People of medieval Europe had different sleeping habits from modern people

ByHartwig HKD

People sleep for hours · There are few, but modern people generally have a habit of taking 7 to 9 hours of sleep every night. However, the people of the medieval European era had basically the custom of 'sleep twice a day' which is quite different from modern people. The sleep styles of the people of the medieval European era are explained at Medievalists.net.

How did people sleep in the Middle Ages? - Medievalists.net
http://www.medievalists.net/2016/01/03/how-did-people-sleep-in-the-middle-ages/

A. Roger Ekirch's work "At Day's Close: Night in Times Past"According to the absence of lighting by electricity, most people in the medieval European era said sunset was the limit of activity time. Sleep after sunset is divided into two "Two phase sleep"And the two sleeps are known as" first sleep "and" second sleep ", respectively.

According to Mr. Ekirch, sleeping style in the medieval European era, although sleeping time and waking-up timing are different for different people, both sleeps are the same time in both, sleeping after sunset and getting up at midnight, a little activity He said that he was a sleeping habit of sleeping again. The time between 1st sleep and 2nd sleep is about 1 hour, about 2 am - 3 am in time. There seems to be a lot of people using it as a time to pray to God, but some people have studied. French doctor Laurent Joubert (1529 - 1581) advised the patient to intercourse with the partner at this midnight time as "to get more pleasure".

Also, from several literature, I know that I often wake up with my neighbor's quarrel heard in the middle of the night and barking of a dog that woke up early, but that was part of everyday life. Such a two-phase sleeping habit lasted until the late eighteenth century, but some people slept all night as well as modern people, Mr. Ekirch explains.

What was not allowed to sleep all night was the monks of the medieval European era, sleeping around 19 o'clock and being obliged to wake up at 2 am for morning worship. According to the literature of the 11th century, some monks expressed that they sometimes can not overcome the temptation of "not leaving the bed", "being bothered by the devil". If you have different sleep styles, you can feel the part that is common with modern times.

ByJennifer Murawski