World Building- Time Keeping before Mechanical Clocks

The world's first mechanical clock -Water-driven Spherical Birds – was invented by Yi Xing, a Buddhist monk in 725 A.D.. It was operated by dripping water which powered a wheel that made one revolution in 24 hours.  In 1092 astronomer and mechanist Su Song developed a more sophisticated clock called the Cosmic Empire. The clock told the time of day, the day of the month, the phase of the moon, and the position of certain stars and planets.

In Europe however the earliest mechanical clocks are bell tower clocks that tolled the hours, but did not have the familiar clock face of modern watches. These were developed in the early 13th century in Northern Italy and Southern Germany. 

Salisbury Cathedral Clock ca. 1386

The concept of time prior to this was based more on daylight and daily activities rather than minutes and seconds. This doesn't mean however that time keeping was somehow less advanced. Clocks made from burning candles and water clocks were widely used by both nobles and the lower class. Candles also made good alarms if you put nails in them at specific intervals. 

Candle Clocks from Europe

Prior to the industrial revolution time was based on seasonal activities and daylight. Candles are great, but they don't allow for the same level of detailed work of electric lights. This division of day was more important for those in cities and monasteries than farms and since agriculture was the primary occupation throughout much of medieval Europe it wasn't until much later that a more detailed method of time keeping was needed.

For many writers it makes life easier to keep to simple time keeping (morning, noon, etc.) or use terminology that is familiar to modern readers (minutes, hours, etc.). When world building for ancient or medieval time periods it is helpful to consider what methods your characters will use to keep time. Nothing takes a reader out of the story quite like inconsistency. If you start the story using broad time terms like morning or evening and use candles for lighting, but suddenly switch to minutes and hours and have secret midnight meetings in well lit rooms one might question why the characters didn't have access to these things earlier. Now if you use this change as part of your world building it can create a deeper layer of intrigue. Perhaps your characters lived in a rural setting initially and didn't need detailed time keeping. If they journey to a city where clocks are common you can create a level of character building that will keep your readers engaged.

Something else that rarely comes up in history classes is the context of different cultures existing at the same time. Western history is often taught in a straight line from Ancient Greece and Egypt to Rome to the "dark ages" fast forward to the Renaissance and then the industrial revolution and the world wars. This leaves out not only most of the world, but implies that the rest of the world is not as advanced as Europe. As I stated in the beginning of this post, China had clocks nearly as sophisticated as any we have today in the 11th century. Europe at the same time was still dealing with the after affects of the decline of Rome. This is the time frame of the so called "dark ages". By comparison most of the rest of the world was experiencing a golden age. As an example of these strange timeline shenanigans, you could live in the mid to late 19th century and encounter Victorian gentlemen, old west cowboys, Caribbean pirates, and Meiji Restoration Samurai. This sounds like a made up fantasy or a joke until you actually look at the dates. 

For historical fiction and fantasy writing, time can play an important role in world building, whether you are conscious of it or not. One of the best things about creating your own world in writing is the ability to use whatever parts of history and culture you wish. That's what makes fantasy writing so interesting. 

Creating a medieval banquet

So your characters have a place to live, clothes to wear and maybe they all have names, but now they are about to sit down and eat.... But what do you serve them? What is the etiquette of the meal? What do you even call it? Breakfast is easy to name, you are breaking the nightly fast. But then there is lunch and dinner? Supper? In the French breakfast is called petit dejeuner, the little meal, and lunch is dejeuner while dinner is dîner. Italian has a similar configuration with prima colazione, colazione, and cena (prima meaning first). It’s the English who start giving us trouble with multiple names for different meal types each meaning something different.

If you have ever travelled to Europe you may have noticed that they tend to treat meals differently than we do in America. In Britain any afternoon meal can be called tea. Spain and Italy take two hour lunch breaks and everything shuts down during that time. Dinner in almost every country is more of an event with the meal lasting two or more hours with different courses and drinks. If you've ever been to a fancy restaurant that serves a course meal of more than appetizer, entre and dessert than you are closer to what it would have been like a medieval banquet. It was not nearly as gross and lacking etiquette that many movies portray. There was in fact a sense of hygiene and consideration for your fellow dinners. This article by Danièle Cybulskie discusses some of the etiquettes that were in place using primary sources as examples. 

As for what they ate and drank there are many records available that discuss what provisions were ordered for different events and daily consumption. One of the big myths that permeate medieval movies and stories is that they did not drink water. In his article on the myth, Peter Konieczny presents many sources on the topic. For food the site medieval-recipes.com has many great resources for what recipes were popular. There are two manuscripts that have been hailed as the most important cookery guides, The Forme of Cury is in English and Le Viandier is in French. Many recipies have been translated from these by the John Rylands Library at the University of Manchester and the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BNF Paris). You can find a digital version of The Forme of Cury on the Project Gutenberg website.

All in all the types of food have not changed all that much. Most meals consist of fruits, vegetables, meat, bread and dairy just as they do today. The biggest differences are in the international availability we enjoy today. Many trade routes existed to bring to Europe spices from the East or exotic fruits and vegetables from the Middle East and Africa. After the discovery of the new world many new foods were introduced as trade across the Atlantic became available. As you plan your novel's world consider what level of trade was available and how that affects what your characters have at hand. Seasons also play a role in what might be accessible. Unlike our almost instantaneous transportation today which allows for seasonal foods to be imported from other regions, travel by horse or ship might limit your meal planning.

Now that you are thinking about what your characters might be eating you may have to make changes to your writing to wither limit or expand their food choices. For myself, I found that I had more options than I first thought because although spices from the East might be pricey and only used for special occasions I was able to incorporate them for those occasions. This made for some interesting character interactions since some may be new to the taste of say cinnamon or ginger, while others had them regularly. 

How has food in your novel changed the narrative? Comment bellow on how this topic influenced you or your writing. Happy writing and research!