Is it truth that the first day of the year was commemorated in 1º of April, and that in 1564?

Question

king Carlos IX modified the commemoration for 1º of January ?

Therefore passed to exist the trick of the first day of April In France?

Answer 1

No - it used to be in March though!

The first time New Year's Day was celebrated on January 1 was in 153 BC in Rome, according to Wikipedia. Or rather, it began at the day when Roman consuls first entered office, and that day was moved from March 15 to January 1 in 153. When Julius Caesar introduced the new calendar (Julian calendar), the New Year was set to January 1st.

However, the church didn't like the wild parties that took place at the start of the new year, and in C.E. 567 the council of Tours declared that having the year start on 1 January was an ancient mistake that should be abolished.

Through the middle ages various New Year dates were used. If an ancient document refers to year X, it may mean any of 7 different periods in our present system:

1 Mar X to 28/29 Feb X+1
1 Jan X to 31 Dec X
1 Jan X-1 to 31 Dec X-1
25 Mar X-1 to 24 Mar X
25 Mar X to 24 Mar X+1
Saturday before Easter X to Friday before Easter X+1
25 Dec X-1 to 24 Dec X
Choosing the right interpretation of a year number is difficult, so much more as one country might use different systems for religious and civil needs.

The Byzantine Empire used a year starting on 1 Sep, but they didn't count years since the birth of Christ, instead they counted years since the creation of the world which they dated to 1 September 5509 B.C.E.

Since about 1600 most countries have used 1 January as the first day of the year. Italy and England, however, did not make 1 January official until around 1750.

In England (but not Scotland) three different years were used:

The historical year, which started on 1 January.

The liturgical year, which started on the first Sunday in advent.

The civil year, which
from the 7th to the 12th century started on 25 December,
from the 12th century until 1751 started on 25 March,
from 1752 started on 1 January."

In the older Roman calender, the year started with March. That is why the word September means "the seventh month" - not the ninth -, October the eighth, November the eleventh and December the twelfth.

Answer 2

Up until 1752 (in England at any rate and most of Europe in the Middle ages followed suit) the old Julian calendar began on Lady Day (the 25th March). When we switched to the Gregorian calendar New Years Day moved to January 1st instead. I don't believe New Year has ever been celebrated on 1st April, so no, I'd say that is false.

Answer 3

Your theory is one of several mentioned in wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_fools_day#Origin

So you might be right. Then again...........who knows?