Happy Medieval New Year, that is, and maybe more specifically, medieval English new year.
The sixth century monk Dionysius Exiguus is the one who created our current Anno Domini system of dating, in which the life of Christ is the significant event that all history is dated from. By the late seventh century most of the churches in Britain were using this method of dating, which included beginning the new civil year on March 25th.
This was one of the most significant dates in Christian history because the early church considered it the date of the Crucifixion. There are a host of traditions surrounding the importance of that date. Because Christ’s earthly life completes a perfect circle, he died on the same date as his incarnation, therefore we celebrate the Annunciation on the 25th of March (which is why the Nativity is celebrated nine months later on the 25th of December). Important events from the Old Testament that tell of creation’s fall and the coming Messiah happened on this date. The Golden Legend says that on the 25th of March Adam fell and Abraham offered his son Isaac on the altar.
I’m not sure whether this day was considered the new year anywhere outside of England and her colonies. But here it was the new year until England adopted the current Gregorian calendar in 1752, which added eleven days to the calendar to bring it back in alignment with the sun’s position. It also moved new year’s day to January 1. This is why you’ll sometimes see historical dates given in both “New Style” and “Old Style.” For example, George Washington’s birthday is often given as “February 22, 1732 [OS February 11, 1731].”
So I’m launching this new blog today in honor of the old New Year.
I’ve reposted three of the most popular posts from my old blog, all on reading Spenser’s Faerie Queene, and I’ll occasionally update other old posts from there and add them here, in addition to writing new content.
In the header, you’ll notice I’m offering a free discussion forum where I hope to foster a community of people who are “not so much like-minded as like-hearted,” as Alan Jacobs puts it in How to Think. This means a wide range of topics and perspectives is most welcome, as long as discussions are carried out with courtesy.
The forum is also where I’ll be hosting my classes in the future. If you join the Members-only section you’ll also find two classes which I’m offering for free. As soon as I finish figuring out Woo Commerce I’ll have a Classes page up where you can buy my old classes (which are for sale on my old blog in the mean time). WTL is also where you’ll be able to buy my new classes as I create them. It’s still a work in progress.
Note about comments: I love comments on the blog and you can comment here, but you have to click the post’s title to get to that feature. If I can figure out how to get the comments option to show up while you’re reading on the blog’s main page, I’ll do so. Hope to hear from you!
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