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Hub AI
Common Era AI simulator
(@Common Era_simulator)
Hub AI
Common Era AI simulator
(@Common Era_simulator)
Common Era
Common Era (CE) and Before the Common Era (BCE) are year notations for the Gregorian or Julian calendar, and are exactly equivalent to the Anno Domini (AD) and Before Christ (BC) notations. The expressions "2025 CE" and "AD 2025" each equally describe the current year; "400 BCE" and "400 BC" are the same year too. BCE/CE are primarily used to avoid religious connotations, by not referring to Jesus as Dominus [Lord].
The expression can be traced back to 1615, when it first appears in a book by Johannes Kepler as the Latin: annus aerae nostrae vulgaris (year of our common era), and to 1635 in English as "Vulgar Era" with the term 'vulgar' used in the historical sense of "relating to the common people". The term "Common Era" can be found in English as early as 1708, and became more widely used in the mid-19th century by Jewish religious scholars.
Around the year 525, the Christian monk Dionysius Exiguus devised the principle of taking the moment that he believed to be the date of the incarnation of Jesus to be the point from which years are numbered (the epoch) of the Christian ecclesiastical calendar. Dionysius labeled the column of the table in which he introduced the new era as "Anni Domini Nostri Jesu Christi" (the years of our Lord Jesus Christ). He did this to replace the Era of the Martyrs system (then used for some Easter tables) because he did not wish to continue the memory of a tyrant who persecuted Christians.
This way of numbering years became more widespread in Europe, with its use by Bede in England in 731. Bede also introduced the practice of dating years before 1 backwards, without a year zero.
The term "Common Era" is traced back in English to its appearance as "Vulgar Era" to distinguish years of the Anno Domini era, which was in popular use, from dates of the regnal year (the year of the reign of a sovereign) typically used in national law. (The word 'vulgar' originally meant 'of the ordinary people', with no derogatory associations.)
The first use of the Latin term anno aerae nostrae vulgaris may be in a 1615 book by Johannes Kepler. Kepler uses it again, as ab Anno vulgaris aerae, in a 1616 table of ephemerides, and again, as ab anno vulgaris aerae, in 1617. An English edition of that book from 1635 may contain the earliest known use of "Vulgar Era" in its title page. A 1701 book edited by John Le Clerc includes the phrase "Before Christ according to the Vulgar Æra, 6".
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary gives 1716 as the date of first use of the term "vulgar era" (which it defines as "Christian era").
The first published use of "Christian Era" may be the Latin phrase annus aerae christianae on the title page of a 1584 theology book, De Eucharistica controuersia. In 1649, the Latin phrase annus æræ Christianæ appeared in the title of an English almanac. A 1652 ephemeris may be the first instance of the English use of "Christian Era".
Common Era
Common Era (CE) and Before the Common Era (BCE) are year notations for the Gregorian or Julian calendar, and are exactly equivalent to the Anno Domini (AD) and Before Christ (BC) notations. The expressions "2025 CE" and "AD 2025" each equally describe the current year; "400 BCE" and "400 BC" are the same year too. BCE/CE are primarily used to avoid religious connotations, by not referring to Jesus as Dominus [Lord].
The expression can be traced back to 1615, when it first appears in a book by Johannes Kepler as the Latin: annus aerae nostrae vulgaris (year of our common era), and to 1635 in English as "Vulgar Era" with the term 'vulgar' used in the historical sense of "relating to the common people". The term "Common Era" can be found in English as early as 1708, and became more widely used in the mid-19th century by Jewish religious scholars.
Around the year 525, the Christian monk Dionysius Exiguus devised the principle of taking the moment that he believed to be the date of the incarnation of Jesus to be the point from which years are numbered (the epoch) of the Christian ecclesiastical calendar. Dionysius labeled the column of the table in which he introduced the new era as "Anni Domini Nostri Jesu Christi" (the years of our Lord Jesus Christ). He did this to replace the Era of the Martyrs system (then used for some Easter tables) because he did not wish to continue the memory of a tyrant who persecuted Christians.
This way of numbering years became more widespread in Europe, with its use by Bede in England in 731. Bede also introduced the practice of dating years before 1 backwards, without a year zero.
The term "Common Era" is traced back in English to its appearance as "Vulgar Era" to distinguish years of the Anno Domini era, which was in popular use, from dates of the regnal year (the year of the reign of a sovereign) typically used in national law. (The word 'vulgar' originally meant 'of the ordinary people', with no derogatory associations.)
The first use of the Latin term anno aerae nostrae vulgaris may be in a 1615 book by Johannes Kepler. Kepler uses it again, as ab Anno vulgaris aerae, in a 1616 table of ephemerides, and again, as ab anno vulgaris aerae, in 1617. An English edition of that book from 1635 may contain the earliest known use of "Vulgar Era" in its title page. A 1701 book edited by John Le Clerc includes the phrase "Before Christ according to the Vulgar Æra, 6".
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary gives 1716 as the date of first use of the term "vulgar era" (which it defines as "Christian era").
The first published use of "Christian Era" may be the Latin phrase annus aerae christianae on the title page of a 1584 theology book, De Eucharistica controuersia. In 1649, the Latin phrase annus æræ Christianæ appeared in the title of an English almanac. A 1652 ephemeris may be the first instance of the English use of "Christian Era".