Dates in old documents

[KGarrad]

1586 or 1587? Both!! Either?!

The year began on March 25th!

Did you read the section on 1752 Calender changes in the web-page I senbefore?

[GR2]

A regnal year does not coincide with the calendar year. It depends on the date the monarch came to the throne. The first year of the reign of Elizabeth I started when Queen Mary died on 17th November 1558. The 10th November 1559 is still in the first year of her reign.

Graham.

[Frank75]

In my reckoning then the 29th year of Elizabeth 1 reign was 17 Nov 1586 to 16 Nov 1587 so the year of the marriage must be 1587.

Frank

[Windsor87]

1586 or 1587? Both!! Either?!

The year began on March 25th!

Did you read the section on 1752 Calender changes in the web-page I senbefore?

The reason why the Tax Year still begins in the first week of April.

[behindthefrogs]

In my reckoning then the 29th year of Elizabeth 1 reign was 17 Nov 1586 to 16 Nov 1587 so the year of the marriage must be 1587.

Frank

But the 12th of February would have been in 1586 because the the year 1587 didn't start until late March.

[Frank75]

According to the freereg link the correct way of describing dates between January and March up until 1752 is, as in my case, 15 January 1586/7.  If we count back from now, year on year, it would be 1587 but because the year used to start at the end of March in Elizabethan times the year would still have been 1586.

On another note being a bit of an amateur calligrapher I have fathomed out how the x's and v's came to be written as they were. Quill pens as well as most calligraphic nibs are squared off so in order to get ink on the page you have to draw the nib towards you.  We generally write an x from top left to bottom right and then top right to bottom left.  This would have been no different then so the letter would have been constructed with 2 strokes.  The first would be curved to the left and the second meeting up with the end of the first stroke and swirling in the exaggerated tail serif which gives the impression of a reverse g.

The v is constructed of 2 strokes as well.  The first being longer than the second and again curved to the left.  The second stroke shorter but curved to the right.  When written quickly it could easily look like a backward leaning b.  Clear as Mud

Frank

[LizzieW]

I understood the years, but your description of the reason x's and y's were written in a strange (to us) way was very enlightening.

Lizzie