SAEDNEWS: Long before modern sleep schedules, medieval Europeans practiced “first sleep” and “second sleep,” waking briefly in the night for rituals, reflection, or chores. Discover the forgotten habits that reveal how humans once truly lived through the night.
In our modern world, sleep is a monolith — a single, uninterrupted block we call “a night’s rest.” But what if I told you that for most of history, humans didn’t sleep this way at all? In medieval Europe, a standard night’s sleep was split in two: the first sleep and the second sleep. Between them, people would rise, read, pray, socialize, or even wander the streets. What modern science now confirms as a natural human rhythm had been the standard for centuries — only to vanish under the pressure of industrialization and modern schedules.
Historical records, from diaries to court documents, show that medieval men and women generally went to bed a few hours after sunset, slept for roughly four hours (the “first sleep”), and then awoke for an hour or two before returning for a second sleep. During this interlude, people might:
Visit neighbors
Tend to household chores
Pray or meditate
Engage in intimate encounters
Reflect quietly on dreams
Medical treatises of the time even noted that this waking period was entirely normal. It wasn’t insomnia or disruption; it was part of the natural rhythm of the human body. People described it as a gentle, expected pause in the night, a moment of clarity and quiet that has almost entirely disappeared today.
The interval between first and second sleep was also a time for what scholars now call “hypnagogic consciousness,” the borderland between waking and sleeping. In this liminal period, people were more attuned to dreams and visions. Medieval literature is full of dream accounts, ghost sightings, and nocturnal omens recorded during these night awakenings.
One 14th-century French diary recounts:
"I awoke between the two sleeps, and in that hour, the spirits whispered truths I could not hear by day."
It seems that medieval humans intuitively understood what modern sleep scientists have discovered: humans naturally experience segmented sleep cycles, and creative insight often strikes during transitional states between wakefulness and sleep.
Sleeping in two phases wasn’t just a medical or physiological pattern — it shaped society. Court records, letters, and ecclesiastical documents show that nighttime activities were carefully orchestrated around first and second sleep. Watchmen, monks, and even peasants used the hours between sleeps to work, pray, or communicate discreetly.
Marriage customs sometimes incorporated these night wakes. In legal testimonies, people would specify the timing of acts in relation to “first sleep” or “second sleep,” highlighting how ingrained this pattern was in daily life. Even sexual practices were quietly referenced in relation to these two periods, revealing a surprisingly complex nocturnal culture.
By the 17th and 18th centuries, historians note a shift in sleep patterns. Industrialization, artificial lighting, and rigid work schedules began to push people toward a single, consolidated sleep. Candles and lamps extended evening activity, diminishing the natural night pauses. By the 19th century, “segmented sleep” was largely forgotten, replaced by the continuous eight-hour night we now consider normal.
Some medical historians argue that this change contributed to the rise in insomnia and sleep-related anxiety in modern societies. We’ve lost the natural night rhythm that our ancestors depended on for mental clarity, creativity, and relaxation.
Modern research surprisingly validates the medieval experience. Chronobiologists studying pre-industrial societies and controlled laboratory conditions have found that humans naturally exhibit biphasic sleep under minimal artificial lighting. The average person sleeps for about four hours, wakes for one or two, then sleeps another four hours.
This pattern aligns with historical accounts, suggesting that segmented sleep is more “natural” than the uninterrupted eight-hour night. Studies also indicate that waking briefly in the middle of the night may enhance memory consolidation, emotional processing, and problem-solving. In other words, those medieval dreamers, meditators, and night walkers may have been onto something profoundly adaptive.
Segmentation wasn’t only practical; it had spiritual and psychological significance. In medieval texts, the hour between first and second sleep was often associated with heightened intuition, prophetic dreams, and mystical experiences. People believed that in this time, the veil between the material and spiritual worlds was thinnest.
English poet Robert Burton wrote in The Anatomy of Melancholy (1621):
"The second sleep is the hour when visions are most vivid and the soul communes freely with its hidden thoughts."
Anthropologists today note that cultures worldwide historically practiced segmented sleep, often combining it with spiritual rituals or nocturnal observances. The medieval European model was far from an isolated phenomenon — it was part of a universal human rhythm disrupted only by modernity.
With the current obsession over sleep hygiene, mindfulness, and cognitive performance, some modern practitioners are experimenting with “first and second sleep” schedules. Polyphasic sleep enthusiasts argue that short waking periods at night can:
Boost creativity and problem-solving
Reduce stress
Encourage lucid dreaming
Enhance focus
Sleep researchers caution, however, that such experiments require careful attention to total sleep duration. Humans evolved under conditions of minimal artificial light and flexible schedules — something our 21st-century lifestyles rarely allow.
The story of medieval sleep reminds us that what we consider “normal” is often historically contingent. For centuries, humans thrived under biphasic rhythms, weaving creativity, spirituality, and community into the dark hours. Industrialization changed all that, privileging efficiency over natural cycles.
Rediscovering the wisdom of first and second sleep might help us reclaim not just better rest, but more profound engagement with our inner lives. Next time you wake in the middle of the night, don’t fight it — embrace it. You could be touching a rhythm humans practiced for millennia, a rhythm that our ancestors once used to navigate the darkness with clarity, imagination, and wonder.
The segmented night offers more than a glimpse into history. It invites reflection on our own sleep habits, mental health, and the overlooked periods of quiet that can enrich life. Medieval Europeans slept twice not because they suffered from modern disorders, but because they attuned themselves to the natural rhythms of the earth and their own minds. In a world where sleep is often sacrificed for productivity, perhaps it’s time to follow their lead — one first sleep, one second sleep, and an hour in between to dream, ponder, and imagine.
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