Clockwork refers to the inner workings of either mechanical devices called clocks and watches (where it is also called the movement ) or other mechanisms that work similarly, using a series of gears driven by a spring or weight.
72-582: A clockwork mechanism is often powered by a clockwork motor consisting of a mainspring , a spiral torsion spring of metal ribbon. Energy is stored in the mainspring manually by winding it up , turning a key attached to a ratchet which twists the mainspring tighter. Then the force of the mainspring turns the clockwork gears, until the stored energy is used up. The adjectives wind-up and spring-powered refer to mainspring-powered clockwork devices, which include clocks and watches, kitchen timers , music boxes , and wind-up toys . The earliest known example of
144-628: A mainspring , thus involving some form of escapement ; in other cases, hand power may be utilized. The use of wheels, whether linked by friction or gear teeth, to redirect motion or gain speed or torque , is typical; many clockwork mechanisms have been constructed primarily to serve as visible or implicit tours de force of mechanical ingenuity in this area. Sometimes clocks and timing mechanisms are used to set off explosives, timers, alarms and many other devices. The most common examples are mechanical clocks and watches. Other uses, most but not all obsolete, include: Mainspring A mainspring
216-420: A throne with mechanical animals which hailed him as king when he ascended it; upon sitting down an eagle would place a crown upon his head, and a dove would bring him a Torah scroll. It's also said that when King Solomon stepped upon the throne, a mechanism was set in motion. As soon as he stepped upon the first step, a golden ox and a golden lion each stretched out one foot to support him and help him rise to
288-620: A clockwork mechanism is the Antikythera mechanism , a first-century BC geared analogue computer, somewhat astrolabe -like, for calculating astronomical positions and eclipses , recovered from a Greek shipwreck. There are many other accounts of clockwork devices in Ancient Greece, even in its mythology , and the mechanism itself is sophisticated enough to indicate a significant history of lesser devices leading up to its creation. At some point, this level of sophistication in clockwork technology
360-443: A few precision timepieces was the remontoire . This was a small secondary spring or weight which powered the timepiece's escapement , and was itself rewound periodically by the mainspring. This isolated the timekeeping element from the varying mainspring force. The modern going barrel , invented in 1760 by Jean-Antoine Lépine , produces a constant force by simply using a longer mainspring than needed, and coiling it under tension in
432-617: A few weeks later in Bruges after the latter insurrection. Philip's court can only be described as extravagant. Despite the flourishing bourgeois culture of Burgundy, with which the ducal court kept in close touch, he and the aristocrats who formed most of his inner circle retained a world-view dominated by the ideas and traditions of chivalry . He declined membership in the Order of the Garter in 1422, which would have been considered an act of treason against
504-621: A mainspring is the Burgunderuhr (Burgundy Clock), an ornate, gilt chamber clock, currently at the Germanisches Nationalmuseum in Nuremberg, whose iconography suggests that it was made around 1430 for Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy . The first mainsprings were made of steel without tempering or hardening processes. They didn't run very long, and had to be wound twice a day. Henlein
576-593: A poor decision in the long term; Charles VII and his successors saw the Burgundian State as a serious impediment to the expansion of royal authority in France, and for this reason they constantly tried to undermine Burgundy, so as to subordinate it to French sovereignty. Philip's defection to the French proved not only catastrophic to the dual monarchy of England and France , but to his own domains as well, subordinating them to
648-622: A portrait of the daughter of King John I , the Infanta Isabella , personally for Philip in advance of their marriage. With help from more experienced Portuguese shipbuilders, Philip established a shipyard in Bruges, which helped commerce flourish. Rogier van der Weyden painted his portrait twice on panel. Only copies survive, but in each he is shown wearing the collar of the Order of the Golden Fleece. The only extant original van der Weyden of Philip
720-588: A powerful centralised Valois monarchy. He then attacked Calais , a strategic possession of the English, but the alliance with Charles was broken in 1439. Philip supported the revolt of the French nobles the following year (an event known as the Praguerie ) and offered shelter to the Dauphin Louis , who had rebelled against his father Charles VII. Philip was generally preoccupied with matters in his own territories and
