Dionysius Exiguus' Easter table
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Dionysius Exiguus's Easter table was constructed in the year 525 by Dionysius Exiguus
for the years 532–626. He obtained it from an Easter table attributed to Patriarch Cyril of Alexandria
for the years 437–531. The latter was constructed around the year 440 by means of extrapolation from an Alexandrian Easter table constructed around the year 390 by Patriarch Theophilus of Alexandria
. The great historical importance of Dionysius' Easter table is twofold:
Dionysius Exiguus
Dionysius Exiguus was a 6th-century monk born in Scythia Minor, modern Dobruja shared by Romania and Bulgaria. He was a member of the Scythian monks community concentrated in Tomis, the major city of Scythia Minor...
for the years 532–626. He obtained it from an Easter table attributed to Patriarch Cyril of Alexandria
Cyril of Alexandria
Cyril of Alexandria was the Patriarch of Alexandria from 412 to 444. He came to power when the city was at its height of influence and power within the Roman Empire. Cyril wrote extensively and was a leading protagonist in the Christological controversies of the later 4th and 5th centuries...
for the years 437–531. The latter was constructed around the year 440 by means of extrapolation from an Alexandrian Easter table constructed around the year 390 by Patriarch Theophilus of Alexandria
Theophilus of Alexandria
Theophilus of Alexandria was Patriarch of Alexandria, Egypt, from 385 to 412. He is regarded as a saint by the Coptic Orthodox Church....
. The great historical importance of Dionysius' Easter table is twofold:
- From this Easter table Bede's Easter cycleBeda Venerabilis' Easter cycleIn the year 616 an anonymous extended Dionysius Exiguus' Easter table to an Easter table covering the years 532 up to and including 721. Dionysius' table was published in 525 and shortly thereafter was accepted by the church of Rome, which from the third century up till then had given preference...
would ultimately be developed by means of which all future Julian calendarJulian calendarThe Julian calendar began in 45 BC as a reform of the Roman calendar by Julius Caesar. It was chosen after consultation with the astronomer Sosigenes of Alexandria and was probably designed to approximate the tropical year .The Julian calendar has a regular year of 365 days divided into 12 months...
dates of Easter Sunday were determined (as in column G of Dionysius' table); - With his Easter table Dionysius introduced in passing the Christian era (see column A of Dionysius' table) which would be developed into a full system for dating historical events by BedeBedeBede , also referred to as Saint Bede or the Venerable Bede , was a monk at the Northumbrian monastery of Saint Peter at Monkwearmouth, today part of Sunderland, England, and of its companion monastery, Saint Paul's, in modern Jarrow , both in the Kingdom of Northumbria...
two centuries later.