Pope Gregory XIII
Three “temporal puzzles” – very possible – tell the story of the specificities of European calendars, with curious failures and inconsistencies.
We are about to come back to summer time: on March 31st, clocks are right again.
If this one -hour change makes you confused, and the different time zones of each country too, know that the time measurement already – but much – more confusing. Including different… days of the year in each country. Or jumps of several years on a day.
How is this possible? Try to resolve the following charades, elaborated by Helen Parish, a history professor at the University of Reading. The answer is in… calendars.
Guess 1: A woman sits down to write a letter in France on November 8, 1582. Three days earlier, the letter is received in England. What happened?
Response: In 1582, Europe exchanged the Julian calendar (used since the ancient Rona, about 45 BC) for the Gregorian, which corresponded better to the “natural calendar” – the sun.
The measure was instituted by Pope Gregory XIII himself, and this calendar is actually what we use to this day. The problem? Although it was instituted by the Supreme Pontiff that, from October 5, this is actually the 15th, not all countries immediately joined the change, which caused a great confusion: some countries were “advanced” or “backward” over others.
Guess 2: In the year 46 BC, in Rome, a child is born in spring. He lives up to 60, but he has never been years old. Why?
Response: Similar to February 29 (where people who were born on this date only celebrate their “correct” 4 -year -old birthday), the Romans also used “extra months”, the so -called “interchange months” to realize their calendar with the sun.
This child was born a child was born in MERCEDONIUS INTERCALLY MONTHin spring. The problem is that the Romans stopped using this month – the child agreed, but never years ago.
A few years seem to pass on a blink, others seem to drag themselves much longer. But this year of 46 BC actually exaggerated: had 445 days and it was.
Guess 3: After working in the fields on December 800 BC, an agricultural worker tidies his tools and goes to bed. On the first day of the new year, when it takes your tools to start the work, it’s two months older. How does this happen?
Answer: The calendar used before Juliano (before the Roman Empire), the so-called “pre-Julian calendar), did not count the months when it was not worked, that is, about 30 days when there was no agricultural activity.
This calendar was only 10 months, and during the winter this temporal concept did not exist. It seems that this farmer did not comply with the rule, and decided to work “out of hours.”
