Phantom time conspiracy theory is a pseudohistorical conspiracy theory first asserted by Heribert Illig in 1991. It hypothesizes a conspiracy by the

Holy Roman Emperor The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans (disambiguation), Emperor of the Romans (; ) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period (; ), was the ruler and h ...

Otto III and Pope Sylvester II to fabricate the

Anno Domini The terms (AD) and before Christ (BC) are used when designating years in the Gregorian calendar, Gregorian and Julian calendar, Julian calendars. The term is Medieval Latin and means "in the year of the Lord" but is often presented using "o ...

dating system retroactively, in order to place them at the special year of AD 1000, and to rewrite history to legitimize Otto's claim to the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

. Illig believed that this was achieved through the alteration, misrepresentation and forgery of documentary and physical evidence. According to this scenario, the entire Carolingian period, including the figure of

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( ; 2 April 748 – 28 January 814) was List of Frankish kings, King of the Franks from 768, List of kings of the Lombards, King of the Lombards from 774, and Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor of what is now known as the Carolingian ...

, is a fabrication, with a "phantom time" of 297 years (AD 614–911) added to the

Early Middle Ages The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages (historiography), Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th to the 10th century. They marked the start o ...

. Evidence contradicts the hypothesis and it failed to gain the support of historians, and calendars in other European countries, most of Asia and parts of pre-Columbian America contradict this.

Heribert Illig

Illig was born in 1947 in Vohenstrauß,

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

. He was active in an association dedicated to

Immanuel Velikovsky Immanuel Velikovsky (; rus, Иммануи́л Велико́вский, p=ɪmənʊˈil vʲɪlʲɪˈkofskʲɪj; 17 November 1979) was a Russian-American psychoanalyst, writer, and catastrophist. He is the author of several books offering Pseudohi ...

, catastrophism and historical revisionism, the ''Gesellschaft zur Rekonstruktion der Menschheits- und Naturgeschichte'' (English: ''Society for the Reconstruction of Human and Natural History''). From 1989 to 1994 he acted as editor of the journal ''Vorzeit-Frühzeit-Gegenwart'' (English: ''Prehistory-Proto-History-Present''). Since 1995, he has worked as a publisher and author under his own publishing company, ''Mantis-Verlag'', and publishing his own journal, ''Zeitensprünge'' (English: ''Leaps in Time''). Outside of his publications related to revised chronology, he has edited the works of Egon Friedell. Before focusing on the early medieval period, Illig published various proposals for revised chronologies of prehistory and of Ancient Egypt. His proposals received prominent coverage in German popular media in the 1990s. His 1996 ''Das erfundene Mittelalter'' (English: ''The Invented Middle Ages'') also received scholarly recensions, but was universally rejected as fundamentally flawed by historians. In 1997, the journal ''Ethik und Sozialwissenschaften'' (English: ''Ethics and Social Sciences'') offered a platform for critical discussion to Illig's proposal, with a number of historians commenting on its various aspects. After 1997, there has been little scholarly reception of Illig's ideas, although they continued to be discussed as pseudohistory in German popular media. Illig continued to publish on the "phantom time hypothesis" until at least 2013. Also in 2013, he published on an unrelated topic of

art history Art history is the study of Work of art, artistic works made throughout human history. Among other topics, it studies art’s formal qualities, its impact on societies and cultures, and how artistic styles have changed throughout history. Tradit ...

, on German Renaissance master Anton Pilgram, but again proposing revisions to conventional chronology, and arguing for the abolition of the art historical category of Mannerism.''Meister Anton, gen. Pilgram, oder Abschied vom Manierismus'' (2013).

Claims

Illig's claims include: * That there is a scarcity of archaeological evidence that can be reliably dated to the period AD 614–911. * That the dating methods used for such recent periods,

radiometry Radiometry is a set of techniques for measurement, measuring electromagnetic radiation, including visible light. Radiometric techniques in optics characterize the distribution of the radiation's power (physics), power in space, as opposed to phot ...

and

dendrochronology Dendrochronology (or tree-ring dating) is the scientific method of chronological dating, dating tree rings (also called growth rings) to the exact year they were formed in a tree. As well as dating them, this can give data for dendroclimatology, ...

, are inaccurate. * That medieval historians rely too much on written sources. * That the presence of

Romanesque architecture Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of medieval Europe that was predominant in the 11th and 12th centuries. The style eventually developed into the Gothic style with the shape of the arches providing a simple distinction: the Ro ...

in tenth-century Western Europe suggests that the Roman era was not as long ago as conventionally thought. * That at the time of the introduction of the

Gregorian calendar The Gregorian calendar is the calendar used in most parts of the world. It went into effect in October 1582 following the papal bull issued by Pope Gregory XIII, which introduced it as a modification of, and replacement for, the Julian cale ...

in AD 1582, there should have been a discrepancy of thirteen days between the

Julian calendar The Julian calendar is a solar calendar of 365 days in every year with an additional leap day every fourth year (without exception). The Julian calendar is still used as a religious calendar in parts of the Eastern Orthodox Church and in parts ...

and the real (or tropical) calendar, when the astronomers and mathematicians working for Pope Gregory XIII had found that the civil calendar needed to be adjusted by only ten days. From this, Illig concludes that the AD era had counted roughly three centuries which never existed.

