[Steppes] Playing games with dates

[Jay Rudin]

Lete wrote:

> For the SCA dates-of-the-Period purists (600 to 1600) out there, ignore
the
> following post. ;-)
>
> Please note:
> "Macbeth" was presented in 1606, totally out of Period for SCA purists
whose
> world died in 1600, thereby missing out on "Macbeth," "The Tragedy of
Antony
> and Cleopatra" (1607-8), "The Tragedy of Coriolanus" (1607-9) "The
Winter's
> Tale" (1610-11) and "The Tempest" (1611) [Dates according to G. B.
> Harrison's editing of "Shakespeare: Major Plays and the Sonnets" NY:
> Harcourt,Brace & Co. @1948]
> Pity. They miss some really good works...not to mention the King James
> translation of the Bible in 1611.  (giggle)  ;-)

Actually, although the complete King James Bible came out in 1611, many
parts of it are earlier.  The Psalms, for instance, are from the Coverdale
translation, published in 1535.

Also, for the true purist, the SCA period is officially listed as
"pre-seventeenth century".  That means it lasts through the end of 1600.

But when is that?  December 31 as year-end wasn't official in England until
the Julian Calendar was tossed in the calendar reform in 1752.  Before then,
the end of the year was March 24.  (Why?  Because March 25 is nine months
before December 25, so that's when a year "A.D." starts.)

The dates were slightly different in Catholic countries under the Gregorian
calendar.

In any event, the date that we now call March 15, 1601, was then called
March 24, 1600 in England, and was the final day of the sixteenth century.
It is technically within the SCA's period.

>From my point of view, the ideal cut-off date would be April 23, 1616.  On
that date, both Shakespeare and Cervantes died, and the dream is officially
over.

Intriguingly, although it was the same date, their deaths were nine days
apart, since Shakespeare died in Protestant England and Cervantes in
Catholic Spain.  Now that's a creative anachronism.

Robin of Gilwell / Jay Rudin