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About lunar and solar eclipses, auroras, and comets told by our ancestors in the Archives.
©️Gallica - BnF
The American Mars 2020 mission was launched on July 30, 2020 from Florida. The rover Perseverance 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 look back at some of them, their stories in the archives, and resources to consult.
Note: All links in this article guide you to the sources used. To facilitate reading for everyone, the transcriptions of acts have been written in current French.
Solar and lunar eclipses never cease to fascinate. For a long time, our ancestors saw in them predictions of dire events, supernatural causes, or even the intervention of a God or a demon.
The first description of an eclipse dates back to the 6th century BC. It was the philosopher Anaxagoras who described it as the interposition of black stars, like clouds, in regular motion. It was not until Empedocles' proposal that the first correct explanation of this phenomenon was offered.
We 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 Ch'u-Fu.
Much more recently, our ancestors were also witnesses to these eclipses, and it is the priests who speak best about them in the archives…
First, in Montpellier in Hérault, June 7, 1415, an act written in Latin mentions an eclipse that lasted almost half an hour, "which is why everything was dark". (see the image)
More than two centuries later, in Cérilly in Allier, January 20, 1628, the priest of the parish describes, without much conviction, a lunar eclipse: "At nine o'clock in the evening we had a full moon, and it was that there was an eclipse of the moon", he adds "I have recorded it so as never to have seen such a thing, God willing that it may foretell something good for us". (see the image)
Later, in Guitté in Côtes-d'Armor, August 12, 1654, a solar eclipse leads the priest to thank God for warning him by this celestial sign: "there appeared a solar eclipse on our horizon which made its light very sad, yet without losing its day. A general procession was made, fearing that it might have other harmful accidents, but God has saved us and warned his poor people, for which we give him thanks". (see the image)
Finally, in Labastide-Esparbairenque in Aude, 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 o'clock in the morning, the sun was eclipsed, that is to say that it gradually decreased in its roundness and this for an hour and a half, and then gradually returned to its usual form without any decrease in its brightness, and its shape came back almost as this figure".
Source: http://geneadom.free.fr/meteo/Aude/actes11.htm#labastide
Auroras were easily observable in Europe several centuries ago. These have greatly fascinated our ancestors who long invented stories to explain their origin. Different omens were associated with 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 named the aurora borealis, formerly called polar auroras. Again, it is not rare to come across a text about this phenomenon in the registers.
This is the case in Faye-la-Vineuse in Indre-et-Loire, September 12, 1621. The priest of the Saint-George parish describes: "a great vision like a great battle of fire and moon from nine to ten o'clock in the evening, and we saw as clearly as if it were noon, and there was no moon for the hour, so the people were amazed and this light was general".
Then came the most famous aurora borealis, 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 should have risen at its time", "white and resplendent fumes filled with flames and all the sky on fire in many parishes". He adds that "what is sure is that people will attribute and signify the events that will happen to this phenomenon". (see the image).
In the Chapelle-d'Andaine in Orne, the inhabitants were able to observe "flames of fire on all sides 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 extent of the starlit sky. It was seen by all of Europe at the same time, with the same beginning, progression, and decline". It is also learned that "there was general consternation, 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 went up to the pulpit, tears in their eyes, announced that the great judgment had arrived, pregnant women died suddenly, the sick had fatal relapses..." (see the image).
Comets and their luminous halo were also interpreted as signs of good or bad omens. The earliest written records of comets date back to antiquity and are found in Chinese annals in the 11th century BC.
Some comets are more well-known than others because of 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 south, which star began to appear at one o'clock after midnight and disappeared at dawn", but "fifteen days later, at the beginning of January of the year 1665, another star appeared", then "in the following month of April of the same year 1665, a third star appeared..." (see the image)
Earlier, in Bouillé-Ménard in Maine-et-Loire, October 1580 is marked by the appearance of a comet, which "had its tail straight behind it like the one that 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, in Gironde, on January 27, 1681, the parish priest tells that the comet he then observed was present in the sky since December 23, and that it appeared again towards the setting sun "rising on our hemisphere day by day". He does not fail to conclude "God be glorified in all". (see the image)
Finally, much later, the priest of Solignac-sur-Loire in Haute-Loire, in December 1743, evokes 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 "we could not draw from public opinion that this comet was not a forepart 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, simply!
- Geneadom - "When our ancestors spoke of disasters and natural phenomena"
- Geneactinsolites - "Discovering History, traditions, and past events"
