Calendar Reform

Historical Context Essay

Robert Clark (The Literary Encyclopedia)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.05: English Writing and Culture from the Glorious Revolution to the French Revolution, 1689-1789.
Vol. editors: Paul Baines (University of Liverpool), Daniel Cook (University of Dundee), Pat Rogers (University of South Florida), Nicholas Seager (University of Keele)

Domains

Reform movements and reformers

Dates

Date of occurrence 1752-09-03-1752-09-13

Places

United Kingdom (Location)

Resources

Save to Bookshelf

Act 24 of George II rectified an anomaly between the English and most continental European calendars by removing from history the days of 3rd-13th September 1752 and thereafter starting each year on January 1st rather than March 25th.

The Roman calendar had used January 1st as the first day of the year from 153 BCE onwards, but most medieval Christian calendars used March 25th, the Feast of the Annunciation. The Anglo-Saxons celebrated New Year on December 25th, and William the Conqueror decreed January 1st should be New Year's Day, but pressure from the Catholic Church later brought England into line with continental religious practice and March 25th became New Year's Day.

The Roman calendar had used January 1st as the first day of the year from 153 BCE onwards, but most medieval…

Please log in to consult the article in its entirety. If you are a member (student of staff) of a subscribing institution (see List), you should be able to access the LE on campus directly (without the need to log in), and off-campus either via the institutional log in we offer, or via your institution's remote access facilities, or by creating a personal user account with your institutional email address. If you are not a member of a subscribing institution, you will need to purchase a personal subscription. For more information on how to subscribe as an individual user, please see under Individual Subcriptions.

438 words

Citation: Clark, Robert. "Calendar Reform". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 01 May 2004; last revised 25 September 2008. [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=141, accessed 19 April 2024.]

Save this article