This would have the effect of bringing the Julian calendar closer to
the natural length of the solar year - though an error of 26 seconds
per year would still remain.
To calibrate the Julian calendar with the Gregorian one and to move
the Spring Equinox back to March 21, 10 days were dropped from the
civil calendar in October 1582. Thursday, October 4 was followed by
Friday, October 15. People rioted in the streets throughout Europe,
convinced that they have been robbed of 10 days.
But this was merely a convenient fiction. The Spring Equinox in
the Gregorian calendar was, indeed, celebrated on March 21 in
perpetuity. But, according to the Julian calendar, in the 17th
century it arrived on March 11th, in the 18th century on March 10th,
in the 19th century on March 9th, and in the 20th century on March 8th
- 13 days earlier that even the erroneous date adopted by the Nicea
Council.
The Gregorian calendar was controversial in Protestant countries.
Britain and its colonies adopted it only in 1752. They had to drop 11
days from the civil calendar and move the official new year from March
25 to January 1.
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