792-525: A small wooden cross and rosary in his left hand, turning and nodding his head, rolling his eyes, and mouthing silent obsequies. From time to time, he brings the cross to his lips and kisses it. It is believed that the monk was manufactured by Juanelo Turriano , mechanician to the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V . Often power for the device is stored within it, via a winding device that applies mechanical stress to an energy-storage mechanism such as
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#1732890842079864-879: A superb miniature known as " Jean Wauquelin presenting his 'Chroniques de Hainaut' to Philip the Good " (above right). The painter Hugo van der Goes of the Early Netherlandish school is credited with paintings for the church where Philip's funeral was held. Philip married his second cousin Michelle of France (1395–1422) in June 1409, when he was 12 and she was 14. She was a daughter of Charles VI, King of France (1368–1422) and his wife and consort, Isabeau of Bavaria ( c. 1370 –1435). They had one daughter, Agnes, who died in infancy , and Michelle died on 8 July 1422. On 30 November 1424 in Moulins-Engelbert , Philip married
936-765: Is a long strip of hardened and blued steel, or specialised steel alloy, 20–30 cm long and 0.05-0.2 mm thick. The mainspring in the common 1-day movement is calculated to enable the watch to run for 36 to 40 hours, i.e. 24 hours between daily windings with a power-reserve of 12 to 16 hours, in case the owner is late winding the watch. This is the normal standard for hand-wound as well as self-winding watches . 8-Day movements, used in clocks meant to be wound weekly, provide power for at least 192 hours but use longer mainsprings and bigger barrels . Clock mainsprings are similar to watch springs, only larger. Since 1945, carbon steel alloys have been increasingly superseded by newer special alloys ( iron , nickel and chromium with
1008-612: Is a spiral torsion spring of metal ribbon—commonly spring steel —used as a power source in mechanical watches , some clocks , and other clockwork mechanisms. Winding the timepiece, by turning a knob or key, stores energy in the mainspring by twisting the spiral tighter. The force of the mainspring then turns the clock's wheels as it unwinds, until the next winding is needed. The adjectives wind-up and spring-powered refer to mechanisms powered by mainsprings, which also include kitchen timers , metronomes , music boxes , wind-up toys and clockwork radios . A modern watch mainspring
1080-400: Is affected by changes in the drive force. This was especially true of the primitive verge and foliot type used before the advent of the balance spring in 1657. So early clocks slowed down during their running period as the mainspring ran down, causing inaccurate timekeeping. Two solutions to this problem appeared in the early spring-powered clocks in the 15th century; the stackfreed and
1152-414: Is available toward the end of the running period. The result is that the barrel provides approximately constant torque over the watch's designed running period; the torque doesn't decline until the mainspring has almost run down. The built-in tension of the spring in the going barrel makes it hazardous to disassemble even when not wound up. Because they are subjected to constant stress cycles , up until
1224-416: Is never due to "overwinding", as timepieces are designed to handle being wound up all the way. One cause of “overwinding” is dirt. Watch movements require regular cleaning and lubrication, and the normal result of neglecting to get a watch cleaned is a watch stopped at full wind. As the watch movement collects dirt and the oil dries up, friction increases, so that the mainspring doesn't have the force to turn
1296-719: Is not surprising that in 1435 Philip began to style himself the " Grand Duke of the West ". In 1463, Philip gave up some of his territory to Louis XI of France . That year he also created an Estates-General for the Netherlands based on the French model. The first meeting of the Estates-General was to obtain a loan for a war against France and to ensure support for the succession of his son Charles I to his now vast dominions. In 1465 and 1467, Philip crushed two rebellions in Liège before dying
1368-517: Is often misleadingly referred to as an 'unbreakable mainspring'. After decades of use, mainsprings in older timepieces are found to deform slightly and lose some of their force, becoming 'tired' or 'set'. This condition is mostly found in springs in barrels. It causes the running time between windings to decrease. During servicing the mainspring should be checked for 'tiredness' and replaced if necessary. The British Horological Institute suggests these tests: Some high-grade watches have an extra dial on
1440-408: Is wound by turning the arbor, but drives the watch movement by the barrel; this arrangement allows the spring to continue powering the watch while it is being wound. Winding the watch turns the arbor, which tightens the mainspring, wrapping it closer around the arbor. The arbor has a ratchet attached to it, with a click to prevent the spring from turning the arbor backward and unwinding. After winding,
