Yes, I am a librarian...

[rabidsamfan]

Okay... I can't just assume that the hours of daylight at midsummer and Christmas are different in Shrewsbury and Jerusalem for a Cadfael drabble, I've got to go mucking around on the net for more exact info...

But I'll admit to goggling at what I figured out.

For June 22:

Jerusalem, 14 hours 14 minutes between sunrise and sunset
Shrewsbury, 16 hours 52 minutes ditto.

For December 25:
Jerusalem, 10 hours 4 minutes from sun up to sundown
Shrewsbury, 7 hours, 40 minutes...
The sun isn't above the horizon for even eight hours! Granted the twilight is a lot longer in Shrewsbury, forty minutes at midwinter to Jerusalem's twenty minutes, but wow, that's a lot of hours of dark!

Now, considering that medieval clocks set the hours by sunrise and sunset, dividing day and night each into twelve hours, and the monks had to get up in the middle of the night for at least one service... *wanders off in a fit of geekishness*

...er... there may be a drabble, eventually. I've got to go research medieval church services now.

Comments

[elendiari22.livejournal.com]

Hey, that's really interesting. You learn something new every day.

[rabidsamfan.livejournal.com]

It is cool, isn't it? The first time I flew to England from Denver I was tickled pink to find the north star and see that "hey! it really is higher in the sky when you're farther north!"...

[rubynye.livejournal.com]

I love it when you exercise your librarian-fu.

[rabidsamfan.livejournal.com]

HIIIIII YAA!

[frankymole.livejournal.com]

I knew about the varying-lengths of hours (thanks, Medieval:Total war!) and had a vague knowledge that "oop North" it gets even more ridiculously early-dark than here in winter.

I'd never connected with the Monk's offices though (or whatever they're called) or thought about the implications.

Nice one! I liked the drabble too.

[rabidsamfan.livejournal.com]

Thanks. It works out in summer to something like 108 minutes from the start of one service to the start of the next service on the shortest night of the year. You'd barely close your eyes before you had to get up and sing again. No wonder the Benedictine Rule allows for a nap after noon!

[aeb.livejournal.com]

{Giggle, REALLY BIG GRIN}

Happy hunting! {REALLY BIG GRIN, HUMONGOUS GRIN}

(Now what was I going to do after LJ? Oh yes... try to find some not-fancy pins and hairpins in Elizabethan-era paintings. {wink, cat-ate-canary SMILE})

Anne Elizabeth Baldwin

[rabidsamfan.livejournal.com]

Wikipedia is a good thing. Well, if you're only brushing a topic anyway.

[aeb.livejournal.com]

Yes, Wikipedia is usually a good place to start. {Smile}

I'm finding that's true even when I want something more detailed. They often link to things that handle the subject in a bit more depth than they can. {SMILE}

(I haven't found quite the right pins yet, but I haven't finished looking. {BIG SMILE, wink})

Anne Elizabeth Baldwin