The Medieval Calendar Part IV

This will probably be the last post concerning the medieval calendar. This is actually a quick note on the transition of the medieval calendar (Julian calendar) to what we use today (Gregorian calendar). The following is an excerpt from Painted Prayers: The Book of Hours in Medieval and Renaissance Art by Roger S. Wieck. I think it explains the calendar’s transition best.

“Medieval time was Roman time. It followed the reformed but still imperfect system instituted by Julius Caesar (100-44 B.C.) By the thirteenth century, it was noticeably out of sync with reality: by the late Middle Ages, full moons were not appearing until ten days after the Calendars said they were supposed to. Easter was moving into summer. Pope Gregory XIII (papacy, 1572-85) reformed the Julian
calendar and, adding ten days (October 4in 1582 was followed by October 15)and other fine tunings, instituted in 1583 the Gregorian calendar we use today. And this is why, if I run the calendar in my computer backward, it stops in that year”.

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