ANST - Medieval Monastic time-keeping

[Keith E. Brandt, M.D.]

Friar Galen of Ockham doth greet all with the Lord's peace!

I am fairly familiar with the various methods of telling time that were 
available in the middle ages: sundials, candles, water clocks, sand dials, 
astrolabes, nocturnals, etc. I'm trying to find pointers to references that 
state which of these methods, if any, were used by monastics to properly 
time their devotions.

Unequal hours. The days and nights were divided into 12 equal parts, which 
meant that the length of an hour was not constant throughout the year. And, 
except at the equinoxes, an hour during the day was not the same length as 
an hour at night.

Daily office, or hours: These varied somewhat by order and location, but 
typically dawn was Prime (first hour, sunrise), then Terce (third hour), 
Sext (sixth hour), Nones (ninth hour), Vespers (sunset),  Compline (dusk), 
Matens (midnight), and Laudes (dawn). These times, by our modern standards, 
would have changed throughout the year, but by following the unequal hours, 
they were always the same. In a town where there was a monastery (or abbey, 
or convent), the townspeople could keep time by the church bells calling 
the faithful to services. For the average person, this was more than enough 
to keep track of time. Actually, for most people, "morning", "afternoon", 
"night" were all that were needed.

Now comes the details that I am trying to dig out, but have been 
unsuccessful. In my readings of monastic life, I have not seen mention 
anywhere of who in the monastery was responsible for keeping track of the 
time. One good gentle (Philippa) thought it might have been the sacristan. 
I appreciate that lead and will look into it. The on-line Catholic 
encyclopedia does not give the sacristan's duties in medieval times. 
References would be appreciated.

The other question is how? Candles could be made specially for each season 
to reflect the difference in hour length. Water clocks could be marked for 
different seasons, but these were probably later period additions. Sundials 
are fixed-hour devices, but can be adjusted seasonally, but require fair 
skies, something that isn't too common in Europe in the winter, and not 
available at night. Likewise, astrolabes and nocturnals require 
visualization of the sky.

I am specifically interested in 14th century information, but details from 
500 - 1600 are welcome.

Pax vobiscum,
Galen

Friar Galen of Ockham
chirurgeon at altavista.net
Cyber CIC of the Chirurgeon Mailing List
Chirurgeon Web Page: http://members.xoom.com/Chirurgeon

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