144 Calatrava, Order of
Calatrava, Order of One of the first Iberian military
orders, the order of Calatrava was founded in the 12th
century after the recapture of a frontier enclave, Cala-
trava. The Castilian king Alfonso VII (1104–57) gave it
in 1147 to the TEMPLARSto defend against the invading
ALMOHADS. After that monarch’s death and faced with
the inaction of the lay nobility, Raymond, abbot of
Fitero, a Navarrese CISTERCIANmonastery, traveled to
Calatrava, where in 1158 he founded a new voluntary
religious order composed of monks and KNIGHTS to
resist Islamic expansion. The new order adopted the
Cistercian Rule and was approved first in 1163 by
Cîteaux, and then in 1164 by Pope ALEXANDERIII. In
the 14th century the seal of the order was transferred to
Almagro. By the 15th century, it had become an associa-
tion of nobles who involved themselves in internal
Castilian politics. In 1489 FERDINANDII and ISABELI
annexed the order to the Crown.
Further reading:Joseph F. O’Callaghan, The Spanish
Military Order of Calatrava and Its Affiliates(London: Var-
iorum, 1975).
calendars and the reckoning of dates The calendar
in use in the Latin West at the beginning of the Middle
Ages evolved under the influence of Christian efforts to
calculate liturgical feasts and remove pagan memories.
Under the Roman Empire, three chronological reference
points were the first Olympiad, the foundation of Rome,
and the beginning of the Julian calendar. These different
ways of dating had to be challenged in the early Middle
Ages by Christians. They first chose as a reference point
August 29, 284, the beginning of the era of the martyrs,
also called the era of Diocletian. Dates then were calcu-
lated with reference to the office of the last serving con-
sul. In the usual Roman calendar, three days each month
were used to calculate dates. The first day of the month
was the Calends or Kalends. The Nones was on the fifth
or seventh day, varying month to month. The Ides also
varied on the 13th or 15th day. This dating system per-
sisted as late as 1300 in some documents, especially in
Italy.
CHRISTIAN CALENDARAbout 532 the Roman monk Dionysius Exiguous (fl.
525) tried to set the starting point of the Christian era at
the birth of Christ, the eighth day of the Calendsof
January of the year 754 from the founding of Rome, or
December 25 of the year 1. This date was quickly shown
at best to be approximate; it was calculated by using
spotty information from the gospel of Luke that Jesus was
about 30 years old at the time of his baptism. That sup-
posedly took place in the 15th year of the reign of the
emperor Tiberius (r. 14–37).
This system of dating was used only for events
after the birth of Christ. Prior events were dated from the
creation of the world, so far as it could be determined by
adding the years suggested by the Christian BIBLE. After
BEDEaccepted this system, it slowly passed into general
use. It was first adopted by the ANGLO-SAXONS, then in
FRANCEin the late eighth century, in GERMANYin the
ninth, and by the PAPACYin the 10th century. However, it
appeared regularly in the acts of the pontifical chancery
only from the time of EUGENIUSIV in 1431. Not until the
17th century did the birth of Christ also become the
chronological reference point for B.C.E.JULIAN CALENDAR
Julius Caesar in 46 B.C.E. established the length of the
year as 365 days and six hours, to be divided into 12
months. Every four years, a day was added after February- In the Middle Ages, this day was inserted between
February 23 and 24. The beginning of the year might
vary according to region. A Roman civil year and accord-
ing to the Julian calendar the year began on January 1.
Roman military used March 1. The Christian church
introduced three more possible dates to begin the new
year: December 25 (INCARNATION style), March 25
(ANNUNCIATIONstyle), or the movable feast of EASTER.
The church also gave a Christian meaning to the date of
January 1, which coincided with Christ’s CIRCUMCISION.
These various options were not reduced to January 1
until the 16th century.
DAYS OF THE WEEK
From the eighth century, Christendom adopted the
framework of a seven-day week. Going back to the Baby-
lonians who had classified the seven “stars” or heavenly
bodies in a fixed order: Saturn, Sun, Moon, Mars, Mer-
cury, Jupiter, and Venus. One day was consecrated to
each, according to a cycle that turned anew every seven
days. Recalling these “stars,” the Christians considered
Sunday the first day of the week instead of Saturn’s day,
or Saturday.
Christianity recognized the close connection between
the week and a divine model followed in the creation
account in Genesis and followed in the Jewish calendar.
In that tradition, people worked for six days then rested
on the seventh. This seventh day, the Lord’s day, the
Christian Sunday, was substituted for the Jewish sabbath
or Saturday. An edict to that effect was issued by the
Council of NICAEAin 325 and was kept by most medieval
Christians.JEWISH AND ISLAMIC CALENDARS
The Jewish method for calculating the year was based on
biblical information that yielded a date for creation of
3761 B.C.E., so a year such as 2000–2001 C.E. was 5761.
The year had 12 lunar months each with 29 or 30 days
and a year of 354 days. Some years had a 13th month to
maintain linking of the year to the Sun. Some holy days
in this system then have to be calculated.