Andrew and Chris went to the Advent service at an exceptional medieval church in York. Holy Trinity stands in a secluded spot off Goodramgate near the looming white edifice of York Minster.
At the gate of the new year its timely to consider the calendar that forms the framework of our lives.
The early Roman calendar year had 304 days, split into 10 months beginning with March, and is credited as being introduced by Romulus, known as the first king of Rome.
The first 4 of these months are thought to be named after Roman and Greek gods, March ~ Mars, April ~ Aphrodite, May ~ Maia, and June ~ Juno, with the following 6 being named after their place in the calendar, starting with Quintilus ~ fifth month ~ and ending in December ~ tenth month.
There was also an unassigned period during Winter, which Numa Pompilius is credited as dividing into the months of Ianuarius ~ January ~ after the god Janus and Februarius ~ February ~ after Februa, a Roman purification festival ~ this increased a year to 355 days, now split into the 12 months that we can recognise today.
Many attempts were made to keep this calendar in synchronisation with the seasons ~ hence February becoming the leap month in our modern calendar ~ in 153BC January became the first month.
The Julian Calendar was introduced in 46BC by Julius Ceasar who increasing a year from 355 days to 445 days ~ neither of which keep in time with the solar calendar ~ so after Julius consulted the astrononer Sosigenes, the year was revised to be 365 1/4 days long, as it is today.
By 8AD when the Julian Calendar was in full operation, the month known as Quintilis ~ fouth month ~ had become July in Commemoration of Julius Ceasar.
The month known as Sextilis ~ sixth month ~ was also renamed August in Commemoration of Ceasar Augustus ~ also known as Octavian ~ who began a new Imperial Roman Empire when his reign began in 27BC.
Yet the Julian Calendar had been miscalculated enough that by 1582 it was almost 11 days short of the solar year.
Andrew
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