aryan Vedas, but also in quite a few written monuments that have come down to us throughout the Earth, even much longer periods of historical time are mentioned,

Unbiased archaeological and paleo-astronomical studies point to the same facts.

It will also be very interesting to remember that in pre-Petrine times in Russia, not numbers were used to designate numerical values, as is now customary, but titled letters, i.e. Slavic letters with service symbols.

What did Cyril and Methodius "fix"?

And since the calendar is a written tradition (try to orally maintain and pass on such a complex and dynamic array of information from generation to generation), it is obvious that before the time of Peter I, writing in Russia already existed, at least (!) Seven over a thousand years.

However, it is believed that writing was “invented” especially for us, “illiterates”, by two Greek monks Cyril and Methodius, who only added a few Greek letters to our alphabet instead of diphthongs they did not understand.

And, modestly speaking, the ever-increasing pomposity during the annual “Cyril and Methodius” and “birthdays” of the “Slavic” writing is surprising. At the present time, since we use the modern calendar (from AD), it would be more correct to use it only for the events of the last three hundred years.

And more ancient events, for a clear understanding of their essence, must be dated in the system of chronology that was used before 1700. Otherwise, a misinterpretation of our history, culture, traditions and customs is possible.

It is sincerely regrettable that the dating of pre-Petrine events in modern textbooks,

For example, the year 1242 is called the year of the Battle on the Ice on Lake Peipsi, and at that time it was 6750 in Russia.

Or, for example, the year 988 from the birth of Jesus Christ is considered the year of the baptism of Kiev.

But in Kiev then they celebrated Summer 6496 from the Creation of the World in the Star Temple.

Brothers and sisters, let's remember our past, look for it if evil minds hide it from us on purpose.

Slavs are a great race.

The modern system of chronology has a little more than two thousand years after the birth of Jesus Christ and several hundred centuries before this event. However, before the advent of the Christian chronology, different peoples had their own ways of measuring time. Slavic tribes are no exception. Long before the advent of Christianity, they had their own calendar.

Origin of the word "calendar"

According to the official version, the term "calendar" comes from Latin. In ancient Rome, debt interest was paid on the first days of each month, and data about them was recorded in a debt book called calendarium. Later, it was from the title of the book that the word “calendar” came from, which came to the Slavs with Christianity.

Some scholars believe that this term comes from the phrase "Kolyadin Dar" (Kolyada's gift), which was called the chronology. Slavic origin researchers consider quite possible. Some of them are sure that the Romans borrowed the word "calendar" from the Slavs, and not vice versa. Judge for yourself: there is no translation of the word calendarium, as well as an explanation of how it is connected with debts and books. After all, in Latin debt is debitum, and book is libellus.

The chronology from the Nativity of Christ

Today, our era from the birth of Christ is more than 2000 years old. However, the tradition of counting the year in this way has been used for about a thousand years, because even with the recognition of Christianity official religion Roman Empire, years continued to be counted from important secular dates. For the Romans, this was the year of the founding of Rome, for the Jews, the year of the destruction of Jerusalem, for the Slavs, the year of the creation of the world in the Star Temple.

But once the Roman monk Dionysius, compiling Easter tables, got confused among the various systems of chronology. Then he came up with a universal system, Starting point which will be the year of the birth of Christ. Dionysius calculated the approximate date of this event and henceforth used the chronology called "from the Nativity of Christ."

This system became widespread after 200 years thanks to the monk Bede the Venerable, who used it in his historical work on the Anglo-Sanson tribes. Thanks to this book, the British nobility gradually switched to the Christian calendar, and after it the Europeans did it. But it took another 200 years for the church authorities to start using the Christian chronology system.

The transition to the Christian chronology among the Slavs

V Russian Empire, which at that time included many native Slavic lands of Belarus, Poland, Ukraine and other countries, the transition to the Christian calendar took place from January 1, 1700 to Many believe that Tsar Peter hated and tried to eradicate everything Slavic, including calendar, therefore introduced the Christian time system. However, it is most likely that the king was simply trying to put such a confusing chronology in order. Slavic rejection here, most likely, does not play a role.

The fact is that with the advent of Christianity to the Slavs, the priests actively tried to transfer the pagans to the Roman calendar. The people resisted and secretly adhered to the old calendar. Therefore, in Russia, in fact, there were 2 calendars: Roman and Slavic.

However, confusion soon began in the annals. After all, the Greek chroniclers used the Roman calendar, and the pupils of the monasteries of Kievan Rus used the Slavic calendar. At the same time, both calendars differed from the chronology of Dionysius adopted in Europe. To solve this problem, Peter I ordered the forcible transfer of the entire empire subject to him to the system of chronology dating from the birth of Christ. As practice showed, it was also imperfect, and in 1918 the country was transferred to a modern accounting system.

