Editing Anno Domini (section)

=== Popularization ===
The [[Anglo-Saxons|Anglo-Saxon]] historian [[Bede]], who was familiar with the work of Dionysius Exiguus, used ''anno Domini'' dating in his ''[[Ecclesiastical History of the English People]]'', which he completed in AD 731. In the ''History'' he also used the [[Latin]] phrase ''ante [...] incarnationis dominicae tempus anno sexagesimo'' ("in the sixtieth year before the time of the Lord's incarnation"), which is equivalent to the English "before Christ", to identify years before the first year of this era.<ref>Bede 731, Book 1, Chapter 2, first sentence.</ref> Both Dionysius and Bede regarded ''anno Domini'' as beginning at the incarnation of [[Jesus Christ]], but "the distinction between Incarnation and Nativity was not drawn until the late 9th century, when in some places the Incarnation epoch was identified with Christ's conception, i. e., the [[Annunciation]] on March 25" ("Annunciation style" dating).{{sfn|Blackburn|Holford-Strevens|2003|p=881}}

[[File:Charlemagne Agostino Cornacchini Vatican 2.jpg|thumb|right|Statue of [[Charlemagne]] by [[Agostino Cornacchini]] (1725), at [[St. Peter's Basilica]], Vatican City. Charlemagne promoted the usage of the ''anno Domini'' epoch throughout the [[Carolingian Empire]].]]
On the continent of Europe, ''anno Domini'' was introduced as the era of choice of the [[Carolingian Renaissance]] by the English cleric and scholar [[Alcuin]] in the late eighth century. Its endorsement by Emperor [[Charlemagne]] and [[List of Frankish Kings#Carolingian dynasty|his successors]] popularizing the use of the epoch and spreading it throughout the [[Carolingian Empire]] ultimately lies at the core of the system's prevalence. According to the [[Catholic Encyclopedia]], popes continued to date documents according to [[regnal years]] for some time, but usage of AD gradually became more common in Catholic countries from the 11th to the 14th centuries.<ref name=CathEncy>Patrick, 1908</ref> In 1422, [[Portugal]] became the last Western European country to [[Spanish era|switch to]] the system begun by Dionysius.<ref name="CathEncy-Chron">
{{cite book
|chapter-url = http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03738a.htm
|chapter=General Chronology
|title=New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia
|year=1908
|volume=III
|publisher=[[Robert Appleton Company]] |location=New York
|access-date=25 October 2011 }}
</ref> [[Eastern Orthodox]] countries only began to adopt AD instead of the [[Byzantine calendar]] in 1700 when Russia did so, with others adopting it in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Although ''anno Domini'' was in widespread use by the 9th century, the term "Before Christ" (or its equivalent) did not become common until much later. Bede used the expression ''"anno [...] ante incarnationem Dominicam"'' (in the year before the incarnation of the Lord) twice. ''"Anno ante Christi nativitatem"'' (in the year before the birth of Christ) is found in 1474 in a work by a German monk.{{efn|[[Werner Rolevinck]] in ''Fasciculus temporum'' (1474) used ''Anno ante xpi nativitatem'' (in the year before the birth of Christ) for all years between [[Genesis creation narrative|creation]] and Jesus. "xpi" comes from the [[Greek language|Greek]] χρ (''chr'') in visually Latin letters, together with the Latin ending -i, thus abbreviating ''Christi'' ("of Christ"). This phrase appears upside down in the centre of [[recto]] folios (right hand pages). From Jesus to [[Pope Sixtus IV]] he usually used ''Anno Christi'' or its abbreviated form ''Anno xpi'' (on [[verso]] folios—left hand pages). He used ''Anno mundi'' alongside all of these terms for all years.}} In 1627, the French [[Jesuit]] theologian [[Denis Pétau]] (Dionysius Petavius in Latin), with his work ''De doctrina temporum'', popularized the usage ''ante Christum'' (Latin for "Before Christ") to mark years prior to AD.<ref>
{{cite book
|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=fsni_qV-FJoC&q=1627&pg=PA111
|title=Marking time: the epic quest to invent the perfect calendar
|first=Duncan |last=Steel |author-link=Duncan Steel
|page=114
|access-date=1 June 2010
|isbn=978-0-471-29827-4
|year=2000
|publisher=Wiley
}}</ref><ref>
{{cite book
|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=A6nrL1XxpGYC&q=petau%20%22ante%20Christum%22&pg=PA33
|title=Measuring time, making history
|first=Lynn Avery |last=Hunt
|year=2008
|page=33
|publisher=Central European University Press
|access-date=1 June 2010
|isbn=978-963-9776-14-2
}}</ref><ref>
{{cite book
|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=RRv0_NEpl-oC&q=ante%20Christum&pg=PA46
|title=search for "ante Christum" in a 1748 reprint of a 1633 abridgement entitled ''Rationarium temporum'' by Denis Petau
|access-date=1 June 2010
|last=Petau |first = Denis
|year=1758
}}</ref>