Anno Domini

Anno Domini inscription at a cathedral in Carinthia, Austria.

The terms anno Domini[lower-alpha 1][1][2] (AD) and before Christ[3][4][5][6] (BC) are used to label or number years in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. The term anno Domini is Medieval Latin and means "in the year of the Lord",[7] but is often translated as "in the year of our Lord".[8][9]

This calendar era is based on the traditionally reckoned year of the conception or birth of Jesus of Nazareth, with AD counting years from the start of this epoch, and BC denoting years before the start of the era. There is no year zero in this scheme, so the year AD 1 immediately follows the year 1 BC. This dating system was devised in 525 by Dionysius Exiguus of Scythia Minor, but was not widely used until after 800.[10][11]

The Gregorian calendar is the most widely used calendar in the world today. For decades, it has been the unofficial global standard, adopted in the pragmatic interests of international communication, transportation, and commercial integration, and recognized by international institutions such as the United Nations.[12]

Traditionally, English followed Latin usage by placing the "AD" abbreviation before the year number.[lower-alpha 2] However, BC is placed after the year number (for example: AD 2017, but 68 BC), which also preserves syntactic order. The abbreviation is also widely used after the number of a century or millennium, as in "fourth century AD" or "second millennium AD" (although conservative usage formerly rejected such expressions).[14] Because BC is the English abbreviation for Before Christ, it is sometimes incorrectly concluded that AD means After Death, i.e., after the death of Jesus. However, this would mean that the approximate 33 years commonly associated with the life of Jesus would not be included in either of the BC and the AD time scales.[15]

Terminology that is viewed by some as being more neutral and inclusive of non-Christian people is to call this the Current or Common Era (abbreviated as CE), with the preceding years referred to as Before the Common or Current Era (BCE). Astronomical year numbering and ISO 8601 avoid words or abbreviations related to Christianity, but use the same numbers for AD years.

History

The Anno Domini dating system was devised in 525 by Dionysius Exiguus to enumerate the years in his Easter table. His system was to replace the Diocletian era that had been used in an old Easter table because he did not wish to continue the memory of a tyrant who persecuted Christians.[16] The last year of the old table, Diocletian 247, was immediately followed by the first year of his table, AD 532. When he devised his table, Julian calendar years were identified by naming the consuls who held office that year—he himself stated that the "present year" was "the consulship of Probus Junior", which was 525 years "since the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ".[17] Thus Dionysius implied that 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, year of the world, or regnal year of Augustus; much less does he explain or justify the underlying date."[18]

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 or Incarnation. Among the sources of confusion are:[11]

It is not known how Dionysius established the year of Jesus's birth. Two major theories are 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.[19][20] It is convenient to initiate a calendar not from the very day of an event but from the beginning of a cycle which occurs in close proximity. For example, the Islamic calendar begins not from the date of the Hegira, but rather weeks later, on the first subsequent occurrence of the month of Muharram (corresponding to 16 July AD 622).

It has also been speculated by Georges Declercq[21] 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 end of the world. At the time, it was believed by some that the Resurrection and end of the world would occur 500 years after the birth of Jesus. The old Anno Mundi calendar theoretically commenced with the 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 (or 5500 years after the world was created) with the year 6000 of the Anno Mundi calendar marking the end of the world.[22][23] Anno Mundi 6000 (approximately AD 500) was thus equated with the resurrection and the end of the world[24] but this date had already passed in the time of Dionysius.

Popularization

The Anglo-Saxon historian the Venerable Bede, who was familiar with the work of Dionysius Exiguus, used Anno Domini dating in his Ecclesiastical History of the English People, completed in 731. In this same history, he also used another Latin term, ante vero incarnationis dominicae tempus anno sexagesimo ("in fact in the 60th year before the time of the Lord's incarnation"), equivalent to the English "before Christ", to identify years before the first year of this era.[25] Both Dionysius and Bede regarded Anno Domini as beginning at the incarnation of Jesus, 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).[26]

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 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 Roman Catholic countries from the 11th to the 14th centuries.[27] In 1422, Portugal became the last Western European country to switch to the system begun by Dionysius.[28] 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 the Venerable used the expression "anno igitur ante incarnationem Dominicam" (so in the year before the Incarnation of the Lord) twice. "Anno an xpi nativitate" (in the year before the birth of Christ) is found in 1474 in a work by a German monk.[29] 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.[30][31][32]

Change of 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:[33]

With these various styles, the same day could, in some cases, be dated in 1099, 1100 or 1101.

