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'' 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'', which honors him on September 7. He is also named by the '' Martyrologium romanum'' on that day, with his location noted as ''in Gallia''. An Augustalis, most likely this man, appears among a group of bishops addressed by Pope Leo I 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 and Epact.'' 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. 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 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 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'' (

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