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The forgotten medieval habit of 'two sleeps'

bbc.com · 3,462 words · saved by 1 readers

For millennia, people slept in two shifts – once in the evening, and once in the morning. But why? And how did the habit disappear?

The forgotten medieval habit of 'two sleeps' 10 January 2022 Share Save Add as preferred on Google Zaria Gorvett Alamy For millennia, people slept in two shifts – once in the evening, and once in the morning. But why? And how did the habit disappear? It was around 23:00 on 13 April 1699, in a small village in the north of England. Nine-year-old Jane Rowth blinked her eyes open and squinted out into the moody evening shadows. She and her mother had just awoken from a short sleep. Mrs Rowth got up and went over to the fireside of their modest home, where she began smoking a pipe. Just then, two

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