Historical birth date of Jesus

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.[34] The historical evidence is too sketchy to allow a definitive dating,[35] 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.[36][37]

Other eras

During the first six centuries of what would come to be known as the Christian era, European countries used various systems to count years. Systems in use included consular dating, imperial regnal year dating, and Creation dating.

Although the last non-imperial consul, Basilius, was appointed in 541 by Emperor Justinian I, later emperors through Constans II (641–668) were appointed consuls on the first 1 January after their accession. All of these emperors, except Justinian, used imperial post-consular years for the years of their reign, along with their regnal years.[38] Long unused, this practice was not formally abolished until Novell XCIV of the law code of Leo VI did so in 888.

Another calculation had been developed by the Alexandrian monk Annianus around the year AD 400, placing the Annunciation on 25 March AD 9 (Julian)—eight to ten years after the date that Dionysius was to imply. Although this incarnation was popular during the early centuries of the Byzantine Empire, years numbered from it, an Era of Incarnation, were exclusively used and are yet used, in Ethiopia. This accounts for the seven- or eight-year discrepancy between the Gregorian and Ethiopian calendars. Byzantine chroniclers like Maximus the Confessor, George Syncellus, and Theophanes dated their years from Annianus' creation of the world. This era, called Anno Mundi, "year of the world" (abbreviated AM), by modern scholars, began its first year on 25 March 5492 BC. Later Byzantine chroniclers used Anno Mundi years from 1 September 5509 BC, the Byzantine Era. No single Anno Mundi epoch was dominant throughout the Christian world. Eusebius of Caesarea in his Chronicle used an era beginning with the birth of Abraham, dated in 2016 BC (AD 1 = 2017 Anno Abrahami).[39]

Spain and Portugal continued to date by the Era of the Caesars or Spanish Era, which began counting from 38 BC, well into the Middle Ages. In 1422, Portugal became the last Catholic country to adopt the Anno Domini system.[27]

The Era of Martyrs, which numbered years from the accession of Diocletian in 284, who launched the last yet most severe persecution of Christians, was used by the Church of Alexandria and is still used, officially, by the Coptic Orthodox and Coptic Catholic churches. It was also used by the Ethiopian church. Another system was to date from the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, which as early as Hippolytus and Tertullian was believed to have occurred in the consulate of the Gemini (AD 29), which appears in some medieval manuscripts.

CE and BCE

Alternative names for the Anno Domini era include vulgaris aerae (found 1615 in Latin),[40] "Vulgar Era" (in English, as early as 1635),[41] "Christian Era" (in English, in 1652),[42] "Common Era" (in English, 1708),[43] and "Current Era".[44] Since 1856,[45] the alternative abbreviations CE and BCE, (sometimes written C.E. and B.C.E.) are sometimes used in place of AD and BC.

The "Common/Current Era" ("CE") terminology is often preferred by those who desire a term that does not explicitly make religious references.[46][47] For example, Cunningham and Starr (1998) write that "B.C.E./C.E. …do not presuppose faith in Christ and hence are more appropriate for interfaith dialog than the conventional B.C./A.D."[48] Upon its foundation, the Republic of China adopted the Minguo Era, but used the Western calendar for international purposes. The translated term was 西元 ("xī yuán", "Western Era"). Later, in 1949, the People's Republic of China adopted 公元 (gōngyuán, "Common Era") for all purposes domestic and foreign.

