Augustalis () was the first

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

Toulon Toulon (, , ; , , ) is a city in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the French Riviera and the historical Provence, it is the prefecture of the Var (department), Var department. The Commune of Toulon h ...

, according to some authorities. He was appointed in 441. He attended the Council of Orange that year, and the Council of Vaison the following. He is associated with the ''

civitas In Ancient Rome, the Latin term (; plural ), according to Cicero in the time of the late Roman Republic, was the social body of the , or citizens, united by Roman law, law (). It is the law that binds them together, giving them responsibilitie ...

'' of

Arles Arles ( , , ; ; Classical ) is a coastal city and Communes of France, commune in the South of France, a Subprefectures in France, subprefecture in the Bouches-du-Rhône Departments of France, department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Reg ...

( ancient Arelate) by the ''

Martyrologium Hieronymianum The ''Martyrologium Hieronymianum'' (meaning "martyrology of Jerome") or ''Martyrologium sancti Hieronymi'' (meaning "martyrology of Saint Jerome") is an ancient martyrology or list of Christian martyrs in calendar order, one of the most used and ...

'', which honors him on September 7. He is also named by the '' Martyrologium romanum'' on that day, with his location noted as ''in

Gallia Gaul () was a region of Western Europe first clearly described by the Romans, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and parts of Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, and Northern Italy. It covered an area of . According to Ju ...

''. An Augustalis, most likely this man, appears among a group of bishops addressed by

Pope Leo I Pope Leo I () ( 391 – 10 November 461), also known as Leo the Great (; ), was Bishop of Rome from 29 September 440 until his death on 10 November 461. He is the first of the three Popes listed in the ''Annuario Pontificio'' with the title "the ...

in letters dated 22 August 449 and 5 May 450, the latter of which addresses issues of jurisdiction between Arles and Vienne.

''De ratione Paschae''

:''See also

Computus As a moveable feast, the date of Easter is determined in each year through a calculation known as – often simply ''Computus'' – or as paschalion particularly in the Eastern Orthodox Church. Easter is celebrated on the first Sunday after th ...

and

Epact The epact (, from () = added days) used to be described by medieval computists as the age of a phase of the Moon in days on 22 March; in the newer Gregorian calendar, however, the epact is reckoned as the age of the ecclesiastical moon on 1 ...

.'' The bishop, or another churchman named Augustalis in Gaul of the 5th century (possibly the 3rd) was the author of a tract ''De ratione Paschae'', a table or laterculus on calculating the

Paschal cycle The Paschal cycle, in Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is the cycle of the moveable feasts built around Pascha (Easter). The cycle consists of approximately ten weeks before and seven weeks after Pascha. The ten weeks before Pascha are known as ...

. He is referenced in the Carthaginian Computus of 455, preserved in an 8th-century chronographical

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand or typewritten, as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in some indirect or automated way. More recently, the term has ...

in the cathedral library at Lucca. The table itself is not extant and the description of it is insufficient for reconstruction. Augustalis reckoned that the

Crucifixion Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the condemned is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross, beam or stake and left to hang until eventual death. It was used as a punishment by the Achaemenid Empire, Persians, Ancient Carthag ...

took place on 25 March in the year 28, on the 14th day of the moon. The dating of the Passion to 28 agrees with that of Prosper Tiro. The base date of Augustalis's laterculus was the year 213. It covered a hundred years, ending in 312. Augustalis worked with, or is thought sometimes even to have originated, the 84-year

Metonic cycle The Metonic cycle or enneadecaeteris (from , from ἐννεακαίδεκα, "nineteen") is a period of almost exactly 19 years after which the lunar phases recur at the same time of the year. The recurrence is not perfect, and by precise obser ...

usually associated, like the date of March 25 for

Easter Easter, also called Pascha ( Aramaic: פַּסְחָא , ''paskha''; Greek: πάσχα, ''páskha'') or Resurrection Sunday, is a Christian festival and cultural holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, described in t ...

, with the Celtic tradition of

Christianity in Gaul Gaul was an important early center of Latin Christianity during late antiquity and the Merovingian period. By the mid-3rd century, several churches had been organized in Roman Gaul. In 314, shortly after the end of persecution, the bishops of ...

and the Celtic Islands, including ''

Hibernia () is the Classical Latin name for Ireland. The name ''Hibernia'' was taken from Greek geographical accounts. During his exploration of northwest Europe (), Pytheas of Massalia called the island ''Iérnē'' (written ). In his book ''Geogr ...

'' (

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

) and ''

Britannia The image of Britannia () is the national personification of United Kingdom, Britain as a helmeted female warrior holding a trident and shield. An image first used by the Romans in classical antiquity, the Latin was the name variously appli ...

'' (

Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...

). This cycle is characterized by a 14th-year ''saltus lunae'' ("leap" of the moon), a day added to the

epact The epact (, from () = added days) used to be described by medieval computists as the age of a phase of the Moon in days on 22 March; in the newer Gregorian calendar, however, the epact is reckoned as the age of the ecclesiastical moon on 1 ...

to reconcile the lunar year to the

solar Solar may refer to: Astronomy * Of or relating to the Sun ** Solar telescope, a special purpose telescope used to observe the Sun ** A device that utilizes solar energy (e.g. "solar panels") ** Solar calendar, a calendar whose dates indicate t ...

(compare

leap year A leap year (also known as an intercalary year or bissextile year) is a calendar year that contains an additional day (or, in the case of a lunisolar calendar, a month) compared to a common year. The 366th day (or 13th month) is added to keep t ...

). Although the author of the Carthaginian Computus takes note of Augustalis as a man "of most sainted memory," he points out several errors in his computations. The 19th-century German scholar Bruno Krusch placed Augustalis in the 3rd century and thought that the '' supputatio Romana'', an 84-year Roman table, was derived from the table of Augustalis, which he further identified as the "old table" (''vetus laterculus'') referenced in a Paschal prologue in a manuscript at Cologne. The "old table" is more often assumed to be the 112-year table of Hippolytus. Eduard Schwartz criticized the views of Krusch, asserting that the table of Augustalis was never used in Rome and that it represented an "eccentric version" of the 84-year cycle used by the

insular Celtic Insular Celtic languages are the group of Celtic languages spoken in Brittany, Great Britain, Ireland, and the Isle of Man. All surviving Celtic languages are in the Insular group, including Breton, which is spoken on continental Europe in Br ...

churches. He places Augustalis in the 5th century.

References

{{Easter 5th-century bishops in Gaul Lunisolar calendars Date of Easter 5th-century writers in Latin 5th-century deaths