Sources of information about the Old Slavic calendar

Today there is no reliable data on how the real Old Slavic calendar looked like. The now popular “Krugolet Chislobog” was reconstructed on the basis of information from various historical sources of later periods. When reconstructing the Old Slavic calendar, the following sources were used:

• East Slavic folk ritual calendar. Written evidence of him dates back to the XVII-XVIII centuries. Despite such a "young" age, this calendar has retained a lot of information about the life of the Slavs during the time of pagan Russia.
• Church calendar "Months". In the process of Christianization of Russia, church authorities often celebrated Christian holidays on important pagan holidays. Comparing the dates of holidays from the Monthly Book with dates from other calendars, as well as from folklore sources, it is possible to calculate the time of important ancient Slavic holidays.
• In the 19th century, about 400 gold plates with inscriptions were found on the site of the Vedic temple in Romania, later called “Santii Dacov”. Some of them are over 2000 years old. This find not only testifies to the presence of writing among the ancient Slavs, but also is a source of information about the eras of ancient Slavic history.
• Chronicles.
• archaeological finds. Most often these are ritual ones with the image of calendar symbols. The most informative are clay vases of the Chernyakhov Slavic culture (III-IV centuries AD).

Epochs of the ancient Slavs

According to the information contained in the "Santia Dacians", the history of the ancient Slavs has 14 eras. The most important event that served as the starting point for the calendar was the approach of the solar and two other planetary systems, as a result of which earthlings observed three suns in the sky at once. This epoch was called the "Time of the Three Suns" and was dated 604387 (in relation to 2016).

• In 460531, aliens from the constellation Ursa Minor arrived on Earth. They were called Da'Aryans, and this era was called the "Time of Gifts."
• In 273910, aliens again arrived on Earth, but this time from the constellation Orion. They were called Kh'aryans, and in honor of them the era is called the "Time of Kh'Arr".
• In 211699, the next visit of extraterrestrial beings took place, marking the beginning of the "Svag Time".
• In 185779, the rise of one of the four most important cities of the Daaria continent, Tula, began. This city was famous for its skilled craftsmen and flourished for almost 20,000 years. This period of time was called "Thule Time".
• In 165,043, Perun's daughter, the goddess Tara, brought many seeds to the Slavs, from which numerous forests subsequently grew - this is how the "Time of Tara" began.
• In 153349, a grandiose war of Light and Darkness took place. As a result, one of Lutitia's satellites was destroyed, and its fragments became an asteroid ring - this is the Assa Dei era.
• In 143,003, earthlings, with the help of scientific achievements, were able to drag a satellite from another planet, and the Earth, which already had two satellites at that time, had three of them. In honor of this momentous event, the new era is called the “Period of Three Moons”.
• In 111 819, one of the three moons was destroyed and its fragments fell to Earth, sinking the ancient continent of Daaria. However, its inhabitants escape - the era of the "Great Migration from Daaria" began.
• In 106,791, the city of the Gods Asgard Iriysky was founded on the Irtysh River, and the new system of chronology was conducted from the year of its foundation.
• In 44560, all the Slavic-Aryan clans united to live together on the same territory. From that moment, the era of the "Creation of the Great Kolo Rasseniya" began.
• In 40017, Perun arrived on Earth and shared his knowledge with the priests, due to which there was a grand leap in the development of human technologies. Thus began the era of the "Third Arrival of the Whiteman Perun".
• In 13021, another satellite of the Earth was destroyed and its fragments, having fallen on the planet, affected the tilt of the axis. As a result, the continents broke apart and icing began, called the era of the "Great Cooling" (Cold). By the way, in terms of time frame, this period coincides with the last ice age of the Cenozoic era.

Modern humanity lives in an era that began counting years from the creation of the world in the Star Temple. The age of this era today is more than 7.5 thousand years.

George the Victorious and the era of the creation of the world in the Star Temple

As you know, the word "world" has several meanings. Yes, the title modern era often interpreted as the time of the creation of the universe. However, "peace" also means reconciliation between warring parties. In this regard, the name "Creation of the World in the Star Temple" has a completely different interpretation.

Shortly before the first year "from the Creation of the World in the Star Temple" was marked, a war broke out between the Slavic tribes and the Chinese. With huge losses, the Slavs managed to win, and on the day of the autumn equinox, peace was concluded between the two peoples. To mark this important event, it was made the starting point of a new era. Subsequently, in many works of art, this victory was allegorically depicted in the form of a knight (Slavs) and a slaying dragon (Chinese).

This symbol was so popular that with the advent of Christianity it could not be eradicated. From the time of Kiev prince Yaroslav the Wise, the knight who defeated the dragon was officially named George (Yuri) the Victorious. Its significance for the Slavs is also evidenced by the fact that the cult of George the Victorious was very common among all Slavic tribes. In addition, at different times, Kiev, Moscow, and many other ancient Slavic cities were depicted on the coat of arms of this saint. Interestingly, the story of St. George is popular not only among Orthodox and Catholics, but also among Muslims.

