Dear J
You are correct in your observations. On the brass coffin-plate of King Charles I (situated in Windsor Castle) his date of death is given as “January 30th – 1648”. Why, then, does every modern textbook state he was executed (through “beheading”) on “January 30th – 1649”? This is because around 1751-52 – the UK altered its calendar from the “Julian” to the “Gregorian”. In 1751 the Calendar Act was passed by Parliament – so that in 1752 – New Year’s Day would fall for the first-time on “January 1st” – as opposed to the traditonal “March 25th” (the latter bang the original Roman “New Year” – subsequently adopted by the Christian Church to celebrate “Lady’s Day” – referring to “Mary Mother of Christ” Day – as the UK was now “Protestant” Mary was no longer the central figure she still is in the now ousted Catholic Church). Interestingly, when I worked in an Accountancy firm in the UK, the “Financial Year” legally began on “April 1st” – the retaining of the old Pagan New Year for financial purposes – I am told (a time of “plenty” in the world as Spring has arrived). What happened after the 1752 change is that all the historical dates were altered to reflect the new calendar – with “January 1st” now being “New Year”. Therefore, King Charles I was executed in “1649” and not the actual “1648” – as “January 1st” (New Year) had come and gone prior to the event. Sometimes in UK textbooks, you may find acronyms like “OD” (“Old Date”) and “ND” (New Date) next to differing years – or something similar. So, King Charles died in 1648 (OD) and 1649 (ND) – and so on. As time has gone by, quite often the “Old Dates” have been forgotten altogether – until a particularly efficient historian decides to brush-off the cobwebs.
As for the months we use today – there is a discrepancy in numbering – and I suspect this originates from the masses being illiterate, unable to tell the time, or care much about exact dates (the controlling classes told them what to do). Roman calendars served the mundane purpose of counting-off ten-months for official purposes – with the two months of Winter being omitted altogether (as if by ignoring them – they might go away. The poorly educated did not care what the intelligence did with their minds regarding times of the year. According to legend – the Roman Calendar began with King Romulus (r. 753–716 BCE) – who devised a ten-month effort. It must be remembered that the Latins mimicked everything “Greek” – and so the independent City States that comprised ancient Greek culture are recorded as possessing “lunar” calendars as early as the 8th century BCE – although unlike Rome – there was no unified Greek calendar, although both cultural entities appear to have tracked the seasons via the Moon, at least initially (there is some archaeological evidence that women counted “13” Moons when counting their periods throughout the year – and that this is the basis of the earliest calendars. The Latin “Mensis” = “Month”). It would seem that as no-one liked the Winter-months – the Romans simply “ignored” them (around 61-days were unaccounted for). As 6-months possessed 30-days and 4-months 31-days – this Roman year (which ran from “March to December” posseesed only “304-days”. Remember that “March” was effectively “New Year” for the Romans. What were the original “10” months of the Roman Calendar? Here is te list:
Two-months ferile and uncounted = 61 days (Winter)
1) “Martius” – the “God of War” or “Mars” (March) = 31-days (beginning of Spring)
2) “Aprilis” – “to open” (April) – as in Spring-flowers and a time of plenty = 30-days (Mid-Spring)
3) “Maius” – “Goddess Maia” (May) – *Great Female Nurturer of Life” = 31-days (Late-Spring)
4) “lunius” – “Goddess Juno” (June) – “Protector of Marriage, Women, & Childbirth” = 30-days “Early-Summer)
5) “Quintilis” – literally “5th-month” (July) – later renamed “Julius Casar” = 31-days (Mid-Summer)
6) “Sextilis” – literally “6th-month” (August) – Later renamed “Augustus Caesar” = 30-days (Late-Summer)
7) “September” – literally “7th-month” = 29-30-days (Early-Autumn)
8) “October” – literally “8th-month” = 31-days (Mid-Autumn)
9) “November” – literally “9th-month” = 30-days (Late-Autumn)
10) “Decenber” – literally “10th-month” = 31-days (Early-Winter)
It would seem logical that the earliest strata of this calendar probably consisted of a straightforward “1-10” arrangement of months – with no other purpose than a bureaucratic numbering exercise in State-control. Rome won victories on the battlefield by numbering and ordering bodies of men – and so by numbering and ordering the months of the year – farming and civil society could be just as easily controlled and directed. It might be that the earliest extant copies of this calender reflect the data recorded above – (probably a development away from the original structure) – with no known earlier copies being available at the moment. As the land was cold, frozen, or overly wet – the Romans initially chose not to recgnise mid or late Winter (as the ground was unstable – Rome also preferred to avoid warfare during these months). However, during “March” – the ground became “firm” and Roman Armies could set-out on campaigns (“March” out to battle). Althougg there could be no genuine expectation of warfae in the Winter-months – the Roman State had to rely on “diplomacy” instead of force of arms. In recognition of this, two “new” months were developed:
1a) “Janus” – “God with Two-Faces” looks back at past year and forward to new-yaar (January) = 31-day (Mid-Winter)
2a) “Februare” – “To Purify” – Roman time of spiritual & physical cleansing before new-year (February) – 28-29-days (Late-Winter)
When these two new months were added to the older list above – all the numbered months were knocked out of sync:
3a – 1) “Martius” – the “God of War” or “Mars” (March) = 31-days (beginning of Spring)
4a – 2) “Aprilis” – “to open” (April) – as in Spring-flowers and a time of plenty = 30-days (Mid-Spring)
5a – 3) “Maius” – “Goddess Maia” (May) – *Great Female Nurturer of Life” = 31-days (Late-Spring)
6a – 4) “lunius” – “Goddess Juno” (June) – “Protector of Marriage, Women, & Childbirth” = 30-days “Early-Summer)
7a – 5) “Quintilis” – literally “5th-month” (July) – later renamed “Julius Casar” = 31-days (Mid-Summer)
8a – 6) “Sextilis” – literally “6th-month” (August) – Later renamed “Augustus Caesar” = 30-days (Late-Summer)
9a – 7) “September” – literally “7th-month” = 29-30-days (Early-Autumn)
10a – 8) “October” – literally “8th-month” = 31-days (Mid-Autumn)
11a – 9) “November” – literally “9th-month” = 30-days (Late-Autumn)
12a – 10) “Decenber” – literally “10th-month” = 31-days (Early-Winter)
SANGHA KOMMUNE (SSR) 