Second Sleep

I have never heard of first and second sleep before, but I do know that monks, nuns and devout people often rose to pray the Office of Matins in the middle of the night. From Slumberwise:

The existence of our sleeping twice per night was first uncovered by Roger Ekirch, professor of History at Virginia Tech. His research found that we didn’t always sleep in one eight hour chunk. We used to sleep in two shorter periods, over a longer range of night. This range was about 12 hours long, and began with a sleep of three to four hours, wakefulness of two to three hours, then sleep again until morning.

References are scattered throughout literature, court documents, personal papers, and the ephemera of the past. What is surprising is not that people slept in two sessions, but that the concept was so incredibly common. Two-piece sleeping was the standard, accepted way to sleep.

“It’s not just the number of references – it is the way they refer to it, as if it was common knowledge,” Ekirch says.

An English doctor wrote, for example, that the ideal time for study and contemplation was between “first sleep” and “second sleep.” Chaucer tells of a character in the Canterbury Tales that goes to bed following her “firste sleep.” And, explaining the reason why working class conceived more children, a doctor from the 1500s reported that they typically had sex after their first sleep.

Ekirch’s book At Day’s Close: Night in Times Past is replete with such examples. But just what did people do with these extra twilight hours? Pretty much what you might expect. Most stayed in their beds and bedrooms, sometimes reading, and often they would use the time to pray. Religious manuals included special prayers to be said in the mid-sleep hours. (Read entire article.)

The concept of the two sleeps is interesting in light of what we know of the Biblical "watches of the night" observed by ancient peoples. To quote:

The Jews reckoned three military watches: the "first" or beginning of the watches (Lamentations 2:19 ), from sunset to ten o'clock; the second or "middle watch" was from ten until two o'clock (Judges 7:19 ); the third, "the morning watch," from two to sunrise (Exodus 14:24 ; 1 Samuel 11:11 ). Afterward under the Romans they had four watches (Matthew 14:25 ): Luke 12:38 , "even, midnight, cockcrowing, and morning" (Mark 13:35 ); ending respectively at 9 p.m., midnight, 3 a.m., and 6 a.m. (compare Acts 12:4 .) Watchmen patrolled the streets (Song of Song of Solomon 3:3 ; Song of Song of Solomon 5:7 ; Psalm 127:1 ).

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