The structure of the Old Slavic calendar

The Old Slavic calendar refers to one complete revolution of the Earth around the Sun not as a year, but as a summer. It consists of three seasons: autumn (autumn), winter and spring. Each season included 3 months of 40-41 days each. A week in those days consisted of 9 days, and a day - of 16 hours. The Slavs did not have minutes and seconds, but there were parts, fractions, moments, moments, whitefish and santigs. It is difficult to even imagine what level the technology should have been if there were names for such short periods of time.

Years in this system were measured not in decades and centuries, as today, but in 144-year cycles: 16 years for each of the 9 constellations of the Svarog Circle.

Each ordinary year from the creation of the world consisted of 365 days. But the leap year 16 had as many as 369 days (each month in it consisted of 41 days).

New Year among the ancient Slavs

Unlike the modern calendar, in which the New Year begins in the middle of winter, the Slavic chronology considered autumn to be the beginning of the year. Although the opinions of historians differ on this issue. Most scientists believe that the New Year was originally on the day of the autumn equinox, which helped to more accurately adjust the calendar for the Slavs from the creation of the world in the Star Temple. However, according to Byzantine tradition, they tried to postpone the beginning of the new year to the first month of spring. As a result, there were not only two calendars in parallel, but also two traditions to celebrate the New Year: in March (like the Romans) and in September (like in Byzantium and the Slavs).

Months of the ancient Slavs

The first month of the ancient Slavic nine-month calendar was called Ramhat (beginning September 20-23), followed by the winter months Aylet (October 31 - November 3), Beylet (December 10-13) and Gaylet (January 20-23).

The spring months were called Daylet (March 1-4), Ailet (April 11-14) and Veylet (May 21-24). After that, autumn began, consisting of the months of Haylet (July 1-4) and Taylet (August 10-13). And the next, autumn month of Ramhat was the beginning of the New Year.

With the adoption of Christianity instead of Roman, Slavic names were given to the months. With the establishment of a new calendar by Peter I, Latin names were returned to the months. They remained in the modern Russian language, while the fraternal peoples retained or returned the familiar Slavic names of the months.

It is not known for certain what they were called with the advent of Christianity before the reform of Peter I, however, there are several options reconstructed thanks to the folklore of various Slavic peoples.

Week with the Slavs

The question of the number of days in a week before the reform of Peter I remains controversial to this day. Many argue that there were 7 of them - hence the surviving names in all

However, if you think about the words from The Little Humpbacked Horse, it becomes surprising how the text of 1834 mentions such a day of the week as the “eight”, which precedes another day - the “week”.

It turns out that the memories of the nine-day week remained in the memory of the Slavs, which means that initially there were only 9 days.

How to calculate the year according to the Old Slavic calendar?

Today, many Slavs are trying to return to the traditions of their ancestors, including their calendar.

But the modern world, living according to the Christian calendar, requires a person to be able to navigate in this reference system of years. Therefore, anyone using Slavic chronology(from the creation of the world), how to transfer years from it to the Christian system, must know. Despite the obvious differences between both systems of reckoning, this is easy to do. It is necessary to add the number 5508 (the difference in years between systems) to any date of the Christian calendar, and it will be possible to translate the date into the Slavic chronology. What year is it now according to this system can be determined by the following formula: 2016 + 5508 = 7525. However, it should be borne in mind that modern year begins in January, and among the Slavs - from September, so for more accurate calculations, you can use the online calculator.

More than three hundred years have passed since the inhabitants of the Russian Empire stopped using the Slavic calendar. Despite its accuracy, today it is only history, but it should be remembered, since it not only included the wisdom of the ancestors, but was also part of the Slavic culture, which, despite the opinion of Peter I, was not only not inferior to European, but also in surpassed her in some things.