Refutation

* Observations in ancient astronomy, especially those of

solar eclipse A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby obscuring the view of the Sun from a small part of Earth, totally or partially. Such an alignment occurs approximately every six months, during the eclipse season i ...

s cited by European sources prior to 600 AD (when phantom time would have distorted the chronology), agree with the usual chronology and not with Illig's. Besides several others that are perhaps too vague to disprove the phantom time hypothesis, two in particular are dated with enough precision to question the hypothesis. One is reported by

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/24 79), known in English as Pliny the Elder ( ), was a Roman Empire, Roman author, Natural history, naturalist, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the Roman emperor, emperor Vesp ...

in 59 AD.Pliny the Elder. , accessed 14 June 2017 This date has a confirmed eclipse. In addition, observations during the

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...

in China, and

Halley's Comet Halley's Comet is the only known List of periodic comets, short-period comet that is consistently visible to the naked eye from Earth, appearing every 72–80 years, though with the majority of recorded apparitions (25 of 30) occurring after ...

, for example, are consistent with current astronomy with no "phantom time" added. * Archaeological remains and dating methods such as

(tree-ring dating) refute, rather than support, "phantom time". NOTE: This is just a letter to the editor with no academic references, it is not a valid refutation. * The Gregorian reform was never purported to bring the calendar in line with the Julian calendar as it had existed at the time of its institution in 45 BC, but as it had existed in 325 AD, the time of the Council of Nicaea, which had established a method for determining the date of Easter Sunday by fixing the vernal equinox on March 21 in the Julian calendar. By 1582, the astronomical equinox was occurring on March 10 in the Julian calendar, but Easter was still being calculated from a nominal equinox on March 21. In 45 BC the astronomical vernal equinox took place around March 23. Illig's "three missing centuries" thus correspond to the 369 years between the institution of the Julian calendar in 45 BC, and the fixing of the Easter Date at the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD.Karl Mütz: ''Die „Phantomzeit“ 614 bis 911 von Heribert Illig. Kalendertechnische und kalenderhistorische Einwände.'' In: ''Zeitschrift für Württembergische Landesgeschichte.'' Band 60, 2001, S. 11–23. * If

and the Carolingian dynasty were fabricated, there would have to be a corresponding fabrication of the history of the rest of Europe during the same era, including Anglo-Saxon England, the

Papacy The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...

, and the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...

. The "phantom time" period also encompasses the life of

Muhammad Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...

and the Islamic expansion into the areas of the former

Western Roman Empire In modern historiography, the Western Roman Empire was the western provinces of the Roman Empire, collectively, during any period in which they were administered separately from the eastern provinces by a separate, independent imperial court. ...

, including the conquest of Visigothic Iberia. This history too would have to be forged or drastically misdated. It would also have to be reconciled with the history of the

of China and its contact with the Islamic world, such as at the Battle of Talas.

Bibliography

Publications by Illig: * '' Egon Friedell und

. Vom Weltbild zweier Außenseiter'', Basel 1985. * ''Die veraltete Vorzeit'', Heribert Illig, Eichborn, 1988 * with Gunnar Heinsohn: ''Wann lebten die Pharaonen?'', Mantis, 1990, revised 2003 * ''Karl der Fiktive, genannt Karl der Große'', 1992 * ''Hat Karl der Große je gelebt? Bauten, Funde und Schriften im Widerstreit'', 1994 * ''Hat Karl der Große je gelebt?'', Heribert Illig, Mantis, 1996 * ''Das erfundene Mittelalter. Die größte Zeitfälschung der Geschichte'', Heribert Illig, Econ 1996, (revised ed. 1998) * ''Das Friedell-Lesebuch'', Heribert Illig, C.H. Beck 1998, * Heribert Illig, with Franz Löhner: ''Der Bau der Cheopspyramide'', Mantis 1998, * ''Wer hat an der Uhr gedreht?'', Heribert Illig, Ullstein 2003, * Heribert Illig, with Gerhard Anwander: ''Bayern in der Phantomzeit. Archäologie widerlegt Urkunden des frühen Mittelalters.'', Mantis 2002,

References

Sources

* Illig, Heribert: ''Enthält das frühe Mittelalter erfundene Zeit?'' and subsequent discussion, in: Ethik und Sozialwissenschaften 8 (1997), pp. 481–520. * Schieffer, Rudolf: ''Ein Mittelalter ohne Karl den Großen, oder: Die Antworten sind jetzt einfach'', in: Geschichte in Wissenschaft und Unterricht 48 (1997), pp. 611–17. * Matthiesen, Stephan
''Erfundenes Mittelalter – fruchtlose These!''
in: Skeptiker 2 (2002).

External links

Explanation of the "phantom time hypothesis" in English
(pdf)

* ttp://www.damninteresting.com/?p=164 A short explanation of the "phantom time hypothesis"* {{Authority control Historical negationism Pseudohistory Chronology Conspiracy theories 1991 introductions Alternative chronologies Otto III, Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne et:Heribert Illig