This chapter provides information on calendar systems used by Eastern Slavs from ancient times to the 20th century, with special emphasis on calendars used in Russia, and their practical implications in cataloging. The chapter includes sections on the following calendrical systems:
Ancient Slavs had several calendar systems, but one of the best known was the Krugolet Chisloboga (Круголет Числобога). It was based on an ancient 16-hexadecimal notation that formed a 16-year cycle (Krugolet), with three seasons making up one "leto" (year), 12 months in a year, 40 or 41 days in a month and 9 days in a week. A cycle of life (modern century) had 144 years. Remnants of this system are still present in Slavic languages and Slavic assumptions about chronology.
Круголет Числобога Source: http://www.stihi.ru/2014/08/10/3275
Other pre-Christian calendars were used at different times or simultaneously with the Krugolet Chisloboga, but the most important calendar system that was used in Russia and Eastern Europe for over a millennium was a Byzantine calendar known as the Mundane Era of Constantinople (often referred to as Anno Mundi (A.M.)), or the Civil Era of Constantinople. It had as its beginning date the year 5508 before the Christian era. In Slavic countries this era was known as the “Era of the Creation of the World” (oт сотворения мира). The start of the new year according to the Mundane Era was September 1st; however, early Slavs celebrated the start of the new year in March. See section 2b below for guidance about translating Mundane Era dates into the modern Gregorian calendar.
After the adoption of Christianity in 988, the Slavic people living on the territory of modern Russia and in other parts of Eastern Europe started using the Julian calendar, which was woven together with the Christian holidays. The Julian calendar, which was named after the Roman emperor Julius Caesar (100-44 BC), who introduced its use, was used in Europe from 46 BC.
The transition to a new calendar system in Kievan Rus and early Eastern Europe was very slow, and both systems -- the Mundane Era, and the Julian -- coexisted for centuries. The new year still began on March 1, but, starting in 1492, September 1 was adopted as the start of the new year; this date is still used in the Eastern Orthodox Church for the beginning of the liturgical year.
In Slavic manuscript and printed sources from this period, dates were still given in accordance to the reckoning of the Mundane Era calendar, either alone or together with the corresponding date in the Julian calendar. Orthodox Eastern liturgical books and religious manuscripts and publications used only the Mundane Era dates. The dates were often written in Church Slavic letters, with a small mark, indicating a thousand, next to the first letter. For example, the year of 1913 will be written as ҂а̃ц̃і̃г̃ (according to Julian calendar); the combination of letters ҂з̃р̃ч̃г̃ would convert to 7193 (according to the Mundane Era) (see Transcribing Church Slavic).
Per RDA 2.8.6.3. Optional Addition: “If the date as it appears in the resource is not of the Gregorian or Julian calendar, add the corresponding date or dates of the Gregorian or Julian calendar. Indicate that the information was taken from a source outside the resource itself.
If the date as it appears on the resource is represented in different calendars, record the dates in the order indicated by the sequence, layout, or typography of the dates on the source of information.”
Example (in MARC format):
245 00 Книга житій святыхъ.
245 00 Kniga zhitīĭ svi︠a︡tykhʺ.
246 3 Житія святыхъ
246 3 Zhitīi︠a︡ svi︠a︡tykhʺ
264 1 ВЪ Москвѣ : ǂb ВЪ сѵ̈нодальной типографіи, ǂc 7396 [1888]
264 1 Vʺ Moskvi︠e︡ : ǂb Vʺ Sẏnodalʹnoĭ tipografīi, ǂc 7396 [1888] [date is given in
Mundane Era; date in Gregorian calendar is added in brackets]
500 Date appears in Church Slavic letters in Mundane Era calendar. [note added
on the type of calendar used in the resource]
Note that some materials with publication or production dates in the Mundane Era are likely to be items that fit into a special collections profile. In this case, the LC-PCC practice for 2.8.6 Core element should be applied: For rare materials, transcribe date(s) of publication found in the resource.