Any modern man, ask him what year it is now, without hesitation, he will answer - the year is 2010. Ask him what era is now - he will be surprised, but he will answer that now is “our era”. And the date “year 2010 AD” can be written as “year 2010 from the birth of Christ”. In other words, almost all modern humanity, without really thinking about it, lives according to the chronology from the date of the birth of Jesus Christ.
However, not everyone will be able to answer how, when and where this very date of the “Nativity of Christ” was calculated, and most importantly, when the system of counting years from this date became so familiar that today we don’t even think about its origin?
Let's try to find an answer to this question. To do this, we will have to go back far in time, to the deep past, and reach the founder of the Christian religion - Jesus Christ himself.
Disputes about the historicity of Christ, that is, about whether Jesus Christ is a real historical person, are still ongoing among scientists and experts in theology. However, most historians today tend to conclude that, most likely, the myth of Christ is based on a real person - probably the head of a small religious and philosophical sect close to Judaism, as well as a wandering preacher and a self-proclaimed “prophet” and “ Messiah". There were many characters like Christ in Palestine at that time (1st century BC - 1st century AD), which was due to the general crisis of Judaism and the influence of Hellenistic philosophy on the Jews.
Obviously, Christ really was crucified on the cross - a common way in the Roman Empire to execute dangerous criminals and troublemakers. However, following the death of Christ, the active preaching activity and fanaticism of his supporters led to the wide spread of a new religious doctrine in the Mediterranean, and, in the end, to its approval as the official religion of the Roman Empire at the beginning of the 4th century AD.
At the same time, however strange it may seem, the question of the exact date of the birth of Christ was not important for Christians for a very long time. The first Christians did not count the passing years from the date of the birth of Jesus. Counting years in different parts of the vast Roman Empire and beyond its borders was conducted according to its local, traditional chronology (“eras”). Some people at that time could count the years “from the destruction of Jerusalem” (69 CE), others “from the founding of Rome” (753 BC), very popular in the late Roman Empire was “ era of Diocletian” (284 AD). In the East, they used their own “eras” - “from the creation of the world” (the so-called “Constantinople era”), “the era of Nabossar”, “after Alexander the Great” and others. All these "eras" originated from the beginning of the reign or death of some ruler, important event, or even from the mythical moment of the creation of the world.
Even the Christmas holiday in the first centuries of the existence of the Christian religion was by no means the most important festival (it would acquire its significance only in the Middle Ages). Christians began to celebrate Christmas only in the III century, at first it fell on January 6, and then on December 25, most likely because the winter solstice falls at the end of December, which traditionally has great sacred significance in many cultures and religions. So, December 25 was the day of veneration of the Iranian pagan god Mithra, whose cult was widespread in the late Roman Empire, and Christians thus sought to supplant the “pagan” holiday. The Romans, on December 25, celebrated the Day of the Sun. Thus, tying their holidays to well-known pagan holidays, Christians sought to expand the number of their supporters and facilitate the transition from paganism to the faith of Christ for new believers, as well as to supplant “pagan” memorable dates, replacing them with their own. The absence of the tradition of celebrating Christmas by the first Christians is also due to the fact that the very first followers of the faith of Christ were Jews, who, in principle, did not celebrate birthdays.
The main date of the year for the early Christians was, without a doubt, the date of the anniversary of the most important place in the biblical myth about Christ - the death on the cross and the resurrection of the Savior. Since these events took place on the Jewish holiday "Pesach" - the feast of the anniversary of the Exodus of the Jews from Egypt under the leadership of Moses, then "Pesach" automatically became the main holiday of Christians. This was all the easier because early Christianity, in fact, came out of the religion of the ancient Jews. Gradually, due to various sound distortions in the transmission of the Hebrew word in Greek and Latin, “Pesach” turned into the word “Passover”.
After a period of rapid development and spread, persecution by the Roman authorities, internal splits and disputes, Christianity finally became the official religion of the Roman Empire under Emperor Constantine I (323-337 AD). Immediately the question arose of introducing uniformity into rituals, texts of scriptures, dogmas and dates of holidays - in those days there were many separate directions and trends in Christianity (Nestorianism, Arianism, Manichaeism and others), which fiercely argued among themselves on various theological issues. . Finally, local Churches in different parts of the vast Roman Empire celebrated many rituals and holidays differently than in other places. One of the most important controversial issues was the question of the day of the celebration of Easter.

To resolve all these controversial issues in the year 325 AD, the first Ecumenical (i.e. all-Christian) was convened church cathedral(congress) in the city of Nicaea (now Iznik, Turkey) in Asia Minor. The council was attended by many legates from all parts of the Christian world, and many bishops who later canonized as saints (for example, St. Nicholas, or Alexander of Alexandria). Emperor Constantine I himself presided over the council.
The main dogmas and postulates of the Christian faith, including the Creed (formula of religion), were adopted at the council. Among other things, the Council also clearly established the time of the celebration of Easter: on the first Sunday after the first full moon following the vernal equinox (this is a different date every year). At the same time, Paschalia were compiled - tables of calculated dates for the celebration of Easter in the following years.

