Royal Maundy "Maundy", and the Royal Maundy service evolved from Jesus' command to his disciples. By the fourth or fifth century a ceremony had been developed following Holy Communion on Maundy Thursday, in which high Church leaders washed the feet of the poor. The ceremony, known as the "pedilavium", was performed daily in some monasteries; in 992, Bishop Oswald of Worcester died during its performance. The first English monarch to be recorded as distributing alms at a Maundy service was John, who on 15 April 1210 donated garments, forks, food, and other gifts to the poor of Knaresborough, Yorkshire. John is also
Perennial calendar by Auguste Comte (1849); and the International Fixed Calendar, by Moses B. Cotsworth (1902), and championed by George Eastman. Blank-day reform proposals face a religious objection, however. Sabbatarians, who are obliged to regard every seventh day as a day of rest and worship, must observe their holy day on a different weekday each year. Leap week calendar plans often restrict common years to 364 days, or 52 weeks, and expand leap years to 371 days, or 53 weeks. The added week may extend an existing month, or it may stand alone as an inserted seven-day month. The leap-week calendar may