Example (in MARC format):
130 0 Synopsis (Kievan history)
245 10 Сѷнопсис, или, Краткоє собраніє ѡт разных лѣтописцєв ѡ началѣ
Славѧно-Рѡссійскагѡ нарѡда ... / ǂc по блгословєнію прєсвчтнаго о Хртѥ гдина
Оца Іннокєнтіѧ Гізілѧ.
245 10 Synopsis, ili, Kratkoe sobranīe ōt raznykh lětopist︠s︡ev ō nachalě
Slavęno-Rōssiĭskagō narōda ... / ǂc po blgoslovenīi︠u︡ presvchtnago o K︠H︡rti︠e︡ gdina
Ot︠s︡a Īnnokentīę Gīzīelę.
246 30 Synopsis
246 30 Сѷнопсис
246 3 Краткое собрание от разных летописцев о начале славяно-российского
народа
246 3 Kratkoe sobranie ot raznykh letopist︠s︡ev o nachale slavi︠a︡no-rossiĭskogo naroda
264 1 [Києв] : ǂb В ... Лаврѣ Кієво-Пєчєрской ..., ǂc в лѣтo oт созданіѧ міра ЗРПВ,
oт воплощєніѧ жє Бога Слова 1674.
264 1 [Kiev] : ǂb V ... Lavrě Kīevo-Pecherskoĭ ..., ǂc v lětō ōt sozdanīę mīra ZRPV, ōt
voploshtenīę zhe Boga Slova 1674. [date transcribed exactly as it appears on
the resource]
In this example, dates appear in two systems - 1674, according to the Julian calendar, and ҂ЗРПВ (7182), according to the Mundane Era. If the date had appeared only in the Mundane Era system, it would have been necessary to calculate the publication date from the Mundane date - see section 2b for guidance.
For letters corresponding to numbers, please refer to LC Church Slavic Romanization table at http://www.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/romanization/churchsl.pdf
In 1699, the Russian tsar Peter the First revised the calendar by decreeing that the year would start on January 1, as in the Gregorian calendar, which had been widely adopted in Europe at that time, not September 1 according to the Julian calendar in Eastern Europe. The following years were to be numbered from the birth of Christ, not the beginning of the world. Yet, despite introducing such major changes to the chronological system, Peter decided to continue to use the Julian calendar instead of converting fully to the Gregorian calendar.
Since different calendar systems were used simultaneously in Russia after 1700, calendar dates from this period are often ambiguous, unless it is specified which calendar was being used. The Mundane Era calendar was still widely used in liturgical and sacred books and the Julian calendar was used by the Russian Orthodox Church and in civil life, but the beginning of the new year was celebrated according to the Gregorian calendar. The Gregorian calendar was also used by some government agencies like the Department of Foreign Affairs, commercial and naval fleets, and some sciences, such as astronomy, meteorology, etc.
An additional challenge in calculating the dates converted from the Mundane Era was brought by the different starting dates of the new year which were known as two styles - the March style (which considered March 1 as the starting date) used by ancient Slavs, and the September style (which considered September 1 as the starting date), used in the Julian calendar. All dates prior to 1701 given in the Mundane Era calendar must be calculated with the March/September styles in mind. Please note that, starting from 1492, it was the September style that was predominantly used in greater Russia.
Here is a simplified cheat sheet to help with the calculation:
Pre-1492 dates in the Mundane Era: apply the March style
1492 to 1700 dates in the Mundane Era: apply the September style unless you know that the date is given according to the March style
If the month is known, then the exact date can be determined.
For example:
The date given in the Mundane Era calendar according to the March style when the month is known.
For the months of January and February, subtract 5507 from the date to calculate the Christian Era (A.D.) date. For example, if the date is given as 6952, month of January: 6952 - 5507 = 1445.
For the months of March through December, subtract 5508. For example, if the date is given as 6952, month of July: 6952 - 5508 = 1444.
The date given in the Mundane Era calendar according to the September style when the month is known.
For the months from January to August, subtract 5508 from the date to calculate the Christian Era date. For example, if the date is given as 7052, month of January: 7052 - 5508 = 1544.
