- BY ISSIMO
- February 29, 2024
Anno Bisestile: The ‘Leap Year’ explained
Is it really gloom and doom this year?
Does something in the air feel a bit strange? Well, it is an Anno Bisestile (Leap Year) after all, and according to some, that means a year of bad luck and unlucky happenings. Where and how did these superstitions originate? Should we simply laugh them off, or prepare ourselves for gloom and doom? Read on to discover more.
Anno Bisestile: Tracing historical origins
Before we get into any talk of bad luck and superstitions, let’s revisit the fact that a Leap Year, as we currently know it, occurs in the Gregorian Calendar (a ‘solar’ calendar based on the Earth’s pattern of rotation around the sun). Every four years, an extra day is added to the year on February 29 – a ‘Leap Day’. Why? In short, every rotation of the Earth around the sun is not precisely 365 days each year, and so the calendar was adapted, and this extra day was added every four years to ensure the calendar and the Earth’s pattern of rotation are in sync.
The first page of the papal bull “Inter Gravissimas” by which Pope Gregory XIII introduced his calendar.
Portrait of Pope Gregory XIII by Lavinia Fontana (1552–1614)
But this idea of adapting the calendar actually goes back to ancient Roman times when Julius Cesar conquered the Roman Empire and consequently revised the existing ‘calendar’. He changed the length of February by intentionally ‘adding’ a day every four years rather than allowing the length of the month to be determined by astrological patterns, as it had previously been.
And why February in particular? The month held great religious, cultural and symbolic significance in Ancient Rome, and it included the nine-day Parentalia festival which honoured family ancestors who had passed away, followed by the purification rituals of Feralia, and then the Caristia banquets, which marked the enduring bonds between living family members and their ancestors.
Silly superstitions or something more?
You might have come across the Italian saying before: ‘Anno bisesto, anno funesto’ (Leap year, disastrous year). That’s a bit dramatic, isn’t it? This idea of Leap Year omens and superstitions goes back to ancient cultures, including Ancient Rome, where it was believed that adding an extra day to the calendar disrupted the natural rhythm or unfolding of time, and this disruption is what was believed to cause bad luck.
People from many cultures and countries around the world – including Italy – still believe in Leap Year customs and superstitions, including February 29th (Leap Day) being the only day when women can propose to men, as well as being a day that sees ‘cursed’ marriages, births, birthdays and more generally, a day where it’s considered acceptable to ‘break convention’ do something a little crazy.
Yes, we’ve heard that proverb about the Leap Year being the year of the whale (l’ann d’ la baleina) because it’s believed that whales only give birth during these years, and we’ve also heard that Italian old proverb: ‘Anno bisesto tutte le donne senza sesto’, which proposes that women can be erratic or behave in strange ways during a Leap Year, and so too, those who are born on February 29.
Believe them or not, Leap Year omens, customs and superstitions clearly still exist today in different parts of the world, including in Italy. If you travel to smaller towns and villages across the country and talk to parents or grandparents of a certain generation, you might likely hear some lesser known or region-specific Leap Year superstitions that seem utterly bizarre, or utterly frightening (depending on how you look at things!)
While there’s no scientific proof that a Leap Year is in any way cursed or unlucky, tracing its origins back to Ancient Roman time and discovering the significance of the Leap Day in the auspicious month of February certainly sparks our curiosities!
Silly superstitions, or the curse of the calendar?
According to ISSIMO, a Leap Year is a perfectly good reason to be spontaneous and have some fun with your personal style! Here are some of our picks that will add some colour and flair to your look.
