Italian hours
Italian hours (also Italian or Bohemian hours ) are equinox hours that were counted from 1 to 24 ( large clock ) from sunset (sometimes half an hour later) .
In contrast, the Babylonian hours count from sunrise .
The large clock is also called the Italian clock in addition to the full clock and full pointer .
history
The beginning of counting sunset is common in Islam and probably found its way into Europe through Venetian traders. The conformity with the Judeo - Christian festival order seems to be more important.
The hours were measured with both sundials and the stroke clock invented in the 14th century . The night hours (at least the first 8 hours) remained free on the dials of these sundials. Mechanical clocks had to be readjusted every day at sunset.
Soon this system was widespread in Italy and was used until the end of the 18th century. This hour counting was also used in Bohemia , Silesia and Poland until the 17th century. The replacement by the more practical, now common division into two twelve (equinox) hours ( small clock , civil hours) began as early as the 16th century.
One advantage of starting counting in the evening was that the difference to 24 was easy to see on a corresponding clock and you knew how many hours you could still work in daylight.
See also
- Equal hours
- Danna
- Seasonal hours
- Julian date , the day counted in 24 hours from noon in astronomy
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b cf. Gerhard Dohrn-van Rossum : The history of the hour. Clocks and modern time order. Hanser, Munich 1992, ISBN 3-446-16046-9 , pp. 111-112.