Bede: the reckoning of time

585 Pages·2012·4.533 MB·English

by  il Venerabile santo Beda, Faith Wallis

TranslatedTextsforHistorians
Thisseriesisdesignedtomeettheneedsofstudentsofancientandmedi-
eval history and others who wish to broaden their study by reading
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Imperial and Dark Age texts are currently unavailable in translation
anditishopedthatTTHwillhelpto¢llthisgapandtocomplementthe
secondary literature in English which already exists.The series relates
principally to the period 300^800 AD and includes Late Imperial,
Greek,ByzantineandSyriactextsaswellassourcebooksillustratinga
particular period or theme. Each volume is a self-contained scholarly
translation with an introductory essay on the text and its author and
notesonthetextindicatingmajorproblemsofinterpretation,including
textualdi⁄culties.
EditorialCommittee
SebastianBrock,OrientalInstitute,UniversityofOxford
AverilCameron,KebleCollege,Oxford
HenryChadwick,Oxford
JohnDavies,UniversityofLiverpool
CarlottaDionisotti,King’sCollege,London
PeterHeather,UniversityCollege,London
WilliamE.Klingshirn,TheCatholicUniversityofAmerica
MichaelLapidge,ClareCollege,Cambridge
RobertMarkus,UniversityofNottingham
JohnMatthews,YaleUniversity
ClaudiaRapp,UniversityofCalifornia,LosAngeles
RaymondVanDam,UniversityofMichigan
MichaelWhitby,UniversityofWarwick
IanWood,UniversityofLeeds
GeneralEditors
GillianClark,UniversityofLiverpool
MaryWhitby,Oxford
Frontcoverdrawing:BedewritingTheReckoningofTime,afteraninitialina12th-century
versionofDetemporumratione,GlasgowU.L.HunterT.4.2,fol.35r(DurhamCathedral
PrioryS.XII1)(DrawnbyGailHeather)
A full list of published titles in the Translated Texts
for Historians series is available on request. The
mostrecentlypublishedareshownbelow.
Pseudo-DionysiusofTel-Mahre:Chronicle,PartIII
TranslatedwithnotesandintroductionbyWITOLDWITAKOWSKI
Volume22:192pp.,1995,ISBN0^85323^760^3
VenantiusFortunatus:PersonalandPoliticalPoems
TranslatedwithnotesandintroductionbyJUDITHGEORGE
Volume23:192pp.,1995,ISBN0^85323^179^6
DonatistMartyrStories:TheChurchinCon£ictinRomanNorthAfrica
TranslatedwithnotesandintroductionbyMAUREENA.TILLEY
Volume24:144pp.,1996,ISBN0^85323^931^2
HilaryofPoitiers:Con£ictsofConscienceandLawintheFourth-CenturyChurch
TranslatedwithintroductionandnotesbyLIONELR.WICKHAM
Volume25:176pp.,1997,ISBN0^85323^572^4
LivesoftheVisigothicFathers
TranslatedandeditedbyA.T.FEAR
Volume26:208pp.,1997,ISBN0^85323^582^1
Optatus:AgainsttheDonatists
TranslatedandeditedbyMARKEDWARDS
Volume27:220pp.,1997,ISBN0^85323^752^2
Bede:ABiblicalMiscellany
TranslatedwithnotesandintroductionbyW.TRENTFOLEYand
ARTHURG.HOLDER
Volume28:240pp.,1998,ISBN0^85323^683^6
Bede:TheReckoningofTime
Translatedwithintroduction,notesandcommentarybyFAITHWALLIS
Volume29:582pp.,1999,ISBN0^85323^693^3
RuriciusofLimogesandFriends:ACollectionofLettersfromVisigothicGaul
TranslatedwithnotesandintroductionbyRALPHW.MATHISEN
Volume30:272pp.,1998,ISBN0^85323^703^4
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TranslatedTexts for Historians
Volume 29
Bede:
The Reckoning of Time
translated,with introduction, notes
and commentaryby
FAITH WALLIS
Liverpool
University
Press
Firstpublished1999
LiverpoolUniversityPress
SenateHouse,AbercrombySquare
Liverpool,L693BX
Copyright(cid:1)1999FaithWallis
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TABLEOFCONTENTS
ABBREVIATIONS xi
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS xiii
INTRODUCTION xv
1. ‘‘Ourlittlebookaboutthe£eetingandwave-tossedcourse
oftime...’’ xv
2. Computusasproblem-basedscienceanddoctrinachristiana xviii
3. AbriefhistoryoftheChristiancalendarbeforeBede xxxiv
4. StructureandcontentofTheReckoningofTime lxiii
5. Bede’ssources lxxii
6. Manuscripts,glosses,editions,andprinciplesoftranslation lxxxv
BEDE: THE RECKONING OF TIME 1
Preface 3
[TableofContents] 5
[I.Technicalpreparation(chs.1^4)]
1. Calculatingorspeakingwiththe¢ngers 9
2. Threewaysofreckoningtime 13
3. Thesmallestintervalsoftime 14
4. Thereckoningofduodecimalfractions 16
[II.TheJuliancalendar(chs.5^41)]
5. Theday 19
6. Theworld’s¢rstday 24
7. Night 28
8. Theweek 32
9. Theseventypropheticweeks 36
10. TheweekoftheWorld-Ages 39
11. Themonths 41
12. TheRomanmonths 46
13. Kalends,nonesandides 50
viii THERECKONINGOFTIME
14. TheGreekmonths 51
15. TheEnglishmonths 53
16. Thesignsofthetwelvemonths 54
17. ThecourseoftheMoonthroughthesigns 58
18. MoreonthecourseoftheMoon:forthosewhoareignorant
ofthesigns 60
19. Moreonthesamesubject:forthosewhodonotknowhowto
calculate 63
20. WhattheageoftheMoonisonanygiven¢rstdayofthemonth 64
21. Whatdayoftheweekitisonthekalends 68
22. AformulaforanyMoonorweekday 69
23. Forthosewhodonotknowhowtocalculatetheageofthe
Moon 71
24. Thenumberofhoursofmoonlight 73
25. WhenandwhytheMoonappearstobefacingupwards,
facingdownwards,orstandingupright 74
26. WhytheMoon,thoughsituatedbeneaththeSun,sometimes
appearstobeaboveit 77
27. Onthesize,oreclipse,oftheSunandMoon 78
28. WhatthepoweroftheMooncando 80
29. TheharmonyoftheMoonandthesea 82
30. Equinoxesandsolstices 86
31. Thevaryinglengthofdaysandthedi¡erentpositionofthe
shadows 89
32. Whythesamedaysareunequalinlength 91
33. Inwhatplacestheshadowsordaysareequal 93
34. The¢vecirclesoftheuniverseandthepassageofthestars
undertheEarth 96
35. Thefourseasons,elementsandhumours 100
36. Naturalyears 103
37. Thedi¡erentyearsoftheancients 104
38. Thecalculationoftheleap-yearday 105
39. Measuringtheleap-yearincrement 107
40. WhyitisintercalatedonthesixthkalendsofMarch 109
41. TheMoonalsohasitsquarter-day 110
[III.Anomaliesoflunarreckoning(chs.42^43)]
42. The‘‘leapoftheMoon’’ 113
43. WhytheMoonsometimesappearsolderthanitscomputedage 115
TABLEOFCONTENTS ix
[IV.ThePaschaltable(chs.44^65)]
44. Thenineteen-yearcycle 121
45. Embolismicandcommonyears 122
46. Theogdoasandthehendecas 124
47. TheyearsoftheLord’sIncarnation 126
48. Indictions 130
49. Formulafor¢ndingtheindiction 130
50. Lunarepacts 130
51. Howcertainpeopleerrconcerningthebeginningofthe¢rst
month 132
52. Formulafor¢ndingthenumberofthelunarepacts 135
53. Solarepacts 136
54. Formulafor¢ndingthenumberofthesolarepacts,andwhen
leapyearwillfall 137
55. Thecycleofbothepacts,andhowtocalculatethemusingthe
¢ngers 137
56. Thelunarcycle 139
57. Formulabasedonthelunarcyclefor¢ndingtheageofthe
Moonon1January 141
58. Aformulato¢ndwhatyearofthelunarcycleorofthe
nineteen-yearcycleitis 142
59. ThefourteenthMoonofEaster 142
60. Aformulafor¢ndingit 144
61. EasterSunday 145
62. TheMoonofthatday 147
63. Thedi¡erencebetweenthePaschandtheFeastofUnleavened
Bread 149
64. TheallegoricalinterpretationofEaster 151
65. TheGreatPaschalCycle 155
[V.Theworld-chronicle(ch.66)]
66. TheSixAgesofthisworld 157
[VI.Futuretimeandtheendoftime(chs.67^71)]
67. TheremainderoftheSixthAge 239
68. ThreeopinionsofthefaithfulastowhentheLordwillcome 240
69. ThetimeofAntichrist 241
70. TheDayofJudgement 243
71. TheSeventhAge,andtheEighthAgeoftheworldtocome 246