datetime.date raises OverflowError instead of documented ValueError for very large integer years

[augusto-rehfeldt]

Bug report

Bug description:

Documented behaviour: Python datetime documentation, date Objects, date(year, month, day): "If an argument outside those ranges is given, ValueError is raised." The listed year range is "MINYEAR <= year <= MAXYEAR".

Expected: ValueError for date(-(1 << 100), 1, 1).

Actual: OverflowError.

import datetime

args = (-(1 << 100), 1, 1)
y, m, d = args
if not all(type(x) is int for x in args) or (m, d) != (1, 1):
    print("REFUTATION REJECTED:", "invalid argument types or month/day")
elif datetime.MINYEAR <= y <= datetime.MAXYEAR:
    print("REFUTATION REJECTED:", "year is within the documented range")
else:
    expected = ("exception", "ValueError")
    try:
        result = datetime.date(*args)
        actual = ("date", (result.year, result.month, result.day))
    except Exception as e:
        actual = ("exception", type(e).__name__)
    if actual != expected:
        print("REFUTATION CONFIRMED:", args, actual, expected)
    else:
        print("REFUTATION REJECTED:", "observed the documented ValueError")

Output on Python 3.14.6 (Windows-11-10.0.26220-SP0), standard library datetime:

REFUTATION CONFIRMED: (-1267650600228229401496703205376, 1, 1) ('exception', 'OverflowError') ('exception', 'ValueError')

This report was found and written by an automated property-testing tool I run (bugforge). The reproducer above was executed and its output is pasted unedited; no person reviewed the report before it was filed. The search script is in https://github.com/augusto-rehfeldt/bugforge-results/tree/main/datetime-20261003-014717-c1

CPython versions tested on:

3.14

Operating systems tested on:

Windows

[ZeroIntensity]

See #158748 (comment).