The French Republican Calendar was used in France and countries controlled by France from 1793 to 1805. This calendar was very similar to the ancient Egyptian and Alexandrian calendars, which are still used in Ethiopia and by the Coptic Church. Not only did the Republican Calendar include a decimal week, but also decimal time. Months of the Republican Calendar were divided into three décades, of ten days each. There were twelve 30-day months in a year, plus five or six complementary days at the end. Years began on the autumnal equinox, the Year One being counted retroactively from September 22, 1792, the first day of the Republic.
There was a "rural" version, in which each day of the year also had its own name (just as the Catholic Church named days after saints in its calendar) the fifth day of the décade being named after an animal, the tenth day after a farm implement, and the rest after plants or minerals. The ten-day décades were very unpopular due to the division of the workweek and the conflict with Sundays, and stopped being used in Floréal an X (April 1802). The entire calendar was abandoned after Napolean became emperor, at the end of 1805.
Décades
The ten days of each décade were called:| Day | Name | Meaning | Day | Name | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Primidi | First Day | 6 | Sextidi | Sixth Day |
| 2 | Duodi | Second Day | 7 | Septidi | Seventh Day |
| 3 | Tridi | Third Day | 8 | Octidi | Eight Day |
| 4 | Quartidi | Fourth Day | 9 | Nonidi | Ninth Day |
| 5 | Quintidi | Fifth Day | 10 | Decadi | Tenth Day |
Months
The months are shown below. Starting dates are approximate, and may fall one or two days later in some years.| Autumn | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Starts | Name | Meaning |
| 1 | Sep 22 | Vendémiaire | Vintage |
| 2 | Oct 22 | Brumaire | Fog |
| 3 | Nov 21 | Frimaire | Frost |
| Winter | |||
| Month | Starts | Name | Meaning |
| 4 | Dec 21 | Nivôse | Snow |
| 5 | Jan 20 | Pluviôse | Rain |
| 6 | Feb 19 | Ventôse | Wind |
| Spring | |||
| Month | Starts | Name | Meaning |
| 7 | Mar 21 | Germinal | Germination |
| 8 | Apr 20 | Floréal | Flowers |
| 9 | May 20 | Prairial | Prairies |
| Summer | |||
| Month | Starts | Name | Meaning |
| 10 | Jun 19 | Messidor | Harvest |
| 11 | Jul 19 | Thermidor | Heat |
| 12 | Aug 18 | Fructidor | Fruits |
The five or six days (depending on leap years) added to the end of the year were called:
| Day | Name | Meaning | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jour de la vertu | Virtue Day | |
| 2 | Jour du génie | Genius Day | |
| 3 | Jour du travail | Labor Day | |
| 4 | Jour de l'opinion | Opinion Day | |
| 5 | Jour des récompenses | Rewards Day | |
| 6 | Jour de la révolution | Revolution Day |
Leap Years
Leap years, called sextile because they contained a sixth complementary day, occurred whenever two consecutive autumnal equinoxes happened to fall 366 days apart, as observed in Paris, which happened in the years III, VII and XI. A period of four years, at the end of which the addition of one day was necessary, was called a franciade, It was mistakenly assumed that a leap year would be skipped after about 129 years. However, had the calendar continued in use, there would have been five years between the leap years XV and XX. There was also a problem that when the equinox occurred close to midnight, the margin for error made it impossible to predict whether it would fall on the day before or after midnight.In the year III, Jean Baptiste Joseph Delambre proposed reformed rules similar to those of the Gregorian calendar, so that years divisible by 4 would be leap years, unless they were divisible by 100 and not divisible by 400. Also, the year 4000 would not be a leap year. This method has the benefit that Republican years start on the same day in the Gregorian calendar for long periods; for instance, all years start on September 22 between 1993 and 2092. However, Gilbert Romme was chosen to present the draft decree but he was sentenced to the guillotine and committed suicide shortly after, and the original equinox rule was followed, instead, with the first leap day occurring three months after his death. Jérôme Lalande would repeatedly advocate for the reform for the rest of the Revolution, to no avail.
Converting to Gregorian Calendar
The following table displays dates according to the Common Era for the first day of several years of the Republican Era, according to two methods of determining leap years:- Equinox: years start on the September equinox; only legal method during Revolution
- Reformed: extra day added at end of years divisible by four, except most century years; proposed by Delambre, Romme, and Lalande.
| ER | CE | Equinox | Reformed |
|---|---|---|---|
| CCXXXI (231) | 2022 | Sept. 23 | Sept. 22 |
| CCXXXII (232) | 2023 | Sept. 23 | Sept. 22 S |
| CCXXXIII (233) | 2024 | Sept. 22 | Sept. 22 |
| CCXXXIV (234) | 2025 | Sept. 22 S | Sept. 22 |
| CCXXXV (235) | 2026 | Sept. 23 | Sept. 22 |
| CCXXXVI (236) | 2027 | Sept. 23 | Sept. 22 S |
| CCXXXVII (237) | 2028 | Sept. 22 | Sept. 22 |
| CCXXXVIII (238) | 2029 | Sept. 22 S | Sept. 22 |
S: sextile (leap) year, extra day at end of year
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