1512-413: The fusee : The stackfreed was an eccentric cam mounted on the mainspring arbor, with a spring-loaded roller that pressed against it. The cam had a 'snail' shape so that early in the running period when the mainspring was pushing strongly, the spring would bear against the wide part of the cam, providing a strong opposing force, while later in the running period as the force of the mainspring decreased,
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#17328908420791584-500: The Treaty of Troyes . In 1423, the marriage of Philip's sister Anne to John, Duke of Bedford , regent for Henry VI of England , strengthened the English alliance. On 23 May 1430, Philip's troops under the Count of Ligny captured Joan of Arc at Compiègne , and later sold her to the English, who orchestrated a heresy trial against her conducted by pro-Burgundian clerics, after which she
1656-613: The assassination of John the Fearless , his father. Philip accused Charles , the Dauphin of France and Philip's brother-in-law, of planning the murder, which took place during a meeting between John and Charles at Montereau . Because of this, he continued to prosecute the Armagnac–Burgundian Civil War , which in turn became entangled in the larger Hundred Years' War . In 1420, Philip allied himself with Henry V of England under
1728-428: The bridle that presses against the inner wall of the barrel, which has serrations or notches to hold it. During normal winding the bridle holds by friction to the barrel, allowing the mainspring to wind. When the mainspring reaches its full tension, its pull is stronger than the bridle. Further rotation of the arbor causes the bridle to slip along the barrel, preventing further winding. In watch company terminology, this
1800-476: The click ) to prevent the spring from unwinding. In the form used in modern watches, called the going barrel , the mainspring is coiled around an arbor and enclosed inside a cylindrical box called the barrel which is free to turn. The spring is attached to the arbor at its inner end, and to the barrel at its outer end. The attachments are small hooks or tabs, which the spring is hooked to by square holes in its ends, so it can be easily replaced. The mainspring
1872-436: The motor barrel or safety barrel . Mainsprings usually broke at their attachment to the arbor, where bending stresses are greatest. When the mainspring broke, the outer part recoiled and the momentum spun the barrel in the reverse direction. This applied great force to the delicate wheel train and escapement , often breaking pivots and jewels. In the motor barrel, the functions of the arbor and barrel were reversed from
1944-712: The widow of his late paternal uncle, Philip II, Count of Nevers (1389–1415), Bonne of Artois (1396 – 17 September 1425). She was the daughter of Philip of Artois, Count of Eu (1358–1397) and his wife, Marie of Berry , suo jure Duchess of Auvergne ( c. 1375 –1434). Bonne died within a year of the wedding, and the couple had no children, leaving Philip with no legitimate sons to this point. On 7 January 1430 in Bruges , Philip married his third wife, Infanta Isabella of Portugal (21 February 1397 – 17 December 1471), daughter of John I, King of Portugal (1357–1433) and his wife, Philippa of Lancaster (1360–1415) after
2016-464: The 11th century, clockwork was used for both timepieces and to track astronomical events, in Europe. The clocks did not keep time very accurately by modern standards, but the astronomical devices were carefully used to predict the positions of planets and other movement. The same timeline seems to apply in Europe, where mechanical escapements were used in clocks by that time. Up to the 15th century, clockwork
2088-579: The 1430 seizure of Joan of Arc , whom Philip ransomed to the English after his soldiers captured her, resulting in her trial and eventual execution. In political affairs, he alternated between alliances with the English and with the French in an attempt to improve his dynasty 's powerbase. Additionally, as ruler of Flanders , Brabant , Limburg , Artois , Hainaut , Holland , Luxembourg , Zeeland , Friesland and Namur , he played an important role in
2160-418: The 1960s mainsprings generally broke from metal fatigue long before other parts of the timepiece. They were considered expendable items. This often happened at the end of the winding process, when the spring is wound as tightly as possible around the arbor, with no space between the coils. When manually winding, it is easy to reach this point unexpectedly and put excessive pressure on the spring. Another cause
2232-402: The 1960s. Since then, the improvements in spring metallurgy mentioned above have made broken mainsprings rare. Even if the mainsprings were not prone to breakage, too much force during winding caused another problem in early watches, called 'knocking' or 'banking'. If very little slack was left in the spring after winding ('overwinding"), the pressure of the last turn of the winding knob put