Here you can stop and ask - but how is this all connected with the reckoning from the "Nativity of Christ"? Oddly enough, but the most immediate. Such a long “Easter” story is given here because it was the question of the date of the celebration of Easter that had a decisive influence on the appearance of counting years from the date of the birth of Christ.
Let's get back to our story. In the years following the Council of Nicaea, Paschalia was repeatedly specified and extended by various church leaders. In the year 525, Pope John I (523-526) took care of the need to once again supplement the Easter tables. This work was entrusted to the learned Roman abbot Dionysius (Denis), nicknamed the Small because of his small stature, who had previously distinguished himself by collecting documents on the work of Nicea and other Ecumenical Councils.
Dionysius (the years of his life, alas, are unknown), set to work, and soon compiled new Easter tables. However, he was faced with the fact that his tables, like the first Paschalia, dated from the “era of Diocletian”. The Roman emperor Diocletian (284-305) was a prominent emperor of Rome and a reformer of the Empire, but among other things a notorious persecutor of Christians. The beginning of the era of his name fell on the beginning of his reign (the 284th year in our account). The "Era of Diocletian" was very popular in the 4th-6th centuries for counting years in Europe and the Middle East.
Dionysius expressed the opinion that it is not appropriate for Christians to associate the bright holiday of Easter in any way with the personality of the cruel “pagan” emperor and the persecutor of Christians. In other words, it is impious to date the Paschalia to "the era of Diocletian." But what to replace it with?
As mentioned above, at that time in Europe and the Middle East, several chronology systems were used at once - “from the foundation of the City” (it is also “from the foundation of Rome”), “from the creation of the world” and others, but none was purely “ Christian." Even dating “from the creation of the world” originated from Old Testament, that is, from the Jews, in addition, it was widely used in the Byzantine Empire. In Byzantium, there was the Church of Constantinople, with which the popes of Rome always had a very difficult relationship.
In this situation, Dionysius proposed something completely new - to use in the Easter tables the count of years from the year of the birth of Jesus Christ. However, it turned out that no one had calculated the exact date of the birth of Christ for more than 500 years of the existence of Christianity! This may come as a surprise, but for five centuries Christians have lived without even knowing the exact date of the birth of their God!
Then the abbot Dionysius himself calculated the year of the birth of Christ - according to his calculations, it turned out to be the year 284 before the era of Diocletian, or the year 753 "from the founding of Rome." Thus, the current year for Dionysius himself was the 525th year after the birth of Christ (“from the birth of Christ”). As the birthday of Christ, Dionysius took the already established traditional date - December 25th.

We do not know exactly how Dionysius made his calculations. Today we can only hypothetically reconstruct the course of his thoughts and calculations.
There is no doubt that Dionysius based his calculations on the gospel texts - he simply had no other source of information about the life of Christ. However, the texts of the Gospels contain very vague evidence that Christ was "about 30 years old" at the time of the crucifixion. In what year Christ was born, and in what exact year he was crucified, the gospel texts did not report at all. The only clue to Dionysius could only be a direct indication in the Gospels that Christ was resurrected on March 25, on Sunday, on the feast of Easter (or rather, then still “Pesach”).
The closest year to Dionysius that Easter would fall on Sunday, March 25, was the year 279 of the "era of Diocletian" (AD 563). From this number Dionysius subtracted 532, and then another 30, and obtained the year 284 BC as the first year of the life of Christ.
But what kind of strange numbers did Dionysius take away? The number 30 is an indication of the age of Christ at the time of the crucifixion (“about 30 years old”). The number, to put it mildly, is not the most accurate, but with it, at least, everything is simple and clear. And the number 532?
The number 532 is the so-called "Great Indiction". The number 532 played a big role in the calculation of Paschal in those days. The "Great Indiction" consists of the multiplication of two numbers - the "circle of the Moon" (19) and the "circle of the Sun" (28). Indeed, 19x28=532.
“Circle of the Moon” is the number of years (19) after which all phases of the Moon fall on the same days of the month as in the previous “circle”. With regards to the “circle of the Sun”, 28 is the number of years when all the dates of the month fall again on the same days of the week in the Julian calendar as in the previous “circle”.
Because Easter, according to the decrees of the Council of Nicaea, is tied to the first Sunday after the first full moon following the spring equinox, then every 532 years (the number of the “Great Indiction”) Easter will fall on the same number. And if Easter fell on Sunday March 25 in the Gospel record of the crucifixion of Christ, and the Easter closest to Dionysius with the same parameters was in the 279th year of the “era of Diocletian”, then the previous occurrence of the same Easter was in the 254th year before the onset of the era Diocletian. It remained to take another 30 years (the estimated age of Christ at the time of the crucifixion) and get the year of Christ's birth, which became the 1st year of the new era.
It is easy to see that the calculation of the date of the birth of Christ by Dionysius was based on very fragmentary and sometimes freely interpreted information from biblical texts. By the way, at present, according to various theories and assumptions of historians, the estimated date of the birth of Christ falls on the interval from 12 to 4 BC, so Dionysius was still mistaken.
Be that as it may, Dionysius did his job - he founded new era, where the years were counted from the date of the birth of Jesus Christ. However, Dionysius himself did not even know this - he came up with a new dating exclusively for his Paschals and did not use it anywhere else. As a result, his account of years remained for a very long time exclusively the invention of Dionysius for Paschal. In Rome, the chronology was still preferred either “from the foundation of the City”, or “from the creation of the world”. The second option was also the main one in the Byzantine Empire and in general in the Christian Churches in the East.
It was not until the beginning of the 8th century that a learned Anglo-Saxon monk and theologian from Northumbria named Bede the Venerable (673-735) first used Dionysius' chronology outside the Easter tables, using it to date events in his famous historical work. church history people of the Angles” (“Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum”), which he completed around 731. The account of years from the birth of Christ at Bede was called “years from the Appearance of the Lord”.

