Monastic Time

So how did monks tell the time? We have explored the more theoretical side of time in an earlier post and now we get to the specifics. Up to the early 14th century monks used a combination of water, sundials, the stars  and marked candles to measure time. The development of mechanical clocks in the 14th century began to change this. We  left behind the old process of variable hours with their long winter nights and long summer days and moved into the fixed uniform straitjacket  time we have today, where we chase every minute!

How did this happen? It was probably via astronomers searching for accurate instruments for observing the planets. They may have sought a new piece of apparatus ; a sort of disk which would rotate along with the earth. We call this an escapement. Such a device was likely invented in a Benedictine monastery in the early 1200s. There is no agreement where and when and it was probably not intended to replace existing methods of observing time. It was later that the potential for timekeeping of this regular circular motioned device was appreciated. An escapement refers to any machine which breaks up circular motion into regular ticks.

This regular movement was to produce devices which were not well suited to measuring days which were unequal. A collision with canonical time was going to come.

The earlist known clock was at Norwich Cathedral Priory - operational around 1273. This was replaced by a bigger one there in 1321-5. Some other examples were at Christchurch, Canterbury, Ely, Exeter and St Paul's London. They were all expensive for they required teams of workers with differing skills to create.The earliest remaining clocks can be found in Salisbury Cathedral (1396), Rouen (1389) and Wells (1392).

Astronomical clock at Wells Cathedral first installed 1386-92

Then the  rise of town clocks led to 24 hour regular divisions of 60 minutes. This was not just a technical matter but involved the ringing of bells in a medieval town. In the 1300s people began to speak of o'clock rather than the canonical hours. Births and deaths and business took this up. Secular society was gradually separating from the hours dictated by the Church. This suited trading cities like Genoa and Venice. Guilds could also control hours of work.

However the Church was  not keen on losing control of the 24 hour reckoning of time. It implied that time was abstract and measurable rather than part of the natural order. People could start to consider allotted time and the best use of it. Early clocks were marked with "memento mori" reminding people of the shortness of life. Time could begin to be seen as part of a person's life or for others to exploit a person.Modern time reckoning was an affront to the power of the Church over time and to some even seemed to take away God's power over time.

As we all know the  new method of time reckoning won and canonical hours eventually became attached to it too.

This process can be charted as well anywhere in St Albans.

St Albans

Before  the 13th century our Abbey was using so-called canonical hours : 12 during daylight and 12 at night. The intervals between these varied according to the season. Summer time had longer daylight and a shorter night and vice-versa. Commercial pressures sometimes led to the hours to be more fixed lengths. For example the None - originally the 9th hour mid-afternoon office had become mid-day or noon. Therefore the laity were beginning to use time divided into 24 equal hours. The Church was losing its monopoly of time.

A clock controlled by local laity could lead the working day of the town by regular chiming every hour. The Church rang the opening and closing of markets and the working day. There was a battle for control here.

Richard of Wallingford was one of our most learned abbots  (1327-1336). He joined our monastery in 1308, studied gammar and philosophy at Oxford until 1314, ordained priest 1317 ; returned to Oxford to lecture.  It was then he got into maths and astronomy. He wrote a treatise in Latin on the design and construction of astronomical instruments and a clock to ascertain time and the position of stars, sun and moon. After his return to St Albans in 1326 he became abbot in 1327 and spent much time and  money on an astronomical clock. This became such a priority that King Edward III told Richard he would have been better spending money on restoring the abbey buildings (there had been the major collapse of several bauys in the nave in 1323). Richard apparently replied that his successors could fix the buildings but only he could do the clock. Alas he never saw it finished because he died early from leprosy. It was his successor, Michael de Mentmore, who completed it. It likely stood in the south transept and had bells, dials and wheels showing the course of the sun, moon and stars as well as the time . I think that Richard's clock was initially about daily monastic routine but also ensuring the Church's superiority and  keeping control of time.

Richard's clock disappeared with the dissolution of the Abbey. Today you can see a full size replica made by enthusiasts here in 1995 in St Albans Cathedral. This was made possible by Richard's original notes being found in the Bodleian in 1965 and the painstaking translation work of Professor John North. The replica clock does not have hands but is designed to chime every hour.This provides the drive for showing the position of stars  currently visible over St Albans.The position of the sun is shown via an engraved disc and a numbered grille indicates the current time as on a sundial. The phase and position of the moon can also be seen. A detailed booklet is available in the Cathedral by Alan Loomfield for clock and astronomical experts.

The Wallingfors clock (flickr cc by Keith H)

The bell (Gabriel) (flickr cc by Russell McGovern)

Clock tower in St Albans (flickr cc, by Richard Gillin)

Clock tower in St Albans (flickr cc, by Richard Gillin)

This was not the end of the matter because from 1403-1412 a clock tower was built in the market place. It survives to this day and is a popular tourist attraction, showing what a secular medieval clock tower was like and providing a great view over town and country. It was likely built as a protest by the townsfolk against the  time monopoly of the Abbey. The original bell (christened Gabriel) was cast in Aldgate, London by William and Robert Buford sometime before 1418. It is believed that it sounded the angelus at 4 am and curfew at 8 or 9 pm. The curfew was last rung in 1863!The last time it rang out by being swung was for the funeral of Queen Victoria in 1901! Today it  is still sounding out an F natural on the hour albeit by being struck on its side, as the oak frame that holds it is too weak to allow swinging. Back in 1412 the  clock mechanism likely had no face and the poor clock keeper who lived in the tower had to strike the hours manually! It is unlikely to have been very accurate  and the clock mechanism was replaced in the 18th century with hands and face. The present clock dates from 1866.

It is a fascinating building and open to the public Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holidays from Easter to October 10.30-5.00. Staffed by volunteers  including myself occasionally!

Haircut time for monks

Every time I venture into the town I pass a new barber shop. In 2019 we seem to be obsessed with having our hair cut. Women spend a fortune, quaffing  wine while having highlights added ; men go for that little tidy up so often....St Albans is full of barbers just like any town today. It wasn't like that in the Midde Ages. Hair was long, except for  those in religious orders or for felons as a punishment.

In those films we used to see jolly Friar Tuck always had a bald head save for that circle for hair round the edge. That was what we expected. I had never really thought about it until last week. Why did they have this haircut and how did they get it?

By our period it had been established that monks had their hair cut short. Generally when they became a novice their hair was cut drastically with shears. These were the medieval scissors - two oppoing baldes connected by a flat metal bow which acted as a spring to hold them togther.

When they made their prpfession and formally became a monk the top of the head was shaved leaving a bare patch surrounded by a ring of hair. This symbolised the crown of thorns put on the head of Christ before the Crucifixion. This was called receiving the tonsure. It was performed using a knife called a rasorium or novacular. (very much like what we call a cut throat razor). I told my barber this yesterday as he trimmed my sideburns - he didnt seem impressed....

Lay brothers did not have the tonsure. Cistercian houses had large numbers of lay brothers (conversi) to help the daily running of the monastery.They were formal members of the Order and took vows of obedience but their main focus was on manual labour.

Medieval shaving

The cutting of hair and shaving was usually done in the cloister, where there would be a source of water and plenty of light. There were no mirrors so light would be advantageous.No soap and hot water likely only for softening the beard. It must have been pretty unpleasant. It was often done just before a big Feast day like Easter, Christmas etc. as a preparation for the holy celebrations. Cistercian monks were thereby shaved 7 times a year in the 12th century. In the later Middle Ages more frequent shaving was likely : perhaps fortnightly in summer and every 3 weeks in winter. Shaving was sometimes done in pairs or one "expert" monk could perform it.