[of timekeeping and history]
To fully understand timekeeping and the calendar year in Florence of the Quattrocento, one must first turn to the ancient Roman calendar, its evolution, and the rise of Christianity ...
The Ancient Calendar
The Roman calendar of antiquity was originally determined by the cycles of the moon and the seasons of the agricultural year. Beginning in March - the spring - and ending in December with the autumn planting, the year then was ten months long comprised of 304 days. Six of the months had thirty days and four had thirty-one. The winter months - when there was no work in the fields - were not counted. These months were;
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Martius
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(31 days)
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(named for the God Mars)
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Aprilis
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(30 days)
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(named for the Etruscan God Aprilis)
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Maius
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(31 days)
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(named for the Goddess Maia)
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Iunius
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(30 days)
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(named for the God Juno)
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Quintilis
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(31 days)
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(quintus = 5th month)
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Sextilis
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(30 days)
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(sex = 6th month)
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September
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(30 days)
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(septem = 7th month)
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October
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(31 days)
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octo = 8th month)
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November
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(30 days)
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(novem = 9th month)
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December
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(30 days)
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(decum = 10th month)
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The Twelve Month Calendar
In 713 BC, Numa Pompilius, the second King of Rome, reduced the 30 day months to 29 days and added January (29 days) and February (28 days) and thus brought the length of the calendar year up to 355 days:
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Martius
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(31 days)
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Aprilis
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(29 days)
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Maius
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(31 days)
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Iunius
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(29 days)
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Quintilis
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(31 days)
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Sextilis
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(29 days)
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September
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(29 days)
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October
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(31 days)
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November
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(29 days)
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December
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(29 days)
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Ianuarius
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(29 days)
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(named for the God Janus)
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Februarius
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(28 days)
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(named for the Februa festivals, celebrated at the end of the Roman year)
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In order to keep the calendar year roughly aligned with the solar year, a leap month of 27 days, the Mensis Intercalaris was added from time to time at the end of the year and February was thus shortened to 23 or 24 days. The resulting year was either 377 or 378 days long. On average, this Mensis Intercalaris was usually inserted in alternate years.
The Julian Calendar
It was in 46 BC that Julius Caesar consulted with the astronomer Sosigenes of Alexandria and restructured the calendar once more to create a calendar of 365 days divided into 12 months. This calendar came into play in 45 BC and had a provision to add a leap day to the last month of the year - February - every four years.
The Christian Influence
As Christianity grew and adapted pre-Christian practices and customs to further their cause, the Calendar was adjusted accordingly. Some Biblical scholars place the birth of Jesus Christ in the harvest month which means it would have occurred in the modern equivalent of October, but in those times it would have been the tenth month - the latin “decum” (10) - thus December.
That February was the last month of the year was a given by those locales such as Florence who retained their latin literacy, so having March as the first month of the year made perfect sense.
The Church measured the hours of the day according to the division of prayers;
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Matins
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(during the night) | |
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Lauds
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(at Dawn) | |
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Prime
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(the First Hour = 6am) | |
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Terce
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(the Third Hour = 9am) | |
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Sext
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(the Sixth Hour = Noon) | |
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None
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(the Ninth Hour = 3 pm) | |
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Vespers
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(at the lighting of the lamps) | |
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Compline
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(before retiring) |
Thus Compline was the closing hour of the day.
Days and Years in Florence
The result of this history meant that Florence in the Quattrocento marked New Year’s Day as March 25 - the day of the Annunciation of the revelation to Mary, the mother of Jesus by the archangel Gabriel that she would conceive a child to be born the Son of God.
It also meant that days were marked from sunrise to sunset according to the seven hours of the Church. With the last hour of the day being Compline and normally sounded at sunset, it was logical for the new day to begin immediately afterward. One went to bed at the start of the new day.
So a reference to a birth occurring “an hour into the tenth day of January, 1482” in period would result in a birth date of January 10, 1482, yet by modern calculation it would be January 9th, 1483.
Sevrin de Savage
November 27, Anno Societatis XLI