In fact, Bede rediscovered and introduced into wide use the account of the years of Dionysius, which was facilitated by the great popularity of his historical work. Most likely, the appearance of counting years as “years from the Appearance of the Lord” in Bede’s work occurred only because a significant part of the Anglo-Saxon monk’s chronicle is devoted to the calculation of the dates of the celebration of Easter, which means that Bede could not help but use Dionysius’ Paschals.
In 742, the date recorded as “the year from the birth of Christ” first appeared in an official document - one of the capitularies of the mayordom (military-political ruler) Frankish state Carloman (741-747). Most likely, this appearance of a date recorded in the years from the birth of Christ was an independent initiative of the Franks, independently of Bede's work.
During the time of the Frankish emperor Charles I the Great (774-814), the counting of the years from the birth of Christ (“from the incarnation of our Lord”) was already widely distributed in his state in the official documents of the court. The 9th century finally introduces the chronology familiar to us in different kind legal and political documents of Europe, and since the X century, most of the documents, chronicles and decrees of kings in Western Europe dated exactly in the years according to Christ. At the same time, the dating had different names - “from the incarnation of our Lord”, “from the coming of the Lord into the world”, “from the birth of the Lord”, “from the Nativity of Christ”, etc.
In the end, the wording “from the Nativity of Christ”, or in Latin spelling - “Anno Domini” (literally “Year of the Lord”), became common in Europe when recording the year. short form was “from A.D.” - A.D.
It is interesting, however, that in the office of the popes, from where the new era appeared, the new chronology took root more slowly than in the decrees and laws of secular rulers - only in the 10th century, the recording of dates from the birth of Christ begins to be often used in the acts of the Throne of St. Peter, and the obligatory date "AD" in papal documents became only in the XV century. Thus, the Catholic Church fully and finally accepted the count of years, invented by its own minister, Abbot Dionysius, only after almost a millennium. Most of the secular sovereigns moved to the era from Christ much earlier than the churchmen - the last country in Western Europe to do this was Portugal in 1422.
In the East, however, Orthodox Christians still used the "Constantinople era" - the count of years "from the creation of the world." In Russia, where Orthodoxy had Byzantine roots, the account “from the creation of the world” was used for a very long time, and only in 1699, by decree of Peter I (1689-1725), the account of years “from the Nativity of Christ” was introduced, with the wording in the decree “ better for the sake of agreement with the peoples of Europe in contracts and treatises.” Thus, December 31, 7208 "from the creation of the world" was followed by January 1, 1700 "from the birth of Christ." The introduction in Russia of counting years in the already established Christian era in Europe was one of the steps in the reforms of Peter I, designed to turn Russia onto the Western path of development.
In the XVIII-XX centuries, the spread of the era from the birth of Christ continued in the world. The wording “from the Nativity of Christ” in the name of the era, which has a religious connotation, was gradually replaced by a more neutral one: “our era”. Those. all years before the year of the birth of Christ began to be called “years before our era”, and after - “years of our era”. Year 1 BC was followed by year 1 AD. Currently, the chronology according to "our era" is used in almost all countries of the world. Even Muslim countries that count the years “from the Hijra” (the year of the Prophet Muhammad’s migration from Mecca to Medina in 622) sometimes use the “Muslim” era in internal documents, but still prefer “our era” for foreign policy issues.
No doubt the introduction unified system The Christian chronology was during the Middle Ages the most important step in the religious and cultural consolidation of the Western world. However, later, with the assignment of the neutral designation “our era” to the era, the religious background disappeared, and now the Christian chronology has become simply a standard and understandable tool for counting years, which we use today, without even remembering the reasons and history of its appearance.

In most countries of the world, including Russia, the church is separated from the state, but religious traditions have a huge impact on everyday secular life. One manifestation of this is the use of the Christian calendar, which counts from the birthday of Jesus Christ.

Chronology of the monk Dionysius

The beginning of the Christian chronology is associated with the name of the monk, theologian and chronicler Dionysius the Lesser. Little is known about his life. In Rome, he appeared around 500 AD. and was soon appointed rector of one of the Italian monasteries. He is the author of several theological works. The main work was the Christian chronology, which was adopted in 525, although not immediately and not everywhere. After long and complex calculations, assuming that the year 248 of the Diocletian Era corresponds to 525 A.D., Dionysius came to the conclusion that Jesus was born in 754 from the founding of Rome.

According to a number of Western theologians, Dionysius the Small made a mistake in his calculations for 4 years. According to the usual chronology, Christmas happened in 750 from the founding of Rome. If they are right, then our calendar is not 2014, but 2018. Even the Vatican did not immediately accept the new Christian era. In papal acts, the modern countdown occurs from the time of Pope John XIII, that is, from the 10th century. And only the documents of Pope Eugene IV from 1431 count years strictly from R.Kh.