For the months from September through December 31st, subtract 5509. For example, if the date is given as 7052, month of October: 7052 - 5509 = 1543.
In cases when the month was not known, double dates should be given. For the March style, the number to be subtracted is 5507 or 5508, therefore the date 7052 would be converted as 1544/1545; for the September style, the number to be subtracted is 5508 or 5509, therefore the date 7052 would be converted as 1543/1544.
In cases when the start of the new year and the style are not known, subtract 5508, and indicate that the date is approximate.
For dates post 1700, regardless of month - subtract 5508.
RDA 6.4.1.3. instructs catalogers to record the date of the work in terms of the calendar preferred by the agency creating the data. Catalogers should follow the LC-PCC practice for 6.4.1.3 and always record dates in terms of the Gregorian calendar.
Example (in MARC format):
130 0 Bible. ǂp Acts and Epistles. ǂl Church Slavic. ǂf 1649.
245 10 Дѣянія апостольска.
245 10 Di︠e︡i︠a︡nīi︠a︡ apostolʹska.
246 1 ǂi Colophon title: ǂa Aps̃tlʺtetrʺ
246 3 Apostol tetr
264 1 ВЪ прєславномъ въ цaрcтвyющємъ градѣ Москвѣ : ǂb [Пeчатный Двор], ǂc ВЪ
лѣто, 7157, мѣсѧца марта, въ 21 дєнь [1649]
264 1 Vʺ preslavnomʺ vʺ t︠s︡arstvūi︠u︡shtemʺ gradě Moskvě : ǂb [Pechatnyĭ Dvor], ǂc Vʺ
lěto, 7157, měsęt︠s︡a marta, vʺ 21 denʹ [1649] [Western-style arabic numerals
substituted for the Church Slavic year and day; date in Gregorian calendar
added in brackets]
500 Date appears in Church Slavic letters in Mundane Era calendar.
In this example, the month and date of printing is given as March 21 - “měsęt︠s︡a marta, vʺ ka denʹ”, where “ka” is number “21”. The Mundane Era year - z̃r̃ñz̃ - converts to number 7157. Since the month of printing is given as March, the appropriate number to subtract from 7157 is 5508, which is used as the subtraction number for the September style for a work published between January through August.
Please note that the Mundane Era date expressed as z̃r̃ñz̃ should be recorded as “7157”, per LC-PCC PS for 1.8.2 Form of Numerals, Alternative (1st): Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Perso-Arabic, Cyrillic, Greek: substitute Western-style arabic numerals when non-Latin script numerals appear on the resource. If important for identification, the cataloger may record a note showing the non-Latin script form of the numeral found on the resource.
In comparison to the Gregorian calendar, the Julian calendar did not properly reflect the actual time it takes the Earth to circle once around the Sun and so the calendars progressively diverged; thus, by 1700 the difference between Julian and Gregorian calendars was 11 days. Throughout the long transition period, the Julian calendar continued to diverge from the Gregorian calendar, and by the year 1900, the difference had increased to 13 days. On February 14, 1918, the Soviet government replaced the Julian calendar with the Gregorian calendar.
The Eastern Orthodox Church has never fully accepted the Gregorian calendar. Even today it retains the old Julian calendar and, for this reason, there is a delay of 14 days in the dates of its religious holidays as compared with their dates in the Gregorian calendar.
Adoption of the Gregorian calendar brought about the existence of a dual calendar system that is still in effect and which is known as Old Style and New Style -- sometimes abbreviated as O.S. and N.S., respectively, in reference sources. “Old Style” refers to the old Julian calendar, and “New Style”, the new Gregorian calendar. In order to determine the exact date, it is necessary to know the style in which the date in question is given. Also, given the widening divergence between calendars detailed above, the cataloger must take into account the century involved.
Note that dates in post-1918 publications referring to events that occurred before 1918 can be found either in Old or New Style, or both. In the latter case, the New Style date is usually given in parentheses.