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2304-505: The 1970s. Another early device which helped even out the spring's force was stopwork or winding stops , which prevented the mainspring from being wound up all the way, and prevented it from unwinding all the way. The idea was to use only the central part of the spring's 'torque curve', where its force was more constant. The most common form was the Geneva stop or 'Maltese cross'. Stopwork isn't needed in modern watches. A fourth device used in
2376-456: The Fearless"; 1371–1419) and his wife and consort, born Margaret of Bavaria (1363–1424). He was a great-grandson of John II, King of France (1319–1364), and a first cousin once removed of the then-ruling king, Charles VI (1368–1422). His father succeeded Philip's grandfather, Philip II ("Philip the Bold", 1342–1404) as Duke of Burgundy in 1404. On 28 January 1405, at the age of eight, Philip
2448-427: The Netherlands, as did other foreign buyers. Philip himself is estimated to have added six hundred manuscripts to the ducal collection, making him by a considerable margin the most important literary patron of the period. Jean Miélot , one of his secretaries, translated into French such works as Giovanni Boccaccio 's Genealogia Deorum Gentilium which is good example of the sophistication of Philip's court. Philip
2520-630: The addition of cobalt , molybdenum , or beryllium ), and also by cold-rolled alloys (structural hardening). Known to watchmakers as "white metal" springs (as opposed to blued carbon steel), these are stainless and have a higher elastic limit . They are less subject to permanent bending (becoming tired ) and there is scarcely any risk of their breaking. Some of them are also practically non- magnetic . Proprietary alloys include SPRON made by Seiko and Nivarox by Swatch Group . In their relaxed form, mainsprings are made in three distinct shapes: The semi-reverse and reverse types provide extra force at
2592-430: The arbor is stationary and the pull of the mainspring turns the barrel, which has a ring of gear teeth around it. This meshes with one of the clock's gears, usually the center wheel pinion and drives the wheel train . The barrel usually rotates once every 8 hours, so the common 40-hour spring requires 5 turns to unwind completely. The mainspring contains a lot of energy. If precautions are not taken during disassembly
2664-436: The barrel gear engages, was attached to its shaft with a reverse screw thread. If the spring broke, the reverse recoil of the barrel, instead of being passed on to the gear train, would simply unscrew the pinion. Watches and clocks are often found stopped with the mainspring fully wound, which led to a myth that winding a spring-driven timepiece all the way up damages it. Several problems can cause this type of breakdown, but it
2736-430: The barrel. In operation, only a few turns of the spring at a time are used, with the remainder pressed against the outer wall of the barrel. Mathematically, the tension creates a 'flat' section in the spring's torque curve (see graph) and only this flat section is used. In addition, the outer end of the spring is often given a reverse curve, so it has an "S" shape. This stores more tension in the spring's outer turns where it
2808-402: The center of the watch, rotates with each wrist motion. A winder mechanism uses rotations in both directions to wind the mainspring. In automatic watches, motion of the wrist could continue winding the mainspring until it broke. This is prevented with a slipping clutch device. The outer end of the mainspring, instead of attaching to the barrel, is attached to a circular expansion spring called
2880-413: The clock. The disadvantage of this open spring arrangement is that while the mainspring is being wound, its drive force is removed from the clock movement, so the clock may stop. This type is often used on alarm clocks , music boxes and kitchen timers where it doesn't matter if the mechanism stops while winding. The winding mechanism always has a ratchet attached, with a pawl (called by clockmakers
2952-693: The defeat of Jacqueline, Countess of Hainault , in the last episode of the Hook and Cod wars . He inherited the Duchies of Brabant and Limburg and the Margraviate of Antwerp in 1430 on the death of his cousin Philip of Saint-Pol and purchased Luxembourg in 1443 from Elisabeth of Bohemia, Duchess of Luxembourg . In 1456, Philip also managed to ensure his illegitimate son David was elected Bishop of Utrecht and his nephew Louis de Bourbon elected Prince-Bishop of Liège . It
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3024-408: The end of the running period, when the spring is almost out of energy, in order to keep the timepiece running at a constant rate to the end. The mainspring is coiled around an axle called the arbor, with the inner end hooked to it. In many clocks, the outer end is attached to a stationary post. The spring is wound up by turning the arbor, and after winding its force turns the arbor the other way to run