Based on the calculations of Dionysius, theologians calculated that Jesus Christ was born in 5508 after, according to the biblical legend, the god Sabaoth created the world.

According to the king's will

In Russian written sources of the late XVII - early XVIII centuries. scribes sometimes put a double date - from the creation of the world and from the Nativity of Christ. The transfer of one system to another is further complicated by the fact that the beginning of the new year has been postponed twice. In Ancient Russia, it was celebrated on March 1, which was the beginning of a new cycle of agricultural work. Grand Duke Ivan III Vasilievich in 1492 from R.Kh. (in 7000 from the creation of the world) moved the beginning of the new year to September 1, which was logical.

By this time, the next cycle of agricultural work was completed, the results of the working year were summed up. In addition, this date coincided with that adopted in the Eastern Church. The Byzantine emperor Constantine the Great, having won on September 1, 312, over the Roman consul Maxentius, granted Christians complete freedom to practice their faith. Fathers of the first Ecumenical Council 325 years determined to start the new year on September 1 - the day of "remembrance of the beginning of Christian freedom."

The second advance was made by Peter I in 1700 (7208 from the creation of the world). Along with the transition to a new era, he, by analogy with the West, ordered to celebrate the beginning of the new year on January 1.

Let's listen to the apostles and argue

In the texts of the four canonical Gospels, there is not a single direct indication of the year when Christ was born (the text of the New Testament is quoted from the canonical synodal translation of “Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Holy Gospel of Matthew, Mark, Luke, John.” Thirteenth ed. St. Petersburg, 1885 ). The only indirect indication is preserved in the Gospel of Luke: when Jesus began his ministry, he was "about 30 years old" (3.23). He apparently did not know the exact age of Jesus.

In the same chapter, Luke reports that John the Baptist, the cousin of Jesus, began his preaching in the 15th year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius (3.1). The well-developed ancient chronology took the year of the founding of Rome as the starting point of reference. All events in the history of the Roman Empire were tied to this conditional date. Christian chroniclers built the date of the birth of Christ into this system of chronology, starting the countdown of a new era from it.

Emperor Tiberius Claudius Nero was born in 42 BC and died in 37 AD. He took the imperial throne in 14 AD. The Christian chronicler reasoned something like this. If Jesus was about 30 years old in the 15th year of the reign of Tiberius, then this corresponded to 29 AD. That is, Christ was born in the first year of our era. However, such a system of reasoning raises objections based on other temporal landmarks noted in the Gospels. The caution of the apostle Luke in determining the age of Jesus allows deviations in one direction and the other. And along with this, the beginning of a new era can be shifted.

Let's try to apply the methods of the theory of testimonies, widely used in modern forensic science, to solve this complex problem. One of the provisions of the theory is the limitation of human imagination. A person can exaggerate something, downplay something, distort something, collect real facts into unrealistic combinations. But he cannot come up with circumstances that do not exist in nature (patterns of reality distortion are described by psychology and applied mathematics).

The gospel contains several references to events that were indirectly connected in time with the date of the Nativity of Christ. If we manage to tie them to an absolute chronological scale, then it will be possible to introduce certain adjustments to the traditional date of R.Kh.

1. In the Gospel of John, the Jews said that during the interrogation before the execution, Jesus "is not yet fifty years old" (8.57). Traditionally, Jesus was executed at the age of 33. It is strange that the Jews who saw Jesus could say about a young 33-year-old man that he was not fifty. Perhaps Jesus looked older than his supposed age, or perhaps he was actually older.

2. The Gospel of Matthew explicitly states that Jesus was born during the reign of King Herod (2.1).

The biography of Herod the Great is well known. He was born in 73 and died in April 4 BC. (750 of the Roman account). He became the king of Judea in 37, although he nominally performed the functions of head of state from the age of 40. He took over the throne with the help of Roman troops. Vengeful and ambitious, infinitely cruel and treacherous, Herod destroyed everyone in whom he saw rivals. Tradition ascribes to him the beating of two-year-old babies in Bethlehem and the surrounding area upon receiving news of the birth in this city of Jesus, King of Judea.

How reliable is this evangelist's message? Some church historians tend to regard it as a legend on the grounds that only Matthew reported the massacre of the infants. The other three evangelists do not mention this heinous crime. Flavius ​​Josephus, who knew the history of Judea well, did not mention this event in a word. On the other hand, there are so many bloody atrocities on the conscience of Herod that this could well have taken place.

Don't stop at evaluation moral qualities Herod, we compare the date of his death with the date of the birth of Jesus accepted in the Christian tradition. If the Savior was born in the first year of our era, how could Herod, who died 4 years before Christ, organize the massacre of children in Bethlehem?