No year zero / Start and end of a century

In the AD year numbering system, whether applied to the Julian or Gregorian calendars, AD 1 is preceded by 1 BC. There is no year "0" between them. Because of this, most experts agree that a new century begins in a year which has "01" as the final digits (e.g., 1801, 1901, 2001). New millennia likewise are considered to have begun in 1001 and 2001. This is at odds with the much more common conception that centuries and millennia begin when the trailing digits are zeroes (1800, 1900, 2000, etc.); for example, the worldwide celebration of the new millennium took place on New Year's Eve 1999, when the year number ticked over to 2000.[10]

For computational reasons, astronomical year numbering and the ISO 8601 standard designate years so that AD 1 = year 1, 1 BC = year 0, 2 BC = year −1, etc.[lower-alpha 3] In common usage, ancient dates are expressed in the Julian calendar, but ISO 8601 uses the Gregorian calendar and astronomers may use a variety of time scales depending on the application. Thus dates using the year 0 or negative years may require further investigation before being converted to BC or AD.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ The word "anno" is often capitalized, but this is considered incorrect by many authorities and either not mentioned in major dictionaries or only listed as an alternative. Wikipedia's manual of style also prescribes lowercase.
  2. ↑ This convention comes from grammatical usage. Anno 500 means "in the year 500"; anno domini 500 means "in the year 500 of Our Lord". Just as "500 in the year" is not good English syntax, neither is 500 AD; whereas "AD 500" preserves syntactic order when translated.[13]
  3. ↑ To convert from a year BC to astronomical year numbering, reduce the absolute value of the year by 1, and prefix it with a negative sign (unless the result is zero). For years AD, omit the AD and prefix the number with a plus sign (plus sign is optional if it is clear from the context that the year is after the year 0).[49]

