Anno Domini Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! == History == {{see also|Date of birth of Jesus|Nativity of Jesus#Date of birth|Chronology of Jesus#Year of Jesus' birth}} The ''Anno Domini'' dating system was devised in 525 by [[Dionysius Exiguus]] to enumerate years in [[Dionysius Exiguus' Easter table|his Easter table]]. His system was to replace the [[Era of Martyrs|Diocletian era]] that had been used in [[Easter table#History|older Easter tables]], as he did not wish to continue the memory of a tyrant who [[Diocletianic Persecution|persecuted Christians]].{{sfn|Blackburn|Holford-Strevens|2003|p=767}} The last year of the old table, Diocletian [[Era of the Martyrs|Anno Martyrium]] 247, was immediately followed by the first year of his table, Anno Domini 532. When Dionysius devised his table, [[Julian calendar]] years were identified by naming the [[Roman consul|consuls]] who held office that year— Dionysius himself stated that the "present year" was "the consulship of [[Flavius Anicius Probus Iunior|Probus Junior]]", which was 525 years "since the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ".<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20161226031734/http://hbar.phys.msu.ru/gorm/chrono/paschata.htm Nineteen year cycle of Dionysius] Introduction and First Argumentum.</ref> Thus, Dionysius implied that [[Incarnation (Christianity)|Jesus' incarnation]] occurred 525 years earlier, without stating the specific year during which his birth or conception occurred. "However, nowhere in his exposition of his table does Dionysius relate his epoch to any other dating system, whether consulate, [[Olympiad]], [[Anno Mundi|year of the world]], or [[regnal year]] of Augustus; much less does he explain or justify the underlying date."{{sfn|Blackburn|Holford-Strevens|2003|p=778}} [[Bonnie J. Blackburn]] and [[Leofranc Holford-Strevens]] briefly present arguments for 2 BC, 1 BC, or AD 1 as the year Dionysius intended for the [[Nativity of Jesus|Nativity]] or [[Incarnation (Christianity)|incarnation]]. Among the sources of confusion are:{{sfn|Blackburn|Holford-Strevens|2003|pp=778–79}} * In modern times, [[incarnation]] is synonymous with the conception, but some ancient writers, such as [[Bede]], considered incarnation to be synonymous with the Nativity. * The civil or consular year began on 1 January, but the Diocletian year began on 29 August (30 August in the year before a Julian leap year). * There were inaccuracies in the lists of consuls. * There were confused summations of emperors' regnal years. It is not known how Dionysius established the year of Jesus's birth. One major theory is that Dionysius based his calculation on the [[Gospel of Luke]], which states that Jesus was "about thirty years old" shortly after "the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar", and hence subtracted thirty years from that date, or that Dionysius counted back 532 years from the first year of his new table.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Teres|first=Gustav|date=October 1984|title=Time computations and Dionysius Exiguus|journal=Journal for the History of Astronomy|volume=15|issue=3|pages=177–88|bibcode=1984JHA....15..177T |bibcode-access=free |doi=10.1177/002182868401500302|s2cid=117094612}}</ref><ref>Tøndering, Claus, "[http://www.tondering.dk/claus/cal/years.php The Calendar FAQ: Counting years]". {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210924142100/https://www.tondering.dk/claus/cal/years.php |date=24 September 2021 }}.</ref><ref name=Moss>{{cite book |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=0umDqPOf2L8C&pg=PA347 |publisher=Oxford University Press |last=Mosshammer|first=Alden A|title=The Easter Computus and the Origins of the Christian Era|location=Oxford|year=2009|pages=254, 270, 328, 333, 345–47|isbn=978-0191562365}}</ref> This method was probably the one used by ancient historians such as [[Tertullian]], [[Eusebius]] or [[Epiphanius of Salamis|Epiphanius]], all of whom agree that Jesus was born in 2 BC,<ref name=":12">{{Cite book |last=Beyer |first=David |title=Chronos, Kairos, Christos II: Chronological, Nativity, and Religious Studies in Memory of Ray Summers |date=1998 |publisher=Mercer University Press |isbn=978-0-86554-582-3 |editor-last=Vardaman |editor-first=Jerry |pages=85–96 |chapter=Josephus Reexamined: Unraveling the Twenty-Second Year of Tiberius |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mWnYvI5RdLMC&pg=PA93}}</ref> probably following this statement of Jesus' age (i.e. subtracting thirty years from AD 29).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Finegan |first=Jack |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tUzSEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA345 |title=The Handbook of Biblical Chronology |date=2015 |publisher=Hendrickson Publishers |isbn=978-1-61970-641-5 |pages=345 |language=}}</ref> Alternatively, Dionysius may have used an earlier unknown source. The [[Chronograph of 354]] states that Jesus was born during the consulship of [[Gaius Caesar|Caesar]] and [[Lucius Aemilius Paullus (consul 1)|Paullus]] (AD 1), but the logic behind this is also unknown.