Did you know there is a theory that we are not in 2017, but in 1720?
Mankind certainly doesn't agree on everything, does it? After all, not everyone cheers for the same team, follows the same belief, advocates the same political ideology, has the same musical tastes ... anyway! Opinions differ, and this is absolutely normal. However, if there is one thing that the vast majority of people agree with is that it is 2017, right? Well, more or less! This is because there is a researcher who guarantees that almost 300 years have been added to our history and that we are actually in 1720.
According to Katie Serena of All That Is Interesting, this is the theory put forward by a German historian named Heribert Illig, who believes that the Gregorian calendar is a pickaxe and that 297 years in the Middle Ages are nothing but invention. And most fascinating is that, despite sounding insane, Heribert relied on historical surveys, archaeological records and a lot of research to develop his idea.
Phantom Time Hypothesis
According to Katie, Heribert's theory has been dubbed the "Ghost Time Hypothesis, " and according to her, the confusion of calendars dates back to the year 1000 of the Christian Era and is a conspiracy involving three world leaders of the time to alter the system. of dating. Calm down ... let's explain better!
Heribert believes that Otto III of the Holy Roman Empire, Constantine VII, Byzantine Emperor, and Pope Sylvester III met and made a few steps to change the calendar so that Otto's reign could begin in the year 1000 - instead. from the year 996. According to the German, the reason would simply be that the trio thought this year sounded much more imposing and significant than 996.
So, according to Heribert, to get the plan going, Oto, Constantine, and the Pope altered documents of the day, created a host of events that never existed, and invented fake people. Thus, according to German theory, Charlemagne, the first Emperor of the Romans, for example, was just a legend that was “produced” by the trio, along with 297 years of history. All fudge.
Evidence
According to Katie, Heribert claims that the “lie” caught because the system of dating medieval artifacts is flawed and also because the vast majority of scholars rely on written documents from medieval times to reconstruct history. However, his surveys would have shown that there is something very strange about the period from 614 to 911.
Before 614, as Hilbert noted, there are records of several significant events, as well as after 911. However, between these two years, for some reason, nothing very interesting happened - and the German finds this very suspicious. In addition, the historian says he has discovered mathematical discrepancies between the Julian calendar, which divides the year into 365 days and 25 minutes, and the Gregorian, which is currently in official use and 11 minutes longer.
Did you think this talk that Oto, Constantine and the Pope came together to conspire half without foot or head? For there is another scholar who supports Heribert's theory. According to Katie, this guy is named Hans-Ulrich Niemitz and has even published a book on the subject, which lists more evidence about the Phantom Time Hypothesis.
Niemitz defends the idea that, in the chronology accepted by most historians, between antiquity and the Renaissance - a period between the years 1 and 1500 - there are 300 “left over”. Of course, the hypothesis proposed by Heribert and supported by Niemitz has many ( indeed many ) critics in the academic field, but at least Niemitz admits that there are arguments that may invalidate this fascinating proposal. So, dear reader, have you ever wondered if you're both right, and suddenly everyone has got used to the idea that we're in the middle of the 18th century?
