Yeatman says that “genealogy is the handmaid of history” but it’s easy to forget the bigger picture when researching your family tree. Historical events do shape family history. Wars, epidemics, disasters and politics affected our ancestors just as they affect us today.
Here are some links to help keep everything in context.
Use the regnal year calculator to check the date of medieval documents.
Julian and Gregorian Calendars
The Gregorian calendar, the one that is commonly used today, is a correction of the Julian and Gregorian calendars, which was 11 days behind the solar year by 1752 because of miscalculated leap years.
England began using the new calendar in 1752. Eleven days were omitted in that year to bring the calendar in line with the solar year. The day after Wednesday, 2 September 1752, became Thursday, 14 September 1752. Also at that time, the first day of the year changed to 1 January. Before 1752 the first day of the year was 25 March.
Pre-1752 dates may be confusing. For example, the day after 24 March 1565 was 25 March 1566. Dates between 1 January and 24 March are often recorded using a technique called “double dating.” An example of a date using double dating is 16 February 1696/7. At the time it would be considered 1696 following the old styleJulian and Gregorian calendars or 1697 following the new style Julian and Gregorian calendars.
The Lanyons 