‎Daniel Mc Carthy‎
‎Christian Paschal Tables and Their Lunar Cycles from Anatolius to Bede‎

‎, Brepols, 2026 Hardback, Pages: 320, Size:216 x 280 mm, Illustrations:5 col., 17 tables b/w., 75 tables col., Language: English. ISBN 9782503622613.‎

Reference : 70426

‎Summary The events of Jesus' Crucifixion and his Resurrection three days later provide the basis for Christians' belief in redemption and an existence after death. Consequently, the celebration of the events of Jesus' Passion represents the most important feast in the Christian calendar, designated Pasch, or Easter in English. The four Gospels correlate the Crucifixion with the Jewish feast of Passover, celebrated at the time of the spring full moon, so initially the Passover full moon determined the approximate date of the Christian celebration. However, as Christianity spread beyond Palestine it became difficult for the dispersed Christian communities to synchronize their celebration of Pasch. In AD 269, Anatolius, bishop of Laodicea in modern Syria, established an accurate 19-year lunar cycle to predict the date of the spring full moon for future years. In circa AD 309, Eusebius, bishop of Caesarea, used Anatolius' 19-year lunar cycle to construct a table to schedule Pasch for the future years. In AD 328 Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria, modified Anatolius' lunar cycle by advancing all nineteen full-moon dates by exactly two days, and this cycle was continued by his episcopal successor, Theophilus. In circa AD 412 the Alexandrian mathematician, Annianus, further modified this cycle by advancing its saltus by three years. Annianus' cycle was quickly adopted by Theophilus' episcopal successor, Cyril, who misrepresented that Annianus' cycle had been authorized by the Council of Nicaea. This was the cycle that prevailed in the Western Church until Pope Gregory reformed the calendar in 1582, and this book comprehensively documents for the first time the evolution of these Paschal cycles. TABLE OF CONTENTS I. The Christian adoption of lunar cycles to schedule their Pasch II. Published reconstructions of Anatolius' 19-year Paschal table III. Revision of the reconstructed Paschal table of Anatolius' De ratione paschali IV. Paschal tables deriving from Anatolius' 19-year cycle Anatolius' De ratione paschali, AD c.271 Eusebius of Caesarea's Paschal table, AD c.309 Athanasius' Festal letters and the Alexandrian Index, AD c.380 Theophilus' 100-year Paschal table, AD c.385 Annianus' 532-year Paschal table and his 19-year lunar cycle, AD c.412 V. References to Paschal tables employing 19-year lunar cycles, AD 418-455 Cyril's letter to the Council of Carthage, AD 418 Cyril's 114-year Paschal table of AD c.428 Paschasinus' Ep. ad Leo of AD 443 Leo and Proterius and the Pasch of AD 455 VI. Translation and adaptations of Annianus' Paschal table, AD c.445-c.457 A Latin translation of Annianus' Paschal table, AD c.445 The Gaulish preface to a 95-year Paschal table, AD c.456, and its Iberian recension The 532-year Paschal table of Victorius of Aquitaine, AD 457 VII. Continuations of the adaptations of Annianus' Paschal table, AD 525-c.630 Dionysius Exiguus' Paschal epistolae, AD 525 The Ravenna Rota - AD c.526 Leo the monk's Ep. ad Sesuldum archidiaconum - AD 532 Isidore, bishop of Seville, Etymologiae 6,17 - AD c.630 VIII. Dionysius to Bede: Western use of adaptations of Annianus' Paschal table, AD 525-725 The papal attitude to Victorius' marginal dates avoiding 24-25 April Interpreting references to Victorius' Paschal table, AD 532-721 The Paschal table sent by pope Gregory with Augustine's mission to Britain, AD 597 The Anglo-Saxon church's reception of Dionysius Bede's account of Dionysius and Victorius in DTR IX. The evolution of 19-year Paschal lunar cycles, AD 269-457 Appendices Bibliography‎