3. Evangelist Matthew writes about the flight of the Holy Family to Egypt because of the threat from Herod (2.1). This story has been repeatedly played up in Christian art. On the outskirts of Cairo, there is an ancient Christian temple, allegedly erected on the spot where the house was located, in which Holy Family while in Egypt. (The Roman writer Celsus also reports on the flight of the Holy Family to Egypt.) Further, Matthew writes that an angel conveyed to Joseph the news that Herod had died and that it was possible to return to Palestine (2.20).

Again, date mismatch. Herod the Great died in 4 BC. If at that time the Holy Family lived in Egypt, then by the first year of our era. Jesus must have been just over four years old.

4. Evangelist Luke asserts (2.1) that Joseph and Mary on the eve of the birth of the Savior made a journey to Bethlehem. It was caused by the need to participate in the census, which was carried out in Judea by order of Caesar Augustus and was organized by the procurator of Syria, Quirinius. At present, the fact of the census (but not throughout the whole earth, as Luke wrote, but in Judea) is beyond doubt.

According to Roman tradition, population censuses were always taken in newly conquered areas. They were purely fiscal in nature. After the final annexation of this region of Palestine to the empire in 6 AD. such a census was carried out. If you follow the exact text of the Gospel of Luke, then you have to admit that Jesus was born in 6 or 7 AD.

And a star rose in the east

The Evangelist Matthew reports on a star that indicated to the wise men of the East the time of the birth of Jesus (2.2-10.11). This star, called Bethlehem, has firmly entered the religious tradition, in literature, art, in the design of religious holidays in the name of the Nativity of Christ. Neither Mark, nor Luke, nor John speak of this heavenly phenomenon. But it is possible that then the inhabitants of Judea really saw an unusual celestial phenomenon. Historians of science are convinced that the astronomers of the Ancient East knew the starry sky very well and the appearance of a new object could not but attract their attention.

The mystery of the Star of Bethlehem has long been of interest to scientists. The search for astronomers and other representatives of the materialistic sciences was carried out in two directions: what is the physical essence of the Star of Bethlehem and when did it appear in the celestial spheres? Theoretically, the effect of a bright star could be generated either by a visible approach in the sky of two large planets, or by the appearance of a comet, or by the outbreak of a new star.

The version of the comet was initially in doubt, because comets are not worth long time at one place.
Recently, a hypothesis has arisen that the Magi observed UFOs. This option does not stand up to scrutiny. Celestial objects, regardless of whether they are considered natural formations or the creation of the Higher Mind, always move in space, hovering at one point only for a short time. And the Evangelist Matthew reports that the Star of Bethlehem was observed for several days at one point in the sky.

Nicolaus Copernicus calculated that around the first year of our era. within two days, a visible approach of Jupiter and Saturn was observed. At the beginning of the 17th century, Johannes Kepler observed a rare phenomenon: the paths of three planets - Saturn, Jupiter and Mars - intersected so that one star of unusual brightness was visible in the sky. This apparent approach of the three planets happens once every 800 years. Based on this, Kepler suggested that 1600 years ago the approach took place and the Star of Bethlehem flared up in the sky. According to his calculation, Jesus was born in the year 748 of the Roman era (December 25, 6 BC).

Based on the modern theory of planetary motion, astronomers calculated the position of the giant planets Jupiter and Saturn as seen from Earth 2,000 years ago. It turned out that in 7 BC. Jupiter and Saturn approached three times in the zodiac constellation Pisces. The angular distance between them was reduced to one degree. But they did not merge into one bright point. Recently, American astronomers have established that in 2 BC. Venus and Jupiter came together so close that it seemed as if a flaming torch had flared up in the sky. But this event happened in June, and Christmas is traditionally celebrated in winter.

It was also recently established that in 4 BC, on the first day of the new year, which was then celebrated in the spring, a new star flared up in the constellation Aquila. Now a pulsar is fixed at this point in the sky. Calculations showed that this brightest object was visible from Jerusalem towards Bethlehem. Like the entire starry sky, the object moved from east to west, which coincides with the testimony of the Magi. It is likely that this star attracted the attention of the inhabitants of Judea as a unique and grandiose cosmic phenomenon.

The comet version raises some objections, but modern astronomy does not completely reject it. Chinese and Korean chronicles mention two comets that were observed in the Far East from March 10 to April 7, 5 BC. and in February 4 BC. In the work of the French astronomer Pingre "Cosmography" (Paris, 1783), it is reported that one of these comets (or both, if two reports refer to the same comet) was identified as early as 1736 with Star of Bethlehem. Astronomers believe that the comet, visible in the Far East, could be observed in Palestine.

Based on this, then Christ was born in 5 or 4 BC. between February and March. Considering that he preached as a mature man, it is logical to assume that at that time he was not 33 years old according to the canon of the church, but closer to forty.

Comparing all the available information, we can make a fairly reasonable assumption that Jesus Christ was born in 4 BC. And today it's 2018. But, of course, the revision of the modern calendar is unrealistic.

Boris Sapunov, Valentin Sapunov