Verdean Calendar
The Verdean Calendar is a calendar utilized largely within the boundaries of culturally Verdean nations. It is named partially after the Verdean faith Regio dela Verde, and the chief deity of the Verdean pantheon. The calendar has leap years in place to ensure an average year of 365.2425 days, determined by the rotation of Tara around Suul. Leap days occur every four years, except every hundreth year unless that year is divisible by four. Adoption of the calendar predates adoption of a standardized civil calendar in non-Verdean states, and as a result the Meridonian civil calendar was largely plotted along similar lines to the Verdean calendar with different terminology and organization of the calendar. In spite of the outsize cultural influence of the Verdean states of the Post-Classical and Early Modern periods, the Verdean calendar never expanded past those nations which were majority or plurality Verdean in nature.
Description
Annual Structure
| No. | Name | Length in days |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mesjula | 53 |
| 2 | Mesorge | 52 |
| 3 | Mesjandra | 52 |
| 4 | Mestor | 52 |
| 5 | Meseva | 52 |
| 6 | Mesisa | 52 |
| 7 | Mesvacío | 52 (53 on leap years) |
The Verdean calendar is a solar calendar consisting of seven months, each with fifty two days, excepting the first month which has fifty three. Most years on the Verdean calendar are three hundred sixty five days long, but there are occasionally leap years which are three hundred sixty six days longs, applying the additional day to the final month of the year. Insofar as modern historians and anthropologists have evidence, the year has traditionally begun on the first day of Mesjula since the Verdean calendar was adopted, but some have believed that earlier uses of the calendar, that during the the period of time between the adoption of the calendar in the early fifth century before Imperium and the unification of the First Verdean Empire, that the year would begin on the twenty sixth of Mesorge instead.
Leap years tend to occur once every four years, with few exceptions. The calendar resets completely over the course of four hundred years. Over the course of this four hundred year period there are three hundred three years of the regular three sixty five day length, and ninety seven leap years.
Months
The Verdean calendar has seven months named for the divine names deities of the Regio faith. They have a mostly uniform number of days, excepting the first month, and the last month during leap years.
- Mesjula (53 days), named for the feminine aspect of the Deity of Jade, the Jade Queen/Empress, whose divine name is Julia.
- Mesorge (52 days), named for the masculine aspect of the Deity of Silver, the Silver Knight, whose divine name is Jorge.
- Mesjandra (52 days), named for the feminine aspect of the Deity of Gold, the Gold Masester, whose divine name is Alejandra.
- Mestor (52 days), named for the masculine aspect of the Deity of Diamond, the Diamond Priest, whose divine name is Victor.
- Meseva (52 days), named for the feminine aspect of the Deity of Ruby, the Ruby Seneschal, whose divine name is Eva.
- Mesisa (52 days), named for the feminine aspect of the Deity of Sapphire, the Sapphire Cupbearer, whose divine name is Isabela.
- Mesvacío (52 days), named for the masculine aspect of the Deity of Lapis, the Lappis Jester, whose divine name is Vacío.
Each month consists of seven weeks as well as 3-5 extra days which are usually part of unofficial religious festivals.
Weeks
The Verdean week is seven days long, and lines up somewhat to the month structure. The days are Reydia, Cabadilla, Maesdia, Sacadia, Senedia, Copadia, Bufdia. Each of these days, like the monthly names corresponds to a deity in the main Regio pantheon, in this case being named for the roles each of the Verdean deities play in the pantheon, starting with the Jade Queen, and moving through each of the other deities in the Pantheon, barring, like the month structure, the minor deities.
Calendar Eras
As of the DI 18 (1818) the years of the Verdean calendar are divided into three periods. The eras are AI (Antes Imperio), AdI (Años de Imperio), and DI (Después Imperio). The dividing line between periods are tied to the existence of the First Verdean Empire. Years marked AI, are those that occurred before the founding of the First Empire. Those marked AdI are the years in which the First Empire existed and ruled most of the Verdean Archipelago, including the years that the Empire was founded, and the year that the First Empire was overthrown. Years marked DI correspond to years after the First Empire fell.
Adoption and Changes
Adoption
The adoption of the Verdean calendar came with the spread of Regio dela Verde throughout the Verdean Archipelago. The unified calendar was in fact one of the reforms that ultimately came about because of the foundation of the religion. Prior to the adoption of the Verdean calendar, the petty kingdoms and realms of the Archipelago used realm calendars, tying the years to the reigns of rulers (eg. the Fifteenth year of Ruggiero II), and the starts of years to the birthdays of aforementioned rulers. A unified calendar was a solution to the problem of record keeping among the growing Septonate of the islands, and spread among the educated classes at first. Adoption of the calendar became widespread shortly after the formation of the First Verdean Empire.
The Verdean Calendar would not spread much outside Culturally Verdean nations, but some of its structure would become influential to the creation of the Meridonian Civil Calendar. Currently, the Verdean calendar is used officially in Verde, Dorado, Plata, Lesser Verde, and Los Cuarzos, and used unofficially in Davidos. In all cases, the Verdean calendar is used in conjunction with the Civil Calendar as a dual standard, the previous ethnonationalist government of Dorado did however use the Verdean Calendar exclusively.
Beginning of the Year
The beginning of the year was traditionally tied a date different than 1. de Mesjula. Before the formation of the First Verdean Empire, the Verdean Calendar's first day in a year ocurred on the 1. de Mestor, due to the fact that the month was associated with the deity of the Priesthood, and the calendar's usage most commonly of the Regio Septonate. During the early years of the Verdean Empire, the first day of the year was traditionally 1. de Mesorge, emphasizing the importance of the militant Silver Deity to the Verdean people. The first day was eventually transferred to 1. de Mesjula in AdI 800 as part of a series of religious reforms at the behest of the ruling dynasty of the Empire. Over the following centuries this change was retroactively applied until the early modern period.
Calendar Eras
Initially, the structure of the eras of years were tied to the establishment of the Regio faith. Being a calendar of the Regio faith rather than the Verdean people in the early years of its usage, this demarcation made the most sense to the clergy of the early Regio Septonate. Years prior to advent of the Regio Faith (tied to the Miracle of Arrogance in AI 500) were referred to as AF (Antes Fe), and AdF (Años de Fe).
As the the Verdean Archipelago became increasingly unified, and especially after the establishment of the First Empire, the nature of the calendar itself became increasingly tied to the Verdean people moreso than the Regio faith. As part of the establishment of the First Empire, the Septonate formally recognized Imperial rule, and as part of this recognition, shifted the eras of the calendar. In the second system, years before the establishment of the First Empire were marked AI (Antes Imperio), and years afterwards were marked AdI (Años de Imperio).
When the First Verdean Empire collapsed at the turn of the 19th century (on the civil calendar). A third era was added to the previous system DI (Después Imperio) indicating years after the fall of the First Empire.