Il Paradiso.—C.X.
In 1344 James Dondi constructed at Padua, by the command of Hubert, prince of Carrara, a clock similar to Wallingford's, and thus obtained for himself the title of Horologius; which, it is said, is still borne by his descendants in Florence. In 1364 Henry de Wyck, a German, made a clock for Charles V. of France, which was erected in the tower of his palace. This clock was regulated by a balance, the teeth of the crown-wheel acted upon two small levers called pallets which projected from, and formed part of, an upright spindle or staff, on which was fixed the balance, and the clock was regulated by shifting the weights placed at each end of the balance.
In 1368 Edward granted protection against 'injuriam, molestiam, violentiam, damnum, aut gravamen' to three Dutch horologers, John and William Uneman and John Lietuyt, who had been invited to this country from Delft.
Chaucer, who died in 1400, speaks of a cock crowing with such regularity as to rival a clock:
'Full sikerer (surer) was his crowing in his loge As is a clok, or any abbey orloge.'
Whether the abbey horologe referred to was really a clock in our sense of the term, or merely the bell rung by the monks at a certain hour indicated by the clepsydra, is matter of conjecture, but the probability is, that clockmaking had advanced sufficiently about this time to have given rise to Chaucer's simile. Froissart speaks of a famous clock which struck the hours, and was remarkable for its mechanism, and which was removed in 1332 by Philip the Hardy, duke of Burgundy, from Courtrai to his capital at Dijon.
After this date frequent mention is made of clocks in various histories, some of which instruments remain even to the present day. Dr Heylin thus describes a famous clock and dial in the Cathedral of Lunden in Denmark. 'In the dial are to be seen distinctly the year, month, week, day, and every hour of the day throughout the year, with the feasts, both those which are movable and fixed, together with the motions of the sun and moon, and their passage through each degree of the zodiac. Then for the clock, it is so framed by artificial engines that whensoever it is to strike, two horsemen encounter one another, giving as many blows apiece as the bell sounds hours, and on the opening of a door there appeareth a theatre, the Virgin Mary on a throne with Christ in her arms, and the three kings or Magi (with their several trains) marching in order, doing humble reverence, and presenting severally their gifts,—two trumpeters sounding all the while, to adorn the pomp of the procession.'
The clock at Hampton Court is one of the most ancient in England, but all that remains of the original structure is the dial and work connected with it, facing the east, in the second court of the old part of the building erected by Wolsey. Of the ancient body or works there is no record, and its maker is unknown, but it bears the initials N.O. and the date 1540.
There is a celebrated antique clock at Strasburg which is described as striking the quarter-hours by four figures, symbols of the ages of man;—the first being struck by a child with an apple, the second by a youth with an arrow, the third by a man with a staff, and the fourth by an old man with a crutch, then came Death, who struck the hour, and thus reminded the observer that his last hour would eventually arrive.