But at different periods and in different localities, the beginning of the year varied. For the Church, and for the West in general in the early Middle Ages, the year began at Christmas, but the practice of starting the year on the feast of the Annunciation ( 25 March ) – whether calculo Pisano( counting from 25 March, 1 BC, as the Pisans did) of calculo Florentino ( from 25 March, AD 1 , like Florentines) – gained ground after thirteenth century, except in France, where the year began at Easter.
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Before the 1751 reforms, 25 March, the date of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, was regarded as New Year’s Day in England and Wales.