'Inter gravissimas' is a
papal bull issued by
Pope Gregory XIII on
February 24,
1582. It is the founding document for the
Gregorian calendar, which is used in most countries.
This bull declares that:
★
October 4,
1582 will be followed by
October 15,
1582 (paragraph 7);
★ these 10 missing days will not be counted in calculating end days of loans, etc. (paragraph 8);
★ centennial years, such as
1700,
1800, and
1900 will not be
leap years, but years that can be divided by 400, such as
1600 and
2000 will be (paragraph 9);
★
Easter will be computed via new Paschal tables (paragraph 10).
The name of the bull consists of the first two words of the bull, which starts: ''"Inter gravissimas pastoralis officii nostri curas…"'' ("Among our most serious pastoral duties…").
Attached to the bull were six canons which enabled the
computation of the new Gregorian Easter and two calendars listing
saints' days, one for the last 2½ months of 1582 and another for the entire new Gregorian year. The bull, canons, and calendars were reprinted as part of the front matter of the principal book explaining and defending the Gregorian calendar,
Christoph Clavius, ''Romani calendarij à Gregorio XIII. P. M. restituti explicatio'' (1603), which is tome V in his collected works ''Opera Mathematica'' (1612), available in the microfiche collection ''Landmarks II monographs''.
External links
★
Inter Gravissimas
★
Les textes constitutifs du calendrier grégorien (bull, canons, and calendars)
★
Opera Mathematica of Christoph Clavius (vol. V contains his works on the Gregorian calendar)