For example:
Mikhail Lomonosov's birth and death dates: 11.08(19).1711--04.04(15).1765 (the difference between the Old and New Styles in 18th century - 11 days, therefore the New Style dates are: November 19, 1711 and April 15th, 1765)
Anton Chekhov’s birth date: 01.17(29).1860 (the difference between the Old and New Styles in 19th century - 12 days, therefore the New Style birth date is: January 29, 1860)
Anton Chekhov’s death date: 07.02(15).1904 (the difference between the Old and New Styles in 20th century - 13 days, therefore the New Style death date - July 15, 1904)
Catalogers also need to be aware that the date format in Russia and former Soviet Union is to have the day of the month first, followed by the month’s number, followed by the year, which is opposite to the North American practice, in which the month precedes the day. For example, December 10, 1985 would be given as 10.12.1985, not as 12.10.1985. This is especially important in authority work when providing information on dates for persons associated with Russia, Eastern Europe, or Former Soviet Republics. To avoid ambiguity, catalogers are encouraged to spell out dates associated with the person, for example: “born December 10, 1985”.
Special attention should be given to dates related to persons or events that occurred in the last two weeks of December in years prior to 1919, since a change of year would be involved in translation to the Gregorian calendar. For example, the Russian poet Nikolai Nekrasov died on December 27, 1877. At the time when an authority record for him was created, information on the calendar style was either unavailable, or ignored, so the authorized access point was established with the date “1877” as Nekrasov’s date of death. Later, when it was discovered that the date had been established according to the old style, the record was changed to reflect the new style.
046 ǂf 1821-12-10 ǂg 1878-01-08 ǂ2 edtf
100 1 Nekrasov, Nikolaĭ Alekseevich, ǂd 1821-1878
400 1 Nekrasov, Nikolay, ǂd 1821-1878
400 1 Некрасов, Николай Алексеевич, ǂd 1821-1878
400 1 Nekrasov, Nikolaĭ Alekseevich, ǂd 1821-1877 ǂw nne
670 His Who can be happy and free in Russia ... 1917.
670 Encyc. Brit., ǂb 15th ed., micro., v. 7, p. 247 (Nekrasov, Nikolay Aleksevevich)
670 Nikolaj Nekrasov, 2005: ǂb back cover (1821-1877)
670 Kratkai︠a︡ literaturnai︠a︡ ėntsiklopedii︠a︡, 1962-1978: ǂb (Nekrasov, Nikolai Alekseevich
Nekrasov (28.XI (10.XII).1821- 27.XII.1877 (8.I.1878); Russian poet)
670 Russian Wikipedia, July 21, 2014 ǂb (Некрасов, Николай Алексеевич = Nekrasov,
Nikolaĭ Alekseevich; born November 28 (December 10), 1821, Nemirov, died Dec.
27, 1877 (January 8, 1878), Saint Petersburg; Russian poet, novelist, and essayist)
For NACO purposes, cite only the modern (later) date, when available.
Sources:
Dates, Months, and Years in Church Slavic: http://www.halgal.com/churchslavicdmy.html
Old style to new style calendar calculator by Petko Yotov: http://5ko.free.fr/en/jul.php
Bialawa, Matthew. (1999) Old Church Slavonic Numbers, Dates, and Months. East European Genealogical Society. 8(2): https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/img_auth.php/6/66/Old_Church_Slavonic_Numbers%2C_Dates%2C_and_Months_by_Matthew_Bialawa.pdf
Evans, C.T. (2011-2012) Notes on the Russian Calendar: http://novaonline.nvcc.edu/eli/evans/his241/Notes/Calendar.html
Meyer, Peter. The Julian and Gregorian Calendars: http://www.hermetic.ch/cal_stud/cal_art.html
Theodossiou, E., Manimanis, V. N. and Danezis, E. (2002) The Russian Calendars after the christianization of the country, Astronomical & Astrophysical Transactions, 21:1, 149-153: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10556790215569
See also:
Revised: Dec. 18, 2015 and Aug. 14, 2025