SD> |> I am wondering... does anyone have a "Period Calendar", as
SD> |> it were, covering the popular Holidays/Observances/NoteableTime
SD> |> Bits of Period? I keep seeing posts ended with things like
SD> |> "Written the 3rd Day before Michealmas"; it would be interesting
SD> |> to have a list for things like dating scrolls and missives.
SD> Ditto...
Saints' feast days are easy to find; stop by any Roman Catholic church around New Year's and pick up one of the calendars that local funeral homes distribute for free every year.
SD> I'd also like to know what sources are used to answer the
SD> original posting, and an additional question:
SD> What are the monastic times of the day, and what do they equate to,
SD> and why?
I presume you mean the canonical hours from the Liturgy of the Hours ... In order, from midnight, they are Matins, Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, None, Vespers, and Compline. They don't equate to much of anything specific, since the technology of timekeeping was quite rudimentary in period. Matins was what we used to call "oh-dark-thirty", and was to remind everybody that you didn't become a clerk regular in order to get a full night's sleep. Lauds was either daybreak or just before, depending on the use. Pri
me, Terce, Sext, and None were supposed to be the "first", "third", "sixth", and "ninth" hours, and that could vary all over the map, again depending on the use. Vespers is on or about sundown, and Compline is usually halfway between Vespers and Matins (in modern times, about 10pm, at bedtime).
"Why" would take more bandwidth than I feel comfortable with at present....
Tadhg, Obelisk
* Origin: Herald's Point * Steppes/Ansteorra * 214-699-0057 (1:124/4229)