 The year numbering system used with Common Era notation was devised by the Christian monk Dionysius Exiguus in the year 525 to replace the Era of Martyrs system, because he did not wish to continue the memory of a tyrant who persecuted Christians.He attempted to number years from an initial reference date ("epoch"), an event he referred to as the Incarnation of Jesus.Dionysius labeled the column of the table in which he introduced the new era as ""Anni Domini Nostri Jesu Christi"".