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Eclipses of the Moon or Sun, auroras and comets told by our ancestors in the Archives.
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The American Mars 2020 mission was launched on July 30, 2020 from Florida. The Perseverance rover aims to search for traces of past life on the red planet.
This mission makes us feel small in the face of the vastness of space. Surely this is what our ancestors must have felt when they were led to observe celestial phenomena. Let's take a look at some of them, their stories in the archives, and the resources to consult.
Note: All links in this article guide you to the sources used. For easier reading, the transcriptions of the acts have been written in modern French.
Eclipses of the Moon and the Sun never cease to fascinate. For a long time, our ancestors saw in them the predictions of dire events, a supernatural cause, or even the intervention of a God or a demon.
The first description of an eclipse dates back to the 6th century BC. It is the philosopher Anaxagoras who speaks of it as the “interposition of black stars, like clouds, in regular course”. It will take the proposal of Empedocles to be the first to provide a correct explanation of this phenomenon.
We have also found descriptions of total solar eclipses on very ancient stones. This is the case, for example, of the solar eclipse of September 26, 322 BC in Babylon or that of July 17, 709 BC in Chu-Fu.
More recently, our ancestors were also witnesses to these eclipses, and it is the priests who speak of them best in the archives...
First in Montpellier in Hérault, on June 7, 1415, an act written in Latin mentions an eclipse that lasted almost half an hour, “that is why everything was dark”. (see the image)
More than two centuries later, in Cérilly in Allier, on January 20, 1628, the priest of the parish describes, without much conviction, a lunar eclipse: “at nine o'clock in the evening we had the full moon where there was an eclipse of the moon”, he adds “I wrote it down to never have seen such a thing, God willing that it portends something good for us”. (see the image)
Later, in Guitté in Côtes-d'Armor, on August 12, 1654, a solar eclipse led the priest to thank God for warning him with this celestial sign: “a solar eclipse appeared on our horizon, which made its light very sad, however without losing its day. A general procession was made, fearing that it might have other harmful accidents, but God stopped it? And warned his poor people, for which we thank him”. (see the image)
Finally, in Labastide-Esparbairenque in Aude, on June 11, 1676, we find in the archives a precise description of a solar eclipse, with a drawing to support it. The priest writes: “On June 11, 1676, around eight in the morning, the sun eclipsed, that is to say that it gradually diminished in its roundness and this for an hour and a half, and then gradually returned to its ordinary form without any decrease in its brightness and its shape came back almost like this figure”
Source: http://geneadom.free.fr/meteo/Aude/actes11.htm#labastide
Auroras were easily observable in Europe several centuries ago. These have largely fascinated our ancestors who long invented stories to explain their origin. Different omens were associated based on their colors; red foretold a bloody future or war, while green and blue were rather good omens.
It was in 1621 that a Frenchman, Pierre Gassendi, described and gave the name to the auroras, previously called polar auroras. Again, it is not uncommon to come across a text about this phenomenon in the registers.
This is the case in Faye-la-Vineuse in Indre-et-Loire, on September 12, 1621. The priest of the parish of Saint-George describes: “a great vision like a great battle of fire and moon at nine to ten o'clock in the evening, and we saw as clearly as if it were at noon, and there was no moon at that hour, so the people were amazed and this light was general”
Source: http://geneadom.free.fr/meteo/Indre-et-Loire/actes37.htm#faye
Then came the most famous aurora, on October 19, 1726, described by the priests of many parishes in France:
In Ferrières-en-Gâtinais in Loiret, the priest speaks of “a kind of rainbow that ended where the moon was supposed to rise”, “white and resplendent smoke came out of this arch, all filled with flames, and the sky on fire in many parishes”. He also adds “what is sure is that we will attribute and interpret the things that happen to this phenomenon”. (see the image).
In the Chapelle-d'Andaine in Orne, the inhabitants could observe “on all sides flames of fire in the air” which did not fail to “make everyone tremble”. (see the image)
In Hauterive in Yonne, the priest reports this “phenomenon that occupied the entire starry sky. It was seen by all of Europe at the same time, with the same beginning, progression and decline”. We also learn that “consternation was general, the sound of bells that could be heard everywhere, the passions that were said, the silence of the night increased the fears, the churches were full of people who wept”. Also, “priests mounted the pulpit and with tears in their eyes announced that the great judgment had arrived, pregnant women died suddenly, the sick had mortal relapses”... (see the image).
Comets and their bright halo were also interpreted as a sign of good or bad omen. The earliest written records of comets date back to Antiquity and are found in Chinese annals in the 11th century BC.
Some comets are better known than others due to their size and duration. This is the case, for example, of those of the years 1664 or 1665, observed throughout Europe and sometimes mentioned in the registers.
This is the case in Vitré, Ille-et-Vilaine, in December 1664: “In the year 1664 at the end of December, a star appeared on the south side towards the midday, which star began to appear one hour after midnight and disappeared at dawn”, but “fifteen days later, at the beginning of January 1665, another star appeared”, then “in April of the same year 1665, a third star appeared”... (see the image)
Earlier, in Bouillé-Ménard in Maine-et-Loire, the month of October 1580 is marked by the appearance of a comet, which “had its tail straight behind it like the one that had appeared three years or so before”. The priest refers here to the great comet of 1577 seen throughout Europe. (see the image)
In Bayon-sur-Gironde, Gironde, on January 27, 1681, the priest of the parish tells how the comet he observed had been present in the sky since December 23 and that it reappeared towards the setting sun “rising in our hemisphere day by day”. He does not fail to end with “God be glorified in all”. (see the image)
Finally, much later, the priest of Solignac-sur-Loire in Haute-Loire, mentions in December 1743 the arrival of a new comet “for about six weeks on the same side a little after sunset, and then it appeared on the east side for two or three weeks some time before sunrise”. He concludes with “one could not draw from public opinion that this comet was not a sign of some plague”. He speaks here of the great comet of 1744, the sixth brightest comet of all time. (see the image)
- In the archives, of course!
- Geneadom - “When our ancestors talked about disasters and natural phenomena”
- Geneactinsolites - “Discovering History, traditions and events of the past”
