Phantom Time Hypothesis! It's a conspiracy! Ahh!
*Warning* --> (This post contains a conspiracy theory)
I love a good conspiracy theory but I haven't looked for one in awhile. Then this one called "The Phantom Time Theory" was brought to my attention. (FYI: gotta have a catchy name if you make a conspiracy theory.)
The theory suggests that our calendar year is wrong (so all of you people who think 2012 is coming, you're going to be disappointed.) Supposedly we are only in the year 1712. Why, you might ask? How can this be? and why do I care about this crackpot idea?
Those were all my questions. But anyway- So first of all this theory was developed by Heribert Illig; a German historian. Illig suggests that it's partly due to a clerical error in 1582 CE, when the Gregorian calendar was introduced to replace the Julian calendar which was off by 1.3 minutes and that perhaps this error was even done on purpose.
You might not have heard of this theory because I don't believe his texts have been translated into english. The shocking part is that it suggests that the early middle ages (614-911 CE) NEVER occurred.
-What?! But we have proof right? Well not like candid video but we have artifacts, right? Well, actually thats the fun part. Illig also suggests that the knowledge we have of this era is largely based on the writings of medieval historians and that the archeological evidence that can be attributed to this era is scarce.
But why would someone want to fabricate an era? Well.... two possibilities are that Otto III redefined the calendar to fit his Christian Millenarianism or that when Constantine VII re-recorded historical texts the dates were altered. But there's not many people that take either of these suspicions seriously.
So, that's the theory and here's some other people who've written in favor of it's argument; Hans-Ulrich Niemitz, Angelika Muller & Manfred Zeller.
But as with all conspiracy theories, there's always some skeptics who look for facts and find as much evidence as they can to support their own anti-theory which can be even more compelling; so here's that side:
"Psuedohistory I say!" Here's all the evidence in the world to suggest otherwise:
1. Dendrochronology (tree ring dating) shows no discrepancy of the 3 centuries in question.
2. Current astronomical calculations corroborate antiquarian astronomical accounts.
3. The conspiracy would have to include the Occident, Byzantine Empire, and the Islamic World.
4. Phbt! So there!
So, as fun as this theory is to historically re-create in my daydream of a world without Charlemagne, I can't say I can refute the tree ring dating. But... that could be a lie to throw me off.... hmm.
The theory suggests that our calendar year is wrong (so all of you people who think 2012 is coming, you're going to be disappointed.) Supposedly we are only in the year 1712. Why, you might ask? How can this be? and why do I care about this crackpot idea?
Those were all my questions. But anyway- So first of all this theory was developed by Heribert Illig; a German historian. Illig suggests that it's partly due to a clerical error in 1582 CE, when the Gregorian calendar was introduced to replace the Julian calendar which was off by 1.3 minutes and that perhaps this error was even done on purpose.
You might not have heard of this theory because I don't believe his texts have been translated into english. The shocking part is that it suggests that the early middle ages (614-911 CE) NEVER occurred.
-What?! But we have proof right? Well not like candid video but we have artifacts, right? Well, actually thats the fun part. Illig also suggests that the knowledge we have of this era is largely based on the writings of medieval historians and that the archeological evidence that can be attributed to this era is scarce.
But why would someone want to fabricate an era? Well.... two possibilities are that Otto III redefined the calendar to fit his Christian Millenarianism or that when Constantine VII re-recorded historical texts the dates were altered. But there's not many people that take either of these suspicions seriously.
So, that's the theory and here's some other people who've written in favor of it's argument; Hans-Ulrich Niemitz, Angelika Muller & Manfred Zeller.
But as with all conspiracy theories, there's always some skeptics who look for facts and find as much evidence as they can to support their own anti-theory which can be even more compelling; so here's that side:
"Psuedohistory I say!" Here's all the evidence in the world to suggest otherwise:
1. Dendrochronology (tree ring dating) shows no discrepancy of the 3 centuries in question.
2. Current astronomical calculations corroborate antiquarian astronomical accounts.
3. The conspiracy would have to include the Occident, Byzantine Empire, and the Islamic World.
4. Phbt! So there!
So, as fun as this theory is to historically re-create in my daydream of a world without Charlemagne, I can't say I can refute the tree ring dating. But... that could be a lie to throw me off.... hmm.
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