This Julian calendar error increased year by year, causing more and more consternation. There is an anecdote that Pope Gregory XIII became aware of this difference when it snowed in Rome on Easter. The concerned pontifex ordered a commission led by the famous mathematician Christopher Clavius to develop a calendar reform that would permanently exclude this type of “mistakes”. However, a mistake was made by “removing” only 10 days from the calendar instead of 14.
Gregory XIII’s reform caused terror among the faithful who did not understand why the Bishop of Rome was taking away 10 days of their lives. The inhabitants of the eternal city whispered among themselves that the Antichrist himself must dwell in the Lateran. Protestant and Orthodox countries rejected the “papal” calendar, considering it a manifestation of the aggressive Counter-Reformation.
February 29 – Extra day at the dock
Paradoxically, the papacy, which opposed the heliocentric theory, was now reforming the calendar in accordance with the rules of our planet’s rotation around the Sun.
When Thursday, October 4, 1582, was followed by Friday, October 15, 1582, a large part of the inhabitants of Catholic countries truly believed that 10 days of their lives had been taken away. Creditors were particularly furious because they did not know how to calculate interest on debtors. Although it also happened the other way round, that it was benefited by usurers who added interest for days that never existed.
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