PASCHAL TERM. - It is the date of the day that coincides with the XIV moon of the "first month" (nīzān, according to the Hebrew liturgical calendar), which fell on the spring equinox or immediately followed it. The Council of Nicaea (325) established on this foundation the celebration of the Christian Easter, fixing it on the Sunday following the t. p.
To determine the date, certain tables of concordance of the t. p. with the golden numbers were compiled, modified after the Gregorian reform. For the period between 1900 and 2199 the correspondence is as follows:
| Golden No. T. p. | 1 Apr. 14 | 2 Apr. 3 | 3 March 23 | 4 Apr. 11 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Golden No. T. p. | 5 March 31 | 6 Apr. 18 | 7 Apr. 8 | 8 March 28 |
| Golden No. T. p. | 9 Apr. 16 | 10 Apr. 5 | 11 March 25 | 12 Apr. 13 |
| Golden No. T. p. | 13 Apr. 2 | 14 March 22 | 15 Apr. 10 | 16 March 30 |
| Golden No. T. p. | 17 Apr. 17 | 18 Apr. 7 | 19 March 27 |
Thus for 1953, which has 16 as its golden number, the t. p. falls on March 30, which is a Monday, and therefore Easter falls on the following Sunday, April 5.
Bibliography6 works
BIBL.: E. Brinckmeier, Praktisches Handbuch der histor. Chronologie... des Mittelalters, Berlin 1882, pp. 73-76, 120; H. Grotefend, Zeitrechnung des deutschen Mittelalters und der Neuzeit, I, Hannover 1891, pp. 144 sq. and plate 6; id., Abriss der Chronologie des deutschen Mittelalters und der Neuzeit (Grundr. der Geschichtsvoissens., ed. by A. Meister, I, III), 2nd ed., Leipzig-Berlin 1912, pp. 14, 22; A. Giry, Manuel de diplomatique, Paris 1894, pp. 152-154; F. Rühl, Chronologie des Mittelalts und der Neuzeit, Berlin 1897, p. 111 sq.; W. E. Van Wijk, Le nombre d'or, The Hague 1936, pp. 8-9, 101.
Alessandro Pratesi