The Christian calendar, brimming with it's own saint's days,
incorporated the festivals of the agricultural calendar (see
quarter day);-
Candlemas Day
marked the anniversary of the Purification
of the Virgin Mary.
Easter, while retaining the name of a Norse goddess, celebrated
Christ's resurrection.
Hallowe'en, not to be separated from the association of roving
spirits of the dead, became All Saints' Day.
The Winter Soltice, indicator of new life the following year was
made the special festival celebrating Christ himself.
The Julian calendar was adopted by most western European countries
from the 6th century A.D., onwards.
Because the equinoctial year does not lend itself to
simplification by virtue of it's 365.2422 days, the Julian calendar
invoked a leap year of 366 days every 4th year.
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Protestant England did not adoptedadopt the
'papal'
calendar until 1752.
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By the 16th century, the accumulated error had reached 10 days -
what should have been April 2nd was April 12th, thus in 1582
Pope Gregory XIII introduced a revised calender which has since
been known as the Gregorian Calendar.
By the 16th century, the accumulated error in the
Julian Calendar's treatment of the equinoctial year
had reached 10 days - what should have been April 2nd was April 12th,
thus in 1582 Pope Gregory XIII introduced a revised calender which
treated every 4th year as a leap year but excluded the last year
of a century unless it was devisible by 400.
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The simple country folk would not be deterred from the notion that they had
been robbed of 11 days of their lives and there were many near-riots. Much
of rural life was governed by the calendar and when human logic caused caused
confusion, divine guidance was saught from the Glastonbury Thorn by great
crowds at Christmas in 1752.
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This calendar, which has since come to be known as the Gregorian Calendar,
was adopted by Catholic Europe in 1582, most
of the other European countries
followed in 1583 excepting Protestant England which tarried and did not
accept the new 'papal'
calendar until 1752.
By 1752, the error had accumulated 11 days which were dropped from the
calendar between September the 3rd and September 14th of that year.
