Time’s Subjects: Horology and Literature in the Later Middle Ages and Renaissance

Time’s Subjects: Horology and Literature in the Later Middle Ages and Renaissance, situating the issue of time in the later Middle Ages and Renaissance, deals with how the invention of mechanical clocks replaced other types of timekeeping and time calculation so as to bring the changes of the perception of time, how this new perception of time change people’s perceptions of other important concepts, and how mechanical clocks are used to expand the literary imagination. The book consists of ten chapters that can be roughly divided into four parts: the first part (Chapters 1 and 2) paves the way for the discussion of the measurement of time by outlining different structures of time and diverse methods of organizing time; the second part (Chapters 3 and 4) focuses on the development of time measurement ranging from sundial to mechanical clocks; the third part (Chapters 5 and 6) examines both religious and secular implications brought about by the changing method of measuring time; the last part (Chapter 7), though a concluding chapter, is a further elaboration on the development of mechanical clocks beyond Renaissance.In Chapter 1, “The Shape of Time: History and the Life of Man,” Scattergood discusses time in its function of structuring history and the life of man. As for history, the author thinks the circular motion in “the turning of heavens, the succession of seasons, and the alternation between day and night” (18) helps to define the circular perception of history. St. Augustine of Hippo prefers the linear structure by challenging this circular structure of time because the validity of using the turning of the heavenly body as an analogy for the movement of time is questionable and the circularity of time leaves no space for improvement. Although the linear time is established in contrast to the classical circular time, the interpretation of the starting point of the linear time varies because of various religious and political considerations. The concept of linear time provides the possibility of structuring history with different schemes including the “four monarchies,” Augustine’s “six ages,” and Joachim da Fiore’s “three ages.” As for the structure of the life of man, there are diverse schemes such as Bede’s six ages, twelve ages, three ages, four ages, and seven ages.Though linearity is more appliable in describing the structure of history and the life of man, cyclicity is another important dimension in medieval life. Chapter 2, “Living in Time: Years, Month, Weeks and Days,” focuses on how people experience the cyclicity of time exhibited in the celestial and natural world. The seasonable cycle is most frequently experienced as “labors of the months” where the natural order of labors is specified. “Labors of the months” are represented in clocks, calendar paintings, and frescos. The hour cycles are indicated in “books of hours,” also known as prayer books, representing another cyclical way of organizing the life of ordinary people. “Books of hours” reflect two types of cyclicity: daily round of prayer and annual church feasts cycle. Other cycles of time include the ecclesiastical calendar and almanacs. The ecclesiastical calendar was “an influential feature of the organization of the great feudal households of the later Middle Ages and the early Renaissance” (65), while the almanac including “the feast days of saints, calculations for the dates of leap-years and the dates of Easter in the coming years” (74), prognostications, and many others is another cyclical way to organize daily life. “Labors of the months,” “books of hours,” ecclesiastical calendars, and almanacs, though different in their inclusions of specific activities, show the dominance of cyclicity in organizing life in the Middle Ages.Chapter 3, “Measuring Time in the Middle Ages and Renaissance,” introduces instruments measuring the smaller units of time in the Middle Ages and Renaissance before the invention of mechanical clocks. The measurement of diurnal time is difficult in the Middle Ages. The most prevalent tool is the sundial, which is used to calculate the time for the Masses or for the purpose of memorial. The sundial establishes the order of time, and the mottoes on sundials urge people to use time profitably, and not to waste time. Another tool to measure time is the astrolabe, which can also determine the latitude based on local time. Both sundials and astrolabes measure time in accordance with their accurate interpretation of “the positioning and movement of celestial bodies” (91). In addition, there are other less accurate but equally ancient tools such as the flame clock or candle clock and sandglass for different purposes. According to the author, the most important tool is the water clock, which was “very popular for a long time in monasteries and other religious houses, especially if accompanied by a striking mechanism and an alarm system” (94). The control of timekeeping tools gives the church the dominance in establishing and maintaining the order of time.In Chapter 4, “The Development of Mechanical Clock,” the author outlines the development of mechanical clocks to show how they are gradually used for utilitarian and monastic purposes. Most early clocks are made by nonspecialist clockmakers to show the mechanism of the universe for utilitarian and monastic purposes. Mechanical clocks become complex with different interpretations at different moments. Later development makes mechanical clocks “incorporate more secular subjects” (110) so that they can organize people’s life in religious, social, and moral sphere. With the improvement of accuracy, mechanical clocks became associated with precision, reliability, and perpetual motion and work as a reminder of the passing of hours. The ideas such as cosmos as a clock and clock as a mirror of the universe lead to the religious interpretation of clock, namely, God as a divine clockmaker governing the world by clock. The universe-as-a-clock analogy is further strengthened in the seventeenth century due to the increasing complexity and accuracy of mechanical clocks.Chapter 5, “The Use of Time: Some Social and Moral Implications of the Mechanical Clock,” moves from the history of timekeeping tools to their social and moral implications and shows how the development of timekeeping tools changes the power hierarchy. The author argues, “the development of the mechanical method of calculating time also provides an incentive and an opportunity for seeking to establish greater social and political orderliness” (120). With the development of mechanical clocks, the power of controlling time passes from the church to the secular state with the result that the concept of the working day is strengthened. With “the possibility of the exact measurement and quantification of time which the mechanical clock