The New Year

Yesterday's post briefly pointed out the confusion over how to state the year that legislation took place when the date of the start of the year was different. What if a date falls after the start of the year for one country, but before the start of the year in another? When did the year start, and why?

I suppose many readers of this blog are aware of solstices and equinoxes, but let's review: A solstice is the time when the Sun reaches its maximum or minimum declination (the angular distance north or south of the equator), marking the longest or shortest days of the year. The winter solstice takes place about December 20-21, the summer solstice about June 20-21.

An equinox ("equal night") is the day halfway between solstices when the length of day and night is the same. We have a vernal (spring) equinox about March 20-21, and an autumnal equinox about September 20-21.

Note the proximity of the winter solstice to Christmas. With a lack of instruments to measure length of day/night, four days is a good length of time for the human eye and brain to see in December that the days are, in fact, getting longer, and winter will eventually end. This has a lot to do with why so many festivals in the Classical Era were established on or around 25 December. The Romans followed this with calling 1 January the start of the new year, Janus being the god of beginnings.

But 1 January did not suit everyone as the start of the new year. For some cultures, winter was the end of the year, and until the world started growing again, it wasn't "new." Spring was therefore the beginning of a new year. But if that were the case, what day would you pick so that everyone could celebrate at the same time? Well, how about when the day was longer than the night, and more sun and warmth for growing things and for, say, sheep to be able to find grass to eat? 25 March was considered the logical start of the New Year for many.

So to bring us back to yesterday's post: the Statute of Rhuddlan was superseded by some later acts. The Laws in Wales Acts of 1535/6 under Henry VIII was listed that way because it happened to be decided between 1 January and 25 March, and so it was decided as far as England was concerned in 1536, but when proclaimed in Wales for the first time, it was still 1535.

We don't pay much attention to the solstices and equinoxes in the Modern Era except when the weather people point them out, but those dates were turned into other festivals with religious significance in the Middle Ages, and we'll take a Quick Look at them tomorrow.