Edict of Roussillon

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The Edict of Roussillon (French: Édit de Roussillon) was a 1564 edict decreeing that the year would begin on 1 January in France.

During a trip to various parts of his kingdom, the King of France, Charles IX, found that depending on the diocese, the year began either at Christmas (at Lyon, for instance) or on 25 March (as at Vienne), on 1 March, or at Easter.

In order to standardise the date for the new year in the entire kingdom, he added an article to an edict given at Paris in January 1563 which he promulgated at Roussillon on 9 August 1564. It started being applied on 1 January 1567.

The 42 articles that comprised this edict concerned justice, except the last four, added during the king's stay at Roussillon.

It was article 39 that announced a 1 January start date for every year henceforth.

List of regions[]

City or territory Previous year starting date
Amiens Holy Saturday
Anjou 25 December (under English rule)
Artois territory Easter
Dauphiné territory 25 December (from the 14th century)
(previously 25 March)
Franche-Comté territory Christmas, 25 March or Circumcision
Guyenne territory 25 December (under English rule)
Languedoc territory 25 March, Easter or Christmas
Limoges 25 March
Lorraine Christmas, 25 March or Easter
Lyon 25 December
Normandy territory 25 December (under English rule)
Péronne Holy Saturday
Picardy territory 1 January
Poitou territory 25 December (under English rule)
Provence territory Christmas, 1 January, 25 March or Easter
Reims 25 March
Soissons 25 December
Vienne 25 March

References[]


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