Evening's Empire

Abstract

What does it mean to write a history of the night? Evening's Empire is a fascinating study of the myriad ways in which early modern people understood, experienced, and transformed the night. Using diaries, letters, and legal records together with representations of the night in early modern religion, literature and art, Craig Koslofsky opens up an entirely new perspective on early modern Europe. He shows how princes, courtiers, burghers and common people 'nocturnalized' political expression, the public sphere and the use of daily time. Fear of the night was now mingled with improved opportunities for labour and leisure: the modern night was beginning to assume its characteristic shape. Evening's Empire takes the evocative history of the night into early modern politics, culture and society, revealing its importance to key themes from witchcraft, piety, and gender to colonization, race, and the Enlightenment.

Consumer Surplus from Energy Transitions

“…Interestingly, lighting improvements also changed sleeping behavior. Prior to the growth in lighting use, the long nights were often broken up into two periods of sleep; however, as the day was 'lengthened,' work, education, and social activities replaced sleep, which became more concentrated (Koslofsky 2011). However, by the 1950s, those changes had occurred, and better or cheaper lighting had more modest effects on welfare.…”

R. S. Thomas’s Poetics of Insomnia

“…53 As Craig Koslofsky has persuasively argued, during the period of religious division and spiritual uncertainty that followed the Reformation 'the night became more sacred and more meaningful as an unintended consequence of the persecution and clandestine worship attendant to confessional formation'. 54 In the sixteenth century, various John's references to 'the tranquil night, / at the time of the rising of the dawn, / the silent music and sounding solitude' reflect the many accounts of his excursions outside in the middle of the night with his companions to pray and observe the beauty of the heavens, as well as many nights spent in solitary prayer. 56 Böhme, for his part, developing a theosophy 'intended to illuminate a world blinded by ecclesiastical authorities and confessional strife', paradoxically elevated darkness to a theological role comparable in its importance to that of light.…”

“…54 In the sixteenth century, various John's references to 'the tranquil night, / at the time of the rising of the dawn, / the silent music and sounding solitude' reflect the many accounts of his excursions outside in the middle of the night with his companions to pray and observe the beauty of the heavens, as well as many nights spent in solitary prayer. 56 Böhme, for his part, developing a theosophy 'intended to illuminate a world blinded by ecclesiastical authorities and confessional strife', paradoxically elevated darkness to a theological role comparable in its importance to that of light. 57 Indebted to Meister Eckhart, as well as to the alchemical tradition, he regarded Good and Evil, day and night, as complementary parts of the unity structuring God's Creation.…”

“…56 Böhme, for his part, developing a theosophy 'intended to illuminate a world blinded by ecclesiastical authorities and confessional strife', paradoxically elevated darkness to a theological role comparable in its importance to that of light. 57 Indebted to Meister Eckhart, as well as to the alchemical tradition, he regarded Good and Evil, day and night, as complementary parts of the unity structuring God's Creation. 'His mystical cosmogony,' Elisabeth Bronfen confirms, 'is based on a mutual implication of light and darkness', for he saw both as manifestations of God.…”

A role for sleep disorders in pregnancy complications: challenges and opportunities

“…69 This biphasic pattern is considered the natural tendency for humans, and is consistent with the historical record. 70,71 Prior to the availability of artificial light, the hours after the “first sleep” were not spent in solitude, but were often social events. The initial impetus to shift to a sleep pattern of 8 consecutive hours starting later in the evening is attributed to street and domestic lighting, which extended the period of wakefulness.…”