Legal Definitions - old style

Definition: Old Style refers to the Julian calendar system introduced by Julius Caesar in 46 B.C. It orders time by assuming that there are exactly 365.25 days in a year, except for years divisible by 4, which have 366 days. However, there are actually slightly less than 365.25 days in a year, causing the old-style calendar to add too many days over time. The Julian calendar was reformed by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582.

Example: In the old-style calendar, the year 1700 was considered a leap year because it was divisible by 4. However, in reality, it was not a leap year because it did not meet the criteria of the Gregorian calendar reform.

Explanation: This example illustrates how the old-style calendar added too many leap years over time, causing a discrepancy between the Julian and Gregorian calendars. The Gregorian calendar reform corrected this by adjusting the leap year criteria to exclude years divisible by 100 but not by 400.