Regnal Years

While the ways of expressing dates and the complications caused by the use of the Julian calendar provide multiple opportunities for historical confusion, people in Early Modern England had one other way of puzzling today's reader: regnal years.

Some original documents from the seventeenth century show dates as we would understand them. For example, a letter to Christopher Wase dated 1647 includes a line stating that Newport School ‘was founded by Mr William Adams [...] who died Anno 1661 aged about 70 years’(1).

However, it was still relatively common for dates to be shown as Regnal years. A lease made to William Cowper is described as having been made ‘29 September 2 Charles I’(2) meaning in the second year of the reign of Charles I. Charles was successor to James I who died on 27 March 1625, meaning that the date of accession for Charles I was 27 March 1625. That marks the start of his first regnal year. Therefore the second year of the reign of Charles I ran from 27 March 1626 to 26 March 1627. The date of that lease in modern terms, then, would be 29 September 1626.

In official records, the years of the Commonwealth or Interregnum (depending on your point of view) carry dates as we would now recognise them: the reign of Charles II is officially regarded as having begun on 30 January 1649 in modern terms.

Regnal years for seventeenth century:

Monarch	James I	Charles I	Charles II
Accession date	25 March 1603	27 March 1625	30 January 1649
Regnal Year	Dates	Dates	Dates
1	25/3/1603 to 24/3/1604	27/3/1625 to 26/3/1626	30/1/1649 to 29/1/1650
2	25/3/1604 to 24/3/1605	27/3/1626 to 26/3/1627	30/1/1650 to 29/1/1651
3	25/3/1605 to 24/3/1606	27/3/1627 to 26/3/1628	30/1/1651 to 29/1/1652
4	25/3/1606 to 24/3/1607	27/3/1628 to 26/3/1629	30/1/1652 to 29/1/1653
5	25/3/1607 to 24/3/1608	27/3/1629 to 26/3/1630	30/1/1653 to 29/1/1654
6	25/3/1608 to 24/3/1609	27/3/1630 to 26/3/1631	30/1/1654 to 29/1/1655
7	25/3/1609 to 24/3/1610	27/3/1631 to 26/3/1632	30/1/1655 to 29/1/1656
8	25/3/1610 to 24/3/1611	27/3/1632 to 26/3/1633	30/1/1656 to 29/1/1657
9	25/3/1611 to 24/3/1612	27/3/1633 to 26/3/1634	30/1/1657 to 29/1/1658
10	25/3/1612 to 24/3/1613	27/3/1634 to 26/3/1635	30/1/1658 to 29/1/1659
11	25/3/1613 to 24/3/1614	27/3/1635 to 26/3/1636	30/1/1659 to 29/1/1660
12	25/3/1614 to 24/3/1615	27/3/1636 to 26/3/1637	30/1/1660 to 29/1/1661
13	25/3/1615 to 24/3/1616	27/3/1637 to 26/3/1638	30/1/1661 to 29/1/1662
14	25/3/1616 to 24/3/1617	27/3/1638 to 26/3/1639	30/1/1662 to 29/1/1663
15	25/3/1617 to 24/3/1618	27/3/1639 to 26/3/1640	30/1/1663 to 29/1/1664
16	25/3/1618 to 24/3/1619	27/3/1640 to 26/3/1641	30/1/1664 to 29/1/1665
17	25/3/1619 to 24/3/1620	27/3/1641 to 26/3/1642	30/1/1665 to 29/1/1666
18	25/3/1620 to 24/3/1621	27/3/1642 to 26/3/1643	30/1/1666 to 29/1/1667
19	25/3/1621 to 24/3/1622	27/3/1643 to 26/3/1644	30/1/1667 to 29/1/1668
20	25/3/1622 to 24/3/1623	27/3/1644 to 26/3/1645	30/1/1668 to 29/1/1669
21	25/3/1623 to 24/3/1624	27/3/1645 to 26/3/1646	30/1/1669 to 29/1/1670
22	25/3/1624 to 24/3/1625	27/3/1646 to 26/3/1647	30/1/1670 to 29/1/1671
23	25/3/1625 to 27/3/1625	27/3/1647 to 26/3/1648	30/1/1671 to 29/1/1672
24		27/3/1648 to 30/1/1649	30/1/1672 to 29/1/1673
25			30/1/1673 to 29/1/1674
26			30/1/1674 to 29/1/1675
27			30/1/1675 to 29/1/1676
28			30/1/1676 to 29/1/1677
29			30/1/1677 to 29/1/1678
30			30/1/1678 to 29/1/1679
31			30/1/1679 to 29/1/1680
32			30/1/1680 to 29/1/1681
33			30/1/1681 to 29/1/1682
34			30/1/1682 to 29/1/1683
35			30/1/1683 to 29/1/1684
36			30/1/1684 to 29/1/1685
37			30/1/1685 to 6/2/1685

References:
1 Christopher Wase archive held at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, CCC390.2 p145.
2 Izon, John (1974) The Records of King Edward’s School Birmingham A Supplementary Miscellany Vol. VI Dugdale Society (p95).