promised” (126), sloth becomes “one of the capital sins” (127), and the effective use of time with this secular meaning becomes increasingly important. The proper time for work becomes a political issue since night work is a source of complaint. The secular understanding of time as transitory, irrecoverable, and beyond the control of man prevails after the dominance of secular interpretation of time. In this way, one must organize one’s life according to the rhyme of time, and mechanical clocks become “a device of moral comparison, an image for the well-regulated behaviour of people” (137), and “a threatening or at least a chastening image” (139) for those who do not spend time appropriately. Time also becomes a personified concept, and people are exhorted to value time with the well-regulated clock as a model for a well-ordered life. Furthermore, “the development of mechanical timekeeper altered the culture of Western Europe” (145), and there arises an increasing awareness of “time and privileged virtues such as regularity, constancy, punctuality, exactness” (145), and of the value of time.In Chapter 6, “Clocks, Order and Anxiety in Some Renaissance Texts,” the author analyzes how the order-bringing mechanical clocks become the source of anxiety in some literary texts paradoxically. The seeming orderliness in the Renaissance world, where the mechanical universe or clockwork universe dominates both religious and secular life, does not mean consistent or perfect orderliness, so mechanical clocks also bring “various kinds of anxiety” (149). The anxiety makes the Renaissance clockmakers associate timekeepers with “transience and the passing of things” (151). Scattergood illustrates this association with four examples. Faustus in Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus had a contract with the devils to control time as the inevitable coming of death prevails in the Renaissance context. Shakespeare in his sonnets employs “the turning of the seasons, the labours of the months, the lunar cycle, the course of the sun through the day, the ages of the man” (156) to remind one of the passing of time, and thus causes the anxiety. For John Donne, clocks and watches have social functions, telling people how to make the best use of time, but they also bring about “a new sense of anxiety into ideas about the passage of time” (161). Lord Herbert of Cherbury, in his poem, To his Watch when he could not Sleep associates the increasing intensity of anxiety with the increasing accuracy of timekeepers. As “the new mechanistic world of time” (163) is inevitable, Lord Herbert just adopts this new perception of time. The paradox is that the more accurate mechanical clocks become, the more anxiety they bring.Chapter 7, “Some Conclusions,” ends with the author’s insightful observation concerning the development of timekeeping tools and the cultural consequences. First, the sixteenth century witnesses a proliferation of different types of clock-making crafts. The “English backwardness” (164) in horology and the popularity of clocks attracts clocks and watches makers from other parts of Europe. The flourishing timekeeping trade leads to the establishment of regulations within the trade, and this in turn increases the identity of the trade. In the sixteenth century, the improvement of the pendulum increases the accuracy of timekeeping. Despite the advancement in timekeeping equipment, Scattergood thinks that “it is possible that some of the more learned and sophisticated of those living in provincial contexts liked to think of themselves as independent of mechanical timekeepers” (171), and they prefer natural timekeeping to avoid the interruption brought about by mechanical clocks or watches. The development of timekeeping techniques does not mean “the end of speculation about the measurement of time, nor of clockmaking” (172), the crafts of clockmaking continue to improve, and the need for more reliable maritime chronometer emerges in the late seventeenth century. Second, the development of mechanical clocks dating back to the 1270s has changed the culture of Europe fundamentally: the concept of equal hours had been firmly established. What is equally important is the actuality of those theoretical advances. Furthermore, the development of mechanical clocks does not bring any significant change in terms of the study of time, but the mechanical clocks provide a new image of the universe and sharpen “the cultural awareness of time” (174). Mechanical clocks also get involved in both religious and secular public life and function as moral admonition. Finally, “the emergence and spread of the watch have enhanced the individual’s awareness of time” (175).This book provides several important lessons for the study of time in literature or other disciplines. First, it provides a transferable and applicable paradigm for the study of time. The paradigm begins with the examination of time, then continues with the impact of time on other concepts, and finally deals with the cultural significance of that impact. By contextualizing the issue of time in the medieval and Renaissance context, this book reveals the culture-specific aspects of time in the medieval and Renaissance world and demonstrates the central role of time measurement in establishing the structure of time. Then, it is methodologically important in emphasizing the “in situ” approach. For those in the field of humanities, textual and intertextual analysis is, in most cases, the base of evidence; however, this book reminds one that both verbal and “in situ” evidence are equally important. By “in situ” evidence, the author means the type of evidence indicated by material objects in their original locations in contrast with that displayed by dislocated or “ex situ” material objects in museums. For instance, the author visited Kirkdale to examine a semicircular sundial on the south porch of St. Gregory’s Minster, and this “in situ” provided evidence for the reconstruction of the minster (85–86), which is otherwise unavailable if the sundial were displayed in museums. In another case, the author examined the mechanical clock in Salisbury Cathedral to exemplify the “hearing” rather than “seeing” nature of early mechanical clocks (99). Third, it demonstrates again the central role of time in interpreting a certain culture. An understanding of time measurement is essential in understanding the medieval and Renaissance world. However, the relationship between time and other concepts is mutual rather than one-dimensional, and a discussion on the mutual influences between time and other concepts such as anxiety will reveal the dynamic and reciprocal nature of the concept of time. The book has asked how the improvement in the accuracy of timekeeping brings changes to social life and mentalities; what is also worth asking is the motivation behind the improvement of accuracy in timekeeping.