References

Citations

  1. ↑ "anno Domini". Collins English Dictionary.
  2. ↑ "anno Domini". American Heritage Dictionary. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
  3. ↑ The word "before" is often capitalized, but this is considered incorrect by many authorities and either not mentioned in major dictionaries or only listed as an alternative. Wikipedia's manual of style also prescribes lowercase.
  4. ↑ "BC". Collins English Dictionary.
  5. ↑ "before Christ". American Heritage Dictionary. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
  6. ↑ "BC". Merriam Webster Online Dictionary.
  7. ↑ "Anno Domini". Merriam Webster Online Dictionary. Merriam-Webster. 2003. Retrieved 2011-10-04. Etymology: Medieval Latin, in the year of the Lord
  8. ↑ "Online Etymology Dictionary". Retrieved 2011-10-04.
  9. ↑ Blackburn & Holford-Strevens 2003, p. 782 "since AD stands for anno Domini, 'in the year of (Our) Lord'".
  10. 1 2 Teresi, Dick (July 1997). "Zero". The Atlantic.
  11. 1 2 Blackburn & Holford-Strevens 2003, pp. 778–9.
  12. ↑ Eastman, Allan. "A Month of Sundays". Date and Time. Archived from the original on 2010-05-06. Retrieved 2010-05-04.
  13. ↑ Chicago Manual of Style 2010, pp. 476–7; Goldstein 2007, p. 6.
  14. ↑ Chicago Manual of Style, 1993, p. 304.
  15. ↑ Donald P. Ryan, (2000), 15.
  16. ↑ Blackburn & Holford-Strevens 2003, p. 767.
  17. ↑ Nineteen year cycle of Dionysius Introduction and First Argumentum.
  18. ↑ Blackburn & Holford-Strevens 2003, p. 778.
  19. ↑ Tøndering, Claus, The Calendar FAQ: Counting years
  20. ↑ Mosshammer, Alden A (2009). The Easter Computus and the Origins of the Christian Era. Oxford. p. 347.
  21. ↑ Declercq, Georges, "Anno Domini. The Origins of the Christian Era" Turnhout, Belgium, 2000
  22. ↑ Wallraff, Martin: Julius Africanus und die Christliche Weltchronik. Walter de Gruyter, 2006
  23. ↑ Mosshammer, Alden A.: The Easter Computus and the Origins of the Christian Era. Oxford University Press, 2009, p. 254, p. 270, p. 328
  24. ↑ Declercq, Georges: Anno Domini. The Origins of the Christian Era. Turnhout Belgium. 2000
  25. ↑ Bede 731, Book 1, Chapter 2, first sentence.
  26. ↑ Blackburn & Holford-Strevens 2003, p. 881.
  27. 1 2 Patrick, 1908
  28. ↑ "General Chronology". New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol III. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 1908. Retrieved 2011-10-25.
  29. ↑ Werner Rolevinck in Fasciculus temporum (1474) used Anno an xpi nativitatem (in the ...(th) year before the birth of Christ) for all years between creation and Jesus. "xpi" is the Greek χρι in Latin letters, which is an abbreviation for Christi. 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.
  30. ↑ Steel, Duncan (2000). Marking time: the epic quest to invent the perfect calendar. p. 114. ISBN 978-0-471-29827-4. Retrieved 2010-06-01.
  31. ↑ Hunt, Lynn Avery (2008). Measuring time, making history. p. 33. ISBN 978-963-9776-14-2. Retrieved 2010-06-01.
  32. ↑ Petau, Denis (1758). search for "ante Christum" in a 1748 reprint of a 1633 abridgement entitled Rationarium temporum by Denis Petau. Retrieved 2010-06-01.
  33. ↑ C. R. Cheney, A Handbook of Dates, for students of British history, Cambridge University Press, 1945–2000, pp. 8–14.
  34. ↑ Dunn, James DG (2003). "Jesus Remembered". Eerdmans Publishing: 324.
  35. ↑ 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".
  36. ↑ 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. 113–129
  37. ↑ New Testament History by Richard L. Niswonger 1992 ISBN 0-310-31201-9 pp. 121–124
  38. ↑ Roger S. Bagnall and Klaas A. Worp, Chronological Systems of Byzantine Egypt, Leiden, Brill, 2004.
  39. ↑ Alfred von Gutschmid, Kleine Schriften, F. Ruehl, Leipzig, 1889, p.433.
  40. ↑ Johannes Kepler (1615). Joannis Keppleri Eclogae chronicae: ex epistolis doctissimorum aliquot virorum & suis mutuis, quibus examinantur tempora nobilissima: 1. Herodis Herodiadumque, 2. baptismi & ministerii Christi annorum non plus 2 1/4, 3. passionis, mortis et resurrectionis Dn. N. Iesu Christi, anno aerae nostrae vulgaris 31. non, ut vulgo 33., 4. belli Iudaici, quo funerata fuit cum Ierosolymis & Templo Synagoga Iudaica, sublatumque Vetus Testamentum. Inter alia & commentarius in locum Epiphanii obscurissimum de cyclo veteri Iudaeorum. (in Latin). Francofurti : Tampach. Retrieved 2011-05-18. anno aerae nostrae vulgaris
  41. ↑ Kepler, Johann; Vlacq, Adriaan (1635). Ephemerides of the Celestiall Motions, for the Yeers of the Vulgar Era 1633... Retrieved 2011-05-18.
  42. ↑ Sliter, Robert (1652). A celestiall glasse, or, Ephemeris for the year of the Christian era 1652 being the bissextile or leap-year: contayning the lunations, planetary motions, configurations & ecclipses for this present year ... : with many other things very delightfull and necessary for most sorts of men: calculated exactly and composed for ... Rochester. London: Printed for the Company of Stationers.
  43. ↑ The History of the Works of the Learned. 10. London: Printed for H. Rhodes. January 1708. p. 513. Retrieved 2011-05-18.
  44. ↑ BBC Team (8 February 2005). "History of Judaism 63BCE–1086CE". BBC Religion & Ethics. British Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 2011-05-13. Retrieved 2011-05-18. Year 1: CE – What is nowadays called the 'Current Era' traditionally begins with the birth of a Jewish teacher called Jesus. His followers came to believe he was the promised Messiah and later split away from Judaism to found Christianity
  45. ↑ Raphall, Morris Jacob (1856). Post-Biblical History of The Jews. Moss & Brother. Archived from the original on 11 May 2011. Retrieved 2011-05-18. The term common era does not appear in this book; the term Christian era [lowercase] does appear a number of times. Nowhere in the book is the abbreviation explained or expanded directly.
  46. ↑ Robinson, B.A. (20 April 2009). "Justification of the use of "CE" & "BCE" to identify dates. Trends". ReligiousTolerance.org.
  47. ↑ William Safire (17 August 1997). "On Language: B.C./A.D. or B.C.E./C.E.?". The New York Times Magazine.
  48. ↑ Cunningham, ed. by Philip A. (2004). Pondering the Passion : what's at stake for Christians and Jews?. Lanham, Md. [u.a.]: Rowman & Littlefield. p. 193. ISBN 978-0742532182.
  49. ↑ Doggett, 1992, p. 579

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