<ref name=":2">{{cite book |last=Mosshammer |first=Alden A |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0umDqPOf2L8C&pg=PA347 |publisher=Oxford University Press |title=The Easter Computus and the Origins of the Christian Era |year=2009 |isbn=978-0191562365 |location=Oxford |pages=319–56}}</ref> It has also been speculated by Georges Declercq<ref name=":0">Declercq, Georges(2000). "Anno Domini. The Origins of the Christian Era" Turnhout, Belgium, {{page needed|date=March 2021}}</ref> that Dionysius' desire to replace Diocletian years with a calendar based on the incarnation of Christ was intended to prevent people from believing the imminent [[Eschatology|end of the world]]. At the time, it was believed by some that the [[resurrection of the dead]] and end of the world would occur 500 years after the birth of Jesus. The old ''[[Anno Mundi]]'' calendar theoretically commenced with the [[Dating creation|creation of the world]] based on information in the [[Old Testament]]. It was believed that, based on the ''Anno Mundi'' calendar, Jesus was born in the year 5500 (5500 years after the world was created) with the year 6000 of the ''Anno Mundi'' calendar marking the end of the world.<ref>Wallraff, Martin: Julius Africanus und die Christliche Weltchronik. Walter de Gruyter, 2006</ref><ref name=Moss/> ''Anno Mundi'' 6000 (approximately AD 500) was thus equated with the end of the world<ref name=":0" /> but this date had already passed in the time of Dionysius. The "''Historia Brittonum''" attributed to Nennius written in the 9th century makes extensive use of the Anno Passionis (AP) dating system which was in common use as well as the newer AD dating system. The AP dating system took its start from 'The Year of The Passion'. It is generally accepted by experts there is a 27-year difference between AP and AD reference.<ref>Halsall, Guy (2013). ''Worlds of Arthur: Facts & Fictions of The Dark Ages''. Oxford University Press, pp 194 - 200</ref> The date of birth of Jesus of Nazareth is not stated in the gospels or in any secular text, but most scholars assume a date of birth between 6 BC and 4 BC.<ref name="JDG324">{{Cite book |last=Dunn |first=James DG |url=https://archive.org/details/jesusrememberedc00jame |title=Jesus Remembered |publisher=Eerdmans Publishing |year=2003 |page=[https://archive.org/details/jesusrememberedc00jame/page/n342 324] |url-access=limited}}</ref> The historical evidence is too fragmentary to allow a definitive dating,<ref>Doggett 1992, p579: "Although scholars generally believe that Christ was born some years before AD 1, the historical evidence is too sketchy to allow a definitive dating".</ref> but the date is estimated through two different approaches—one by analyzing references to known historical events mentioned in the Nativity accounts in the Gospels of Luke and Matthew and the second by working backwards from the estimation of the start of the [[ministry of Jesus]].<ref name="ChronosPaul">[[Paul L. Maier]] "The Date of the Nativity and Chronology of Jesus" in ''Chronos, kairos, Christos: nativity and chronological studies'' by Jerry Vardaman, Edwin M. Yamauchi 1989 {{ISBN|0-931464-50-1}} pp. 113–29</ref><ref name="Niswonger121">''New Testament History'' by Richard L. Niswonger 1992 {{ISBN|0-310-31201-9}} pp. 121–24</ref> === Popularization === The [[Anglo-Saxons|Anglo-Saxon]] historian [[Bede]], who was familiar with the work of Dionysius Exiguus, used ''Anno Domini'' dating in his ''[[Ecclesiastical History of the English People]]'', which he completed in AD 731. In the ''History'' he also used the [[Latin]] phrase ''ante [...] incarnationis dominicae tempus anno sexagesimo'' ("in the sixtieth year before the time of the Lord's incarnation"), which is equivalent to the English "before Christ", to identify years before the first year of this era.<ref>Bede 731, Book 1, Chapter 2, first sentence.</ref> Both Dionysius and Bede regarded ''Anno Domini'' as beginning at the incarnation of [[Jesus Christ]], but "the distinction between Incarnation and Nativity was not drawn until the late 9th century, when in some places the Incarnation epoch was identified with Christ's conception, i. e., the [[Annunciation]] on March 25" ("Annunciation style" dating).{{sfn|Blackburn|Holford-Strevens|2003|p=881}} [[File:Charlemagne Agostino Cornacchini Vatican 2.jpg|thumb|right|Statue of [[Charlemagne]] by [[Agostino Cornacchini]] (1725), at [[St. Peter's Basilica]], Vatican City. Charlemagne promoted the usage of the ''Anno Domini'' epoch throughout the [[Carolingian Empire]].]] On the continent of Europe, ''Anno Domini'' was introduced as the era of choice of the [[Carolingian Renaissance]] by the English cleric and scholar [[Alcuin]] in the late eighth century. Its endorsement by Emperor [[Charlemagne]] and [[List of Frankish Kings#Carolingian dynasty|his successors]] popularizing the use of the epoch and spreading it throughout the [[Carolingian Empire]] ultimately lies at the core of the system's prevalence. According to the [[Catholic Encyclopedia]], popes continued to date documents according to [[regnal years]] for some time, but usage of AD gradually became more common in Catholic countries from the 11th to the 14th centuries.<ref name=CathEncy>Patrick, 1908</ref> In 1422, [[Portugal]] became the last Western European country to [[Spanish era|switch to]] the system begun by Dionysius.<ref name="CathEncy-Chron"> {{cite book |chapter-url = http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03738a.htm |chapter=General Chronology |title=New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia |year=1908 |volume=III |publisher=[[Robert Appleton Company]] |location=New York |access-date=25 October 2011 }} </ref> [[Eastern Orthodox]] countries only began to adopt AD instead of the [[Byzantine calendar]] in 1700 when Russia did so, with others adopting it in the 19th and 20th centuries. Although ''Anno Domini'' was in widespread use by the 9th century, the term "Before Christ" (or its equivalent) did not become common until much later. Bede used the expression ''"anno [...] ante incarnationem Dominicam"'' (in the year before the incarnation of the Lord) twice. ''"Anno ante Christi nativitatem"'' (in the year before the birth of Christ) is found in 1474 in a work by a German monk.{{efn|[[Werner Rolevinck]] in ''Fasciculus temporum'' (1474) used ''Anno ante xpi nativitatem'' (in the year before the birth of Christ) for all years between [[Genesis creation narrative|creation]] and Jesus. "xpi" comes from the [[Greek language|Greek]] χρ (''chr'') in visually Latin letters, together with the Latin ending -i, thus abbreviating ''Christi'' ("of Christ"). This phrase appears upside down in the centre of [[recto]] folios (right hand pages). From Jesus to [[Pope Sixtus IV]] he usually used ''Anno Christi'' or its abbreviated form ''Anno xpi'' (on [[verso]] folios—left hand pages). He used ''Anno mundi'' alongside all of these terms for all years.}} In 1627, the French [[Jesuit]] theologian [[Denis Pétau]] (Dionysius Petavius in Latin), with his work ''De doctrina temporum'', popularized the usage ''ante Christum'' (Latin for "Before Christ") to mark years prior to AD.<ref> {{cite book |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=fsni_qV-FJoC&q=1627&pg=PA111 |title=Marking time: the epic quest to invent the perfect calendar |first=Duncan |last=Steel |author-link=Duncan Steel |page=114 |access-date=1 June 2010 |isbn=978-0-471-29827-4 |year=2000 |publisher=Wiley }}</ref><ref> {{cite book |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=A6nrL1XxpGYC&q=petau%20%22ante%20Christum%22&pg=PA33 |title=Measuring time, making history |first=Lynn Avery |last=Hunt |year=2008 |page=33 |publisher=Central European University Press |access-date=1 June 2010 |isbn=978-963-9776-14-2 }}</ref><ref> {{cite book |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=RRv0_NEpl-oC&q=ante%20Christum&pg=PA46 |title=search for "ante Christum" in a 1748 reprint of a 1633 abridgement entitled ''Rationarium temporum'' by Denis Petau |access-date=1 June 2010 |last=Petau |first = Denis |year=1758 }}</ref> ===New year=== {{See|New Year}} When the reckoning from Jesus' incarnation began replacing the previous dating systems in western Europe, various people chose different Christian feast days to begin the year: Christmas, [[Annunciation]], or Easter. Thus, depending on the time and place, the year number changed on different days in the year, which created slightly different styles in chronology:<ref>[[C. R. Cheney]], [http://catdir.loc.gov/catdir/samples/cam032/99027383.pdf ''A Handbook of Dates, for students of British history''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151205104025/http://catdir.loc.gov/catdir/samples/cam032/99027383.pdf |date=5 December 2015 }}, Cambridge University Press, 1945–2000, pp. 8–14.</ref> * From 25 March 753 [[Ab urbe condita|AUC]] (today in 1 BC), i.e., notionally from the incarnation of Jesus. That first "Annunciation style" appeared in [[Arles]] at the end of the 9th century then spread to Burgundy and northern Italy. It was not commonly used and was called ''calculus pisanus'' since it was adopted in [[Pisa]] and survived there until 1750. * From 25 December 753 AUC (today in 1 BC), i.e., notionally from the birth of Jesus. It was called "Nativity style" and had been spread by Bede together with the ''Anno Domini'' in the early Middle Ages. That reckoning of the Year of Grace from Christmas was used in France, England and most of western Europe (except Spain) until the 12th century (when it was replaced by Annunciation style) and in Germany until the second quarter of the 13th century. * From 25 March 754 AUC (today in AD 1). That second "Annunciation style" may have originated in [[Fleury Abbey]] in the early 11th century, but it was spread by the Cistercians. [[Florence]] adopted that style in opposition to that of Pisa, so it got the name of ''calculus florentinus''. It soon spread in France and also in England where it became common in the late 12th century and lasted until 1752. * From Easter, starting in 754 AUC (AD 1). That ''mos gallicanus'' (French custom) bound to a [[moveable feast]] was introduced in France by king [[Philip II of France|Philip Augustus]] (r. 1180–1223), maybe to establish a new style in the provinces reconquered from England. However, it never spread beyond the ruling élite. With these various styles, the same day could, in some cases, be dated in 1099, 1100 or 1101. Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page