Bede, The Reckoning of TimeFrom the patristic age until the Gregorian calendar reform of 1582, computus -- the science of time reckoning and art of calendar construction -- was a matter of intense concern. Bede's The Reckoning of Time (De temporum ratione) was the first comprehensive treatise on this subject and the model and reference for all subsequent teaching discussion and criticism of the Christian calendar. It is a systematic exposition of the Julian solar calendar and the Paschal table of Dionysius Exiguus, with their related formulae for calculating dates. But it is more than a technical handbook. Bede sets calendar lore within a broad scientific framework and a coherent Christian concept of time, and incorporates themes as diverse as the theory of tides and the doctrine of the millennium. This translation of the full text of The Reckoning of Time includes an extensive historical introduction and a chapter-by-chapter commentary. It will interest historians of medieval science, theology, and education, Bede scholars and Anglo-Saxonists, liturgists, and Church historians. It will also serve as an accessible introduction to computus itself. Generations of medieval computists nourished their expertise in Bede's orderly presentation; modern scholars in quest of safe passage through this complex terrain can hope for no better guide. |
Contents
Abbreviations | xi |
Acknowledgements | xiii |
Introduction | xv |
The Reckoning of Time | 1 |
Commentary | 251 |
Appendices | 377 |
Bibliography | 430 |
445 | |
465 | |
Common terms and phrases
14th Moon 17 April 19-year cycle 25 March 8th kalends according Alexandrian Anatolius ancient annus April 19 April 21 April 22 March Augustine Beda Bede Bede's beginning bishop calculation CCSL celebrated chapter Christ Christian Chron chronicle chronology Church Commentary computistical computus days old Dionysius Exiguus Earth Easter Egyptians embolismic epact Etym Eusebius formula full Moon Genesis glosses Greek heaven Hebrew holy Ibid ides Irish Isidore Jerome Jones Julian calendar kalends of April kalends of January king Krusch leap leap-year day Letter to Plegwin Letter to Wicthed Liber pontificalis Lord lunar cycle lunar month lunation manuscript March 15 Medieval Moon Nature of Things night Nisan Orosius Paschal cycle Paschal table Passover Pliny Polemius Silvius Pope puncti Reckoning reign Resurrection Roman Rome ruled seventh Sirmond solstice spring equinox Studien Sunday temporum tides tion trans translation Victorius week weekday World-Ages zodiac