Editing Common Era (section)

=== Origins ===
{{See also|Anno Domini}}
Around the year 525, the Christian monk [[Dionysius Exiguus]] devised the principle of taking  the moment that he believed to be the [[Date of birth of Jesus#According to Dionysius|date of the incarnation of Jesus]] to be the point from which years are numbered (the [[epoch]]) of the Christian [[ecclesiastical calendar]].<ref name=Pedersen /><ref>Doggett, L.E., (1992), [http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEhelp/calendars.html "Calendars"] in Seidelmann, P.K., ''The Explanatory Supplement to the Astronomical Almanac'', Sausalito CA: University Science Books, 2.1</ref><ref>{{cite book |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=BW_1mt4oebQC&q=jesus+birth+year+before&pg=PA686 686]|title=The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia |first=Geoffrey W. |last=Bromiley |publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing |year=1995 |isbn= 978-0-8028-3781-3}}</ref> Dionysius labeled the column of the table in which he introduced the new era as "{{Lang|la|Anni Domini Nostri Jesu Christi}}" (the years of our Lord Jesus Christ).<ref name=Pedersen />{{rp|52}} He did this to replace the [[Era of the Martyrs]] system (then used for some [[date of Easter|Easter tables]]) because he did not wish to continue the memory of a tyrant who persecuted Christians.<ref name=Pedersen />{{rp|50}}

This way of numbering years became more widespread in Europe, with its use by [[Bede]] in England in 731. Bede also introduced the practice of dating years before what he supposed to have been  the year of birth of Jesus,{{efn|Bede wrote of the Incarnation of Jesus, but treated it as synonymous with birth.<ref> Blackburn, B & Holford-Strevens, L, (2003), ''The Oxford Companion to the Year'', Oxford University Press, 778.</ref>}} without a [[year zero]].{{efn|As noted in [[History of zero|History of the zero]], the use of zero in Western civilization was uncommon before the twelfth century.}}