I have read that when England adopted the Gregorian calendar, she also
moved the beginning of the year from March 25 to January 1.
It seems strange to talk about “beginning” the year some 12 weeks after the first day of the first month.
What does this mean? Were years reckoned that way in Roman times? Julius Caesar was “removed from office” on March 15. Was that near the end of the year we now refer to as 44 BC?
Welcome aboard, wiss!
Quesions like these are usually posted in our General Questions forum. I’ll move it there for you.
25 March is the Feast of the Annunciation (Ladyday), which commemorates the conception of Christ. In England in the Middle Ages this was therefore regarded as being the start of the liturgical year. This logic was then extended to secular dating, particularly for legal purposes. This was often used in conjunction with regnal years (based on the date of the monarch’s accession), thereby avoiding any ambiguity.
The astronomical new year begins when the sun crosses the equator on its journey northward. In the USA, we call this the first day of spring. 2000 years ago this was on March 25th, but now occurs on March 21st. It didn’t seem right starting a year in the middle of a month so another date, January 1st, was chosen. Like the adoption of the Gregorian Calendar, different civilizations switched to January 1st at different times.
SOME people call it the first day of Spring. These people are wrong.
Not wrong, necessarily. The vernal equinox is as good a date for the first day of spring as any other, and it’s slightly less arbitrary in that something measureable and universally recognized happens on that date.
What do you say is the first day of spring, Beruang?