with the adherents of the other practice. The first effort to come to an agreement on the controversy was made by bishop Polycarp, of Smyrna, about the middle of the 2d century, when on a visit to bishop Anicet, of Rome. The two bishops received each other with the kiss of peace, but neither of them was willing to sacri- fice the practice of his predecessors. Nevertheless they parted in kindness, and peace continued to reign be- tween the two parties. A few years later, the Ebion- itish Quartodecimani caused great trouble at Laodicea (about 170), at Rome (about l8(i), where a certain Blas- tus was at their head, and in other places. Books against them were written by Melito of Sardis and Apollinaris of Hierapolis, both of whom were adhe- rents of the practice of Asia Minor; by Clement of Al- exandria and Hippolytus (about the middle of the 3d century). Of all these books only fragments are left. That of Hippolytus shows that at this time the Jewish Quartodecimani were regarded by the Church as here- tics. The first serious dispute between the parties with- in the old Catholic Church broke out about 196, when bishop Victor, of Rouie, issued a circular to the leading bishops of the Church, requesting them to hold s}'nods in their provinces, and to introduce the Westexn prac- tice. Some complied with this request ; but the synod held by bishop Polycrates, of Ephesus, emphaticall}- re- fused, and approved the letter of bishop Polycrates, who, in defence of the Asiatic practice, referred Victor to the authority of the apostles Philip and John, to Polycarp, and to seven of his relations, who before him had been bishops of ICphesus. Victor at first intended to excommunicate the Asiatic churches, and therefore issued an encyclical to the Christians of those regions, but whether he really carried out his threat is nut cer- tain ; the words of Eusebius (^Ilist. Eccles. v, 24) on the movements of Victor are by soaie understood as im- plying a real execution of the excommunication, while the more common opinion is, that, in consequence of the indignant remonstrances against such a usurpation of power by the Western bishops, especially by Ireiias- us, the threat was never executed.
Thus far the controversy lietween the Asiatic and the Western churches had only concerned two points, namely, (1) whether the day of the week or the day of the month on which the death of Christ occurred should be commemorated ; (2) when the fasting ought to be terminated. Now a third point of dispute arose, as to the time when the 14th day of Nisan really oc- curred. Many of the Church fathers are of opinion that, according to the original calculation of the Jews up to the time of the destruction of Jerusalem, the 14tli of Nisan had always been after the spring equi- nox, and that it was only in consequence of a miscal- culation of the later Jews that the 14th of Nisan occa- sionally fell before the equinox. Thcv therefore in- sisted that the 14th of Nisan, which for both parties within the Church determined the time of Easter, should always be after the equinox. As the year of the Jews is a lunar }'ear, and the 14th of Nisan always a full-moon da}', the Christians who adopted the above astronomical view, whenever the 14th of Nisan fell before the equinox, would celebrate the death of Christ one month later than the Jewish Passover. As the Christians could now no longer rely on the Jewish cal- endar, they had to make their own calculations of the time of Easter. These calculations frequently differ- ed, partly from reasons already set forth, and partly because the date of the equinox was fixed by some at the 18th of :Marcli, l)y others at the 19th. by others at the 21st of March. The Council of Aries in ,314 en- deavored to establish uniformity, but its decrees do not appear to have had great effect. The subject was therefore again discussed and acted upon by the CFcu- menical Council of Nice, which decreed that Easter should be celebrated throughout the Church after the equinox, on the Friday following the 14th of Nisan. It was also provided that the Church of Alexandria,
EASTER
14
EATING
As being distinguished in astronomical science, should aiinuiilly inform the Cliurch of Rome on what day of the calends or ides Easter should be celebrated, and the Church of Konie should notify all the churches of the world. But even these decrees of the Council of Nice did not put a stop to all differences, and it was reserved to ttie calculation of Dionysius Exiguus (q. V.) to graduall V introduce uniformity of practice into the whole Church. Some countries, like Great Brit- ain, did not abandon their ancient practice until after a long resistance. At the time of Charlemagne uni- formit}' seems to have been established, and no trace is to be found of tlie Quartodecimani. The revision of the calendar by Pope Gregory XIII, on the whole, retained the Dionysian asra, but determined more ac- curately the Easter full moon, and made careful pro- vision for avoiding any future deviation of the calen- dar fiom the astronomical time. By these minute cal- culations, however, the Christian Easter sometimes, contrary to the decrees of the Nicene Council, coin- cides with the Jewish Passover. This, for instance, ■was the case in 1825. — Mosheim, Church Hist, i, 68 ; Neander, Church Hist, i, 298 ; ii, 301, 302; Mosheim, Comm. i, 523 ; Weitzel, Die christUche Pasrhafeier der ersten Jakrhunderte (1848); Eettberg, in Zeltschrifl fur kistnriscke Theolorjie, 1832, vol. ii ; Hefele, in Wetzer u. Welte, Kirchen-Lex. iii, 871 ; Steitz, in Herzog, I^enl- EnciiMop. xi, 140; Steitz, Die Dijj'erenz der Occidentalcn u. der Kleinasiaten (in Stud. u. Krit. 1856). (A. J. S.)