How People in the Middle Ages Enjoyed Segmented Sleep

Sports August 5, 2025 0 Comments

How People in the Middle Ages Enjoyed Segmented Sleep

“The Dream of St. Martin” by Simone Martini, 1322-1326 (photo: Yorck project Wikimedia rumorsPublic Domain)

Today, sleep about eight hours per night is the base, but this routine was not always the case. During the Middle Ages, people often sleep in two distinct periods, known as the first sleep and second sleep. The theory comes from Roger Ecker, the American historian who specializes in historical sleep habits. writing , Near the day: the night in the past timesHe argues that before artificial lighting, most people went to bed around the sunset and woke up again after about four hours.

Historians like Icardic discovered a dual -phase sleep in magazines, literature and medical writings from the fifteenth century to the eighteenth century. It was considered a natural and healthy sleep pattern, affected by natural rhythms, day and night. From around the middle of the night to the early hours of the morning, people woke up to reading, praying, or even social media. After that, they will return to the bed for their second sleep from about 3 w. Even the daylight.

Although historians believed that this night routine was common during that time, it was not for everyone. “Not everyone, of course, sleep according to the same schedule.” Explain. “Later at the night when people went to bed, they later moved after their first sleep; or, if they retire in the middle of the night, they may not wake up at all until dawn.”

EKIRCH research indicates that sleeping in episodes was common all over the world. “The French priest André Dhawitt, when traveling to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1555, stated that Tobinamba’s Indians eat whenever they have appetite,” even at night after their first sleep, they wake up to eat and then return to sleep. “In the early nineteenth century, the residents of Muscat, the capital of Oman, were said to retire early, lying down before” Before midnight their first sleep. “

Just like today, the Middle Ages had all kinds of ideas on how to get a good night sleep. EKRICH stated that in medical books at that time, the authors advised people to sleep on their right sides during “The Fyrste Slepe” to improve digestion, then “after the Fyrste Slepe rotates on the LEFTE side”.

When we gain a better understanding of daily biology, old practices such as fragmented sleep can return. Many health experts suggest that sleeping in episodes may be a more “natural” alternative and healthier for modern sleep for eight hours, especially for those who deal with insomnia, stress or anxiety.