2.12.4. How does one calculate Easter then?
Description
This article is from the Calendars FAQ, by Claus Tondering claus@tondering.dk with numerous contributions by others.
2.12.4. How does one calculate Easter then?
Under the Julian calendar the method was simple. If you know the
Golden Number of the year, you can find the Paschal full moon in this
table:
Golden Golden Golden
Number Full moon Number Full moon Number Full moon
------------------ ------------------ ------------------
1 5 April 8 18 April 15 1 April
2 25 March 9 7 April 16 21 March
3 13 April 10 27 March 17 9 April
4 2 April 11 15 April 18 29 March
5 22 March 12 4 April 19 17 April
6 10 April 13 24 March
7 30 March 14 12 April
Easter Sunday is the first Sunday following the above full moon date.
If the full moon falls on a Sunday, Easter Sunday is the following
Sunday.
But under the Gregorian calendar, things became much more complicated.
One of the changes made in the Gregorian calendar reform was a
modification of the way Easter was calculated. There were two reasons
for this. First, the 19 year cycle of the phases of moon (the Metonic
cycle) was known not to be perfect. Secondly, the Metonic cycle fitted
the Gregorian calendar year worse than it fitted the Julian calendar
year.
It was therefore decided to base Easter calculations on the so-called
Epact.
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