The Strasbourg astronomical clock in the Cathédrale Notre-Dame of Strasbourg, Alsace, France. The automaton rooster is at the upper left.

1352

RELIGIOUS AUTOMATA

Various automata associated with the Christian Church appeared in late medieval and early modern Europe, ranging from automaton Christs to mechanical devils and Satan machines that made noises and stuck out their tongues. For example, during the fifteenth century, the “Rood of Grace” in the Boxley Abbey in Kent, England, was a mechanized likeness of Jesus on the Cross that moved his eyes, lips, and other parts of his body. Automaton angles and automaton simulations of biblical events also became common in the late fifteenth century. As recounted by history professor Jessica Riskin, “Automata were familiar features of daily life, originating in churches and cathedrals and spreading from there. Jesuit missionaries carried them to China as offerings to dramatize the power of Christian Europe.”

Particularly interesting is the Strasbourg astronomical clock in the Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Strasbourg in Alsace, France. Construction of the clock began in 1352, and it featured a rooster automaton that moved its head, flapped its wings, and crowed at particular times (using bellows and a reed). The clock also featured moving angels. Around 1547, this clock was replaced and upgraded, while retaining the bird automaton. The second clock stopped working in 1788. It wasn’t until 1838 that the current clock came into being with new mechanisms to replace the old ones.

Aside from the automata, the Strasbourg clock features a perpetual calendar (including a means to determine the calendar date of Easter), a display of solar and lunar eclipses, and more. In 1896, author Fanny Coe wrote that the Strasbourg clock “is almost like a small theater, there are so many people and animals that have their little part to play. . . . The hours are struck by angels, and at midday and midnight life-size figures of Christ and his twelve disciples come from a door. . . . Then a gilded cock upon the upper turret of the clock flaps its wings and crows.”

The scholar Julius Fraser writes: “Calendrical science and clock craftsmanship evolved to make artifacts that explained and praised the Christian universe. . . . [They were] forerunners of the later desires to put the skills of scientists and artisans to use for the earthly benefit of people.”