The Spanish era (Latin : Æra Hispanica), sometimes called the era of Caesar, was a calendar era (year numbering system) commonly used in the states of the Iberian Peninsula from the 5th century until the 15th, when it was phased out in favour of the Anno Domini (AD) system. [1] The epoch (start date) of the Spanish era was 1 January 38 BC. [2] [1] To convert an Anno Domini date to the corresponding year in the Spanish era, add 38 to the Anno Domini year, [2] such that Era 941 would be equivalent to AD 903. A date given in the Spanish era always uses the word era followed by a feminine ordinal number (when written out instead of given in Roman numerals). This contrasts with the AD system that uses the masculine anno (year): i.e., era millesima octava versus anno millesimo octavo. [1]
The reasons behind the choice of 38 BC are unknown. It has been suggested that it may result from an Easter table that began with that year (rather than the Incarnation). [1] Isidore of Seville in his Etymologiae (early 7th century) included an explanation of the meaning of Latin aera , plural of aes (bronze, brass, copper). "An era", writes Isidore, "according to the sequence of the years was set up by Caesar Augustus when he first levied a general tax and mapped the Roman world [i.e., in 38 BC]. It was called aera because the whole world pledged itself to deliver copper to the state." [3] In reality, the meaning of "period of time" for aera comes from the use of bronze counters in calculations. [3]
The Spanish era was used throughout the Visigothic Kingdom, which covered all of the Iberian Peninsula and the region of Septimania. [1] It was even used in parts of North Africa. [4] It continued in use in these regions but gradually fell away before the end of the Middle Ages. [1] Official usage of the era ceased in different parts of the peninsula at different times: Catalonia dropped the era (as well as the French king's regnal year) in AD 1180, Aragon in 1349/1350, Valencia in 1358, Castile in 1382/1383, Portugal in 1420/1422 and Navarre in the early 15th century. [1] [2] [4] While the year officially began on 1 January under the Spanish era, that was changed to 25 December when the Anno Domini system was adopted (while the Church used 11 January). [2]
In al-Andalus under Muslim rule, the Spanish era was called the taʾrīkh al-ṣufr. [5] This has been interpreted by Ignác Goldziher as "European era", from taʾrīkh (date, era, annals) and aṣfar (yellow, pale, red), a word which came to be applied to Greeks, then Romans and by the Middle Ages to Europeans in general, the Banuʾl-Aṣfar ("sons of the yellow one"). [5] [6] Alternatively, Giorgio Levi Della Vida interprets it as "Bronze Era", with ṣufr corresponding to Latin aera , i.e. "bronze." This derivation is supported by a legend recorded in the 12th-century Chronica Gothorum Pseudoisidoriana and interpolated in the Arabic translation of Orosius' Historiae adversus paganos. According to this legend, Augustus in 38 BC taxed the whole empire in bronze or copper coin and melted it down to make plates with which he covered the banks of the Tiber. [3]
The terms anno Domini (AD) and before Christ (BC) are used when designating years in the Gregorian and Julian calendars. The term anno Domini is Medieval Latin and means "in the year of the Lord" but is often presented using "our Lord" instead of "the Lord", taken from the full original phrase "anno Domini nostri Jesu Christi", which translates to "in the year of our Lord Jesus Christ". The form "BC" is specific to English, and equivalent abbreviations are used in other languages: the Latin form, rarely used in English, is ante Christum natum (ACN) or ante Christum (AC).
Ab urbe condita, or anno urbis conditae, abbreviated as AUC or AVC, expresses a date in years since 753 BC, the traditional founding of Rome. It is an expression used in antiquity and by classical historians to refer to a given year in Ancient Rome. In reference to the traditional year of the foundation of Rome, the year 1 BC would be written AUC 753, whereas AD 1 would be AUC 754. The foundation of the Roman Empire in 27 BC would be AUC 727. The current year AD 2024 would be AUC 2777.
Common Era (CE) and Before the Common Era (BCE) are year notations for the Gregorian calendar, the world's most widely used calendar era. Common Era and Before the Common Era are alternatives to the original Anno Domini (AD) and Before Christ (BC) notations used for the same calendar era. The two notation systems are numerically equivalent: "2024 CE" and "AD 2024" each describe the current year; "400 BCE" and "400 BC" are the same year.
An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth.
Year 23 BC was either a common year starting on Saturday or Sunday or a leap year starting on Friday, Saturday or Sunday of the Julian calendar and a common year starting on Friday of the Proleptic Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Augustus and Varro. The denomination 23 BC for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.
AD 1 (I) or 1 CE was a common year starting on Saturday or Sunday, a common year starting on Saturday by the proleptic Julian calendar, and a common year starting on Monday by the proleptic Gregorian calendar. It is the epoch year for the Anno Domini (AD) Christian calendar era, and the 1st year of the 1st century and 1st millennium of the Christian or Common Era (CE).
AD 38 (XXXVIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Iulianus and Asprenas. The denomination AD 38 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.
Year 780 (DCCLXXX) was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar, the 780th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 780th year of the 1st millennium, the 80th year of the 8th century, and the 1st year of the 780s decade. The denomination 780 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.
The proleptic Julian calendar is produced by extending the Julian calendar backwards to dates preceding AD 8 when the quadrennial leap year stabilized. The leap years that were actually observed between the implementation of the Julian calendar in 45 BC and AD 8 were erratic.
Year 1 BC was a common year starting on Friday or Saturday in the Julian calendar and a leap year starting on Thursday in the proleptic Julian calendar. It was also a leap year starting on Saturday in the Proleptic Gregorian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Lentulus and Piso. The denomination 1 BC for this year has been used since the early medieval period when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years. The following year is AD 1 in the widely used Julian calendar and the proleptic Gregorian calendar, which both do not have a "year zero".
Year 9 BC was either a common year starting on Wednesday, Thursday or Friday or a leap year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar and a leap year starting on Monday of the Proleptic Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Drusus and Crispinus. The denomination 9 BC for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.
The year 500 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. In the Roman Republic it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Camerinus and Longus. The denomination 500 BC for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.
Year 10 BC was either a common year starting on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday or a leap year starting on Tuesday or Wednesday of the Julian calendar and a common year starting on Sunday of the Proleptic Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Maximus and Antonius. The denomination 10 BC for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.
During the 40th century BC, the Eastern Mediterranean region was in the Chalcolithic period, transitional between the Stone and the Bronze Ages. Northwestern Europe was in the Neolithic. China was dominated by the Neolithic Yangshao culture. The Americas were in a phase of transition between the Paleo-Indian (Lithic) to the Meso-Indian (Archaic) stage. This century started in 4000 BC and ended in 3901 BC.
A calendar era is the period of time elapsed since one epoch of a calendar and, if it exists, before the next one. For example, it is the year 2024 as per the Gregorian calendar, which numbers its years in the Western Christian era.
The Ethiopian calendar, or Ge'ez calendar is the official state civil calendar of Ethiopia and serves as an unofficial customary cultural calendar in Eritrea, and among Ethiopians and Eritreans in the diaspora. It is also an ecclesiastical calendar for Ethiopian Christians and Eritrean Christians belonging to the Orthodox Tewahedo Churches, Eastern Catholic Churches, and Eastern Protestant Christian P'ent'ay Churches. The Ethiopian calendar is a solar calendar that has much in common with the Coptic calendar of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria and Coptic Catholic Church, but like the Julian calendar, it adds a leap day every four years without exception, and begins the year on 11 or 12th of September in the Gregorian calendar. A gap of seven to eight years between the Ethiopian and Gregorian calendars results from an alternative calculation in determining the date of the Annunciation.
The Era of the Martyrs, also known as the Diocletian era, is a method of numbering years based on the reign of Roman Emperor Diocletian who instigated the last major persecution against Christians in the Empire. It was used by the Church of Alexandria beginning in the 4th century AD and it has been used by the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria from the 5th century until the present. This era was used to number the year in Easter tables produced by the Church of Alexandria.
The Holocene calendar, also known as the Holocene Era or Human Era (HE), is a year numbering system that adds exactly 10,000 years to the currently dominant numbering scheme, placing its first year near the beginning of the Holocene geological epoch and the Neolithic Revolution, when humans shifted from a hunter-gatherer lifestyle to agriculture and fixed settlements. The current year by the Gregorian calendar, AD 2024, is 12024 HE in the Holocene calendar. The HE scheme was first proposed by Cesare Emiliani in 1993, though similar proposals to start a new calendar at the same date had been put forward decades earlier.
Anno Lucis is a dating system used in Masonic ceremonial or commemorative proceedings, which is equivalent to the Gregorian year plus 4000. It is similar to Anno Mundi.
A year zero does not exist in the Anno Domini (AD) calendar year system commonly used to number years in the Gregorian calendar ; in this system, the year 1 BC is followed directly by year AD 1. However, there is a year zero in both the astronomical year numbering system, and the ISO 8601:2004 system, the interchange standard for all calendar numbering systems. There is also a year zero in most Buddhist and Hindu calendars.