Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live in the 18th century with all those lavish balls and fancy huge dresses? Well, forget about the parties and attires, there’s a theory that claims that we’re actually living in the year 1725 and that historians, either by mistake or as part of a conspiracy decided to add 297 years that never existed.
The Phantom Time Hypothesis basically states that the Middle Ages, or an important bit of it from 614 to 911 A.D., never happened. But how? In the early 90s, German historian Heribert Illig, one of the main minds behind this theory, claimed that both the Gregorian calendar and the artifacts and archaeological evidence from this time are fake. That is, what we think belongs to this time and the history of this period were fabricated in what seems to be one of the most insane conspiracy theories in history.
But, to understand this, we have to go back a little bit. In 1986, Horst Fuhrmann, president of the Monument Germaniae, stated at an archaeology conference in München that there was evidence that many documents from the Middle Ages were forged by the Roman Catholic Church long time before they were allegedly produced. Fuhrmann’s declarations weren’t taken seriously by the historical and archaeological circles but they created an impact in a feeble mind, that of Heribert Illig.
Illig and a group of followers (because all conspiracy theories need a group of faithful and naive followers) turned into books and archaeological evidence to hold their crazy theory up. In 1991, Illig finally posted his theory which he called the Phantom Time Hypothesis, a great name to cause a bit of stirring. What is true is that Illig did find some gaps in history like the fact that there seems to be a gap in the records regarding the building of Constantinople between the years 558 and 908 A.D., or how in the religious text there’s some information missing in the evolution of the development of the idea of the purgatory which appears in the year 600 A.D. and then not until the 1100s. However, as we’ll see these are mere coincidences.
So, what would be the purpose of adding almost three centuries into history that never happened? According to Illig, this was all conjured by three powerful men, Pope Sylvester II, the Holy Roman Emperor Otto III, and the Byzantine Emperor Constantine VII. The theory claims that Otto wanted to round up his story and appear to have started reigning in the year 1000 A.D.. Besides meaning “anno domini,” A.D. also stands for “the year of the Lord.” According to the story, the other two agreed and helped him forge and create fake historical events to cover up for those 297 years.
Among the many things invented by this highly creative trio is the existence of Emperor Charlemagne, who Illig claims is more of an Arthurian type of character that falls more in the legend type than real history. But perhaps the historical fact he centered on the most to sustain his theory (or so he believed) was the origin of the Gregorian calendar, which he claims is fake.
Basically, the Gregorian calendar was introduced to replace the Julian calendar, which had a ten-day discrepancy mainly because it was 10.8 minutes longer than it should. According to Illig, this was evidence enough to prove that there were many years added; however, it was all a matter of his own math and calculations. He claimed that taking into account the extra time the Julian calendar had, instead of 1,627 years from its institution until the introduction of the Gregorian calendar, there should only be taken into consideration 1,257 years of history. Again, too far-fetched.
Now, Illig stated that before the year 614, there were so many meaningful and milestone events in history, and that between that year and the 911, nothing really important happened. But if you really think about it, this is just a simplistic and kind of Eurocentric perspective. If he were right, how would you explain the importance of the prophet Muhammad, or most of the Anglo-Saxon period, or even the Tang Dynasty in China? If we were to believe in Illig’s theory then Otto, Constantine, and Pope Sylvester would’ve had to convince many cultures or even create by themselves some of the foundations of these societies.
If you think about it, Illig’s Phantom Time Hypothesis isn’t more than that, a theory with only circumstantial evidence that doesn’t prove anything other than he and his followers didn’t have real knowledge of world history or even the existence (we’re talking that he posted this in the 1990s) of scientific tools like carbon-14.
