One must recall, especially this year when Easter feels like it is so late, that Easter, unlike Christmas which falls on the same date each year, as a “moveable feast,” the date of Easter is determined in each year through a calculation known as computus paschalis (Latin for ‘computation’) – often simply Computus – or as paschalion particularly in the Orthodox church. [Bede (1999) The Reckoning of Time. Translated by Faith Wallis. Liverpool University Press. p.xviii] Easter is celebrated on the first Sunday after the Paschal full moon (a mathematical approximation of the first astronomical full moon, on or after 21 March – itself a fixed approximation of the March equinox). Determining this date in advance requires a correlation between the lunar months and the solar year, while also accounting for the month, date, and weekday of the Julian or Gregorian calendar. [Bede (1999) pp. xviii – xx] The complexity of the algorithm arises because of the desire to associate the date of Easter with the date of the Jewish feast of Passover which, Christians believe, is when Jesus was crucified. [John 19:14 “Now it was the day of Preparation for the Passover; and it was about noon. He said to the Jews, “Here is your King!”
Easter’s date is based on the lunar calendar. not a calendar as with Christmas. Easter comes on the first Sunday after the first full moon following the spring equinox.
The spring equinox arrived on March 20 this year, which marks the astronomical start of spring. It’s the time when there are roughly the same number of hours of day and night on all parts of Earth, according to NASA. That means Easter Sunday can fall anywhere between March 22 and April 25.
This year, Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), often referred to as the military time zones plays a big role in when we celebrate Easter, for Easter is set as the first Sunday after the first full moon of the vernal equinox (start of spring). In 2025, though we in the U.S. had our first full moon after the vernal equinox on Saturday, April 12, we are on Daylight Savings Time, meaning we jumped ahead one hour. If not, Sunday, April 13, would have been Easter because it would have been the Sunday after the full moon. That is where UTC time comes in. The full moon is actually a FULL 22 minutes after midnight in the U.S., meaning April 13. Therefore, we must wait until April 20 for Easter. Are you thoroughly confused? Though I know the reason, I had difficulty explaining all this.
All that being said, I thought that as it is nearly Easter 2025, some of you who read and write Regency might wish a reminder as to when Easter occurred during the Regency era (and a bit beyond). [Please note that I wrote this piece in late 2024 as I was recovering from three cancer surgeries. Yes, I generally do my blog posts several months in advance! Anyway, I chose to include pieces from other authors on Easter rather than to do all the research myself, as I am not yet at my best. I did find the moveable dates for Easter, however. I have presented each author link. As a former English teacher, I strongly despise plagiarism and believe in giving credit where it is due.]
It was originally feasible for the entire Christian Church to receive the date of Easter each year through an annual announcement by the pope. By the early third century, however, communications in the Roman Empire had deteriorated to the point that the church put great value in a system that would allow the clergy to determine the date for themselves, independently yet consistently. [Bede (1999) p. xx] Additionally, the church wished to eliminate dependencies on the Hebrew calendar, by deriving the date for Easter directly from the March equinox.
EASTER:
13 April 1800 3 April 1825
5 April 1801 26 March 1826
18 April 1802 15 April 1827
10 April 1803 6 April 1828
1 April 1804 19 April 1829
14 April 1805 11 April 1830
6 April 1806 3 April 1831
29 March 1807 22 April 1832
7 April 1808 7 April 1833
2 April 1809 30 March 1834
22 April 1810 19 April 1835
14 April 1811 3 April 1836
29 March 1812 26 March 1837
18 April 1813 15 April 1838
10 April 1814 31 March 1839
26 March 1815 19 April 1840
14 April 1816 11 April 1841
6 April 1817 27 March 1842
22 March 1818 16 April 1843
11 April 1819 7 April 1844
2 April 1820 23 March 1845
22 April 1821 12 April 1846
7 April 1822 4 April 1847
30 March 1823 23 April 1848
18 April 1824
In the early years of the 19th century, the date of Easter was quite important. Law courts, parliament, school terms — as well as the church calendar all based dates on that of Easter. Generally, the season in Town did not start until after Easter.
Donna Hatch tells us something of Holy Week: “True believers viewed Easter and Holy Week, the week between Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday, as even more important than Christmas due to its reminder of the Resurrection. Multiple church services occurred during the week complete with choirs singing. On Easter Sunday, worship included choirs singing, incense burning, chanting, kneeling, making the sign of the cross, and lighting candles during personal prayers. Some churches today, especially larger cathedrals, still practice these traditional forms of worship. A common practice includes draping the statues in black and stripping the altar on Good Friday symbolic of mourning the Savior’s death. On Easter morning, they removed black from church altars and dressed them to celebrate His Resurrection.
“According to Gaelen Foley, new gowns and Easter bonnets were a must for all gently-bred Regency ladies to wear to church and social events, a custom that many still observe today. An important part of the day included Easter dinner, usually including ham or lamb, and, of course, hot cross buns.”
Jane Austen UK tells us, “… Though dying and decorating eggs to mark the coming of Spring has been a tradition since before the advent of Christianity, the first chocolate eggs started to appear on the continent somewhere around the end of Austen’s lifetime, and would have been chocolate the whole way through, rather than hollow- now that sounds like a challenge for your fillings! The first commercially produced Easter egg in the UK was created by J.S. Fry and Sons in 1873, followed by Cadbury in 1875.
“Easter celebrations would have begun, as they do now, on Shrove Tuesday, or Pancake day… they made a whole day of it, with the ladies of the parish racing around their parish clutching a frying pan, trying to be the one to win the Pancake Day race. Ash Wednesday would follow the next morning, and forty days and nights of observance with it.
“Easter (was) a strictly observed day in the Church of England’s calendar. The whole parish would get together to observe the occasion. …
“Then it would be time for (the midday meal). Like today, our Regency forebears would have enjoyed a Hot Cross Buns, with vendors lining the streets in the days running up to the big event. Lamb or ham would also have been served for the main meal.”
Meanwhile, 10 Victorian Easter Traditions You Should Try, tells us, “Just as they do today, children loved their Victorian Easter. They would dye hens’ eggs using cranberries, beets, oranges, and lemon peel. Just like the Christmas tree, Easter egg hunts and the egg roll was introduced by Germans to England during the 1800s. Children would participate in both egg rolling and egg hunts and the winner would receive a special prize. Some Victorian egg hunts included cardboard eggs lined with fabric and containing candy.”
From Yahoo Life: What’s the earliest date Easter is held? You’ll wait until 2285 for the next one
The earliest date Easter is held is March 22.
The last time Easter was on March 22 was in 1818. The next time will be in 2285, according to earthsky.
What’s the latest date Easter is held? That will come in 2038
The latest date Easter is held is April 25.
The last time Easter was on April 25 was in 1943. The next time Easter will be on April 25 will be in 2038, followed by the one in 2190.
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