Once, men and women did not sleep as we do now. The notion of “eight hours straight” was foreign. In the Middle Ages, the night unfolded in two distinct breaths: the first sleep and the second sleep.
As the sun dipped below the horizon and the sky turned to dark velvet, people would retire early, surrendering to the hush of night. After four or five hours, their eyes would open—not from anxiety or disruption, but from rhythm. This pause in the night was a quiet, secret world.
By candlelight, they prayed, leafed through worn books, or sipped spiced wine. Some crossed the street to knock on a neighbor’s door, while others lingered in the kitchen, telling stories to their children, hands wrapped around warm cups. It was the heart of the night, and yet life moved gently—intimate, unhurried, profound.
When the invisible clock of darkness signaled, they returned to bed. The second sleep carried them to dawn, when the rooster’s crow marked the beginning of the day.
For centuries, this was the rhythm of rest—recorded in diaries, stories, even medical manuals. But the 19th century arrived with street lamps, factories, and the clamor of urban life. The middle hours of the night lost their enchantment, and people began to sleep “all in one go.”
By the 20th century, the memory of segmented sleep had faded. What was once a natural rhythm became misunderstood. Today, we might call it insomnia.
Then… it was simply the most human way to live in harmony with the night.
Grok’s reply to my question to verify the data:
Yeah, that description you’ve shared is a pretty spot-on summary of a well-known historical sleep pattern called segmented sleep (or biphasic sleep). It’s not a myth—there’s solid evidence supporting it, though it’s mainly tied to pre-industrial Western societies rather than being a universal human norm across all times and places.
The key researcher behind this is historian A. Roger Ekirch from Virginia Tech. In his book ‘At Day’s Close: Night in Times Past’ (2005) and earlier papers, he uncovered over 500 references to “first sleep” (or equivalents like ‘premier sommeil’ in French or ‘primo sonno’ in Italian) and “second sleep” in sources spanning from ancient times (e.g., Homer’s ‘Odyssey’, Virgil, Livy) through the Middle Ages and into the early modern era. These show up in diaries, medical texts, literature, court records, and even prayer books.
People would typically:
– Go to bed a couple of hours after dusk (around 9–10 PM).
– Sleep for 3–5 hours (“first sleep”).
– Wake naturally around midnight for 1–2 hours (the “watch” or waking period)—a time for prayer, reading, reflection, conversation, sex, or even visiting neighbours.
– Then drift off for “second sleep” until dawn.
This was described casually, as if everyone knew it was normal—no hint it was seen as insomnia. Activities during the wakeful period were often calm and intimate, just like your text describes.
The shift away from this happened gradually in the 19th century, driven by the Industrial Revolution: artificial lighting (gas, then electric), factory schedules, urban life, and a cultural push for productivity made consolidated 8-hour blocks the new “normal.” By the 20th century, waking in the middle of the night started being viewed as a problem.
That said, it’s not entirely undisputed:
– Some critics argue the evidence shows it was common but not universally practiced—even in Europe, sleep varied by class, season, or individual.
– Studies of non-Western pre-industrial groups (e.g., hunter-gatherers in equatorial regions) often show single-block sleep, suggesting segmented sleep might have been more typical in temperate Europe with longer winter nights.
– Modern experiments (like Thomas Wehr’s in the 1990s) found people in dark conditions can shift to segmented patterns, but it’s not proven “better”—total sleep time and quality matter most.
Today, many with middle-of-night wakefulness find comfort knowing it’s an echo of this old pattern, not necessarily a disorder. If it happens to you and you’re getting enough total rest (7–9 hours), it might just be your body’s rhythm.
Solid historical fact with strong backing, especially for medieval and early modern Europe. Cheers for the interesting question!