Those who are soldiers of the temple are of God.
Every first Monday of the month at 12 o’clock the siren wails in the Netherlands. But how did people know in the Middle Ages that danger was imminent?”
Nowadays we have the sirens every first Monday of the month at 12:00 in the Netherlands. As a test for our national alarm system.
In the Middle Ages we did not have this system.
Centuries before sirens existed, we were warned in a different way. What warned us then of impending doom, such as fire, or the enemy: were the Tower Watchmen. In Towers of the city – usually of the Church – tower guards were present 24/7. At least 2. This is for safety: suppose something happens to one Tower Guard, the other could go for help. Plus also: then they could take turns resting and sleeping.
In the Towers there were bedsteads in which they could take a rest. A bedstead is a kind of built-in sleeping place, which looks like a closet. Often closed with doors or a curtain or the like.
Of course, Tower Guards had more tasks. Another task was that they had to walk around every hour on the circuit of a Tower.
A tower of a Rook (and we are not talking about chess here) is a balustrade on the Rook that goes all the way around the tower. In other words: you can walk all the way around 360 degrees on the outside of the tower. Larger Towers usually have multiple orbits. The Tower of the Church of Our Lady of Breda has 4 (!!) circuits.
These were not only for the Tower Guards, but also for workmen who can easily maintain the outside of the Tower.
Back to the Tower Guards: who had to walk around the course every hour and then blow their horn. The population did not have watches, let alone mobile phones. It was dark, it was light, that was the only indication of time that a medieval person was actually interested in. In the eyes of medieval people, we are downright stress chickens, that we live on the second. The minute hand was also only there for the first time in 1855, let alone the second hand.
So by every hour that horn of the Tower Guards, the population knew: another hour has passed. This is where the saying comes from blowing high from the tower.
Signal horn with trimmings from 1878, used by the tower keeper of the city of Breda.
“Those who ‘blow off the tower’ may sound boastful today, but once upon a time it simply meant that you kept your city safe.”
The last Tower Keeper in Breda was Mr. Fishert, he retired in 1895. Something that does get in the blood: his grandson, now at a very respectable age, has been a whistleblower.
This candle lantern was hung from the tower of the Great or Our Lady Church on the side where the tower guard saw the fire. If there was a fire during the day, a red banner was hung from the tower tower on the side of the fire. The lantern was used until about 1893 by the fire brigade of the municipality of Breda.