3096-424: The end of the spring under excessive tension, which was locked in by the last click of the ratchet. So the watch ran with excessive drive force for several hours, until the extra tension in the end of the spring was relieved. This made the balance wheel rotate too far in each direction, causing the impulse pin on the wheel to knock against the back of the fork horns. This caused the watch to gain time, and could break
3168-620: The face indicating how much power is left in the mainspring, often graduated in hours the watch has left to run. Since both the arbor and the barrel turn, this mechanism requires a differential gear that measures how far the arbor has been turned, compared to the barrel. A mainspring is usually a coiled metal spring, however there are exceptions: Philip the Good Philip III the Good ( French : Philippe le Bon ; Dutch : Filips de Goede ; 31 July 1396 – 15 June 1467) ruled as Duke of Burgundy from 1419 until his death in 1467. He
3240-481: The first pocketwatches by 1600. Many sources erroneously credit the invention of the mainspring to the Nuremberg clockmaker Peter Henlein (also spelled Henle, or Hele) around 1511. However, many references in 15th-century sources to portable clocks 'without weights', and at least two surviving examples, show that spring-driven clocks existed by the early years of that century. The oldest surviving clock powered by
3312-416: The first spring-powered clocks, in 15th-century Europe. It replaced the weight hanging from a cord wrapped around a pulley, which was the power source used in all previous mechanical clocks. Around 1400 coiled springs began to be used in locks, and many early clockmakers were also locksmiths. Springs were applied to clocks to make them smaller and more portable than previous weight-driven clocks, evolving into
3384-405: The going barrel. The mainspring was wound by the barrel, and turned the arbor to drive the wheel train. Thus if the mainspring broke, the destructive recoil of the barrel would be applied not to the wheel train but to the winding mechanism, which was robust enough to take it. A safety pinion was an alternate means of protection, used with the going barrel. In this, the center wheel pinion , which
3456-529: The history of the Low Countries . He married three times and had three legitimate sons, all from his third marriage; only one legitimate son reached adulthood. Philip had 24 documented mistresses and fathered at least 18 illegitimate children . Philip of Valois-Burgundy was born on 31 July 1396 in Dijon , France as the fourth child and first son of John, Count of Nevers (later Duke of Burgundy known as "John
3528-403: The impulse pin. In older watches this was prevented with 'stopwork'. In modern watches this is prevented by designing the 'click' with some 'recoil' ( backlash ), to allow the arbor to rotate backward after winding by about two ratchet teeth, enough to remove excess tension. Around 1900, when broken watchsprings were more of a problem, some pocketwatches used a variation of the going barrel called
3600-414: The king found all the internal organs complete—liver, gall, heart, lungs, spleen, kidneys, stomach and intestines; and over these again, muscles, bones and limbs with their joints, skin, teeth and hair, all of them artificial...The king tried the effect of taking away the heart, and found that the mouth could no longer speak; he took away the liver and the eyes could no longer see; he took away the kidneys and
3672-653: The king of France, his feudal overlord. Instead, he created his own Order of the Golden Fleece , based on the Knights of the Round Table and the myth of Jason , in 1430. In time his order would become the most prestigious and historic of all knightly orders of chivalry in all of Europe. Philip had no fixed capital (seat of government) and moved the court between various palaces, the main urban ones being in Brussels , Bruges , and Lille . He held grand feasts and other festivities, and
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#17328908420793744-410: The king with a life-size, human-shaped figure of his mechanical handiwork ( Wade-Giles spelling): The king stared at the figure in astonishment. It walked with rapid strides, moving its head up and down, so that anyone would have taken it for a live human being. The artificer touched its chin, and it began singing, perfectly in tune. He touched its hand, and it began posturing, keeping perfect time...As
3816-647: The knights of his Order frequently travelled throughout his territory to participate in tournaments . In 1454, Philip planned a crusade against the Ottoman Empire , launching it at the Feast of the Pheasant , but this plan never materialized. In a period from 1444 to 1446, he is estimated to have spent a sum equivalent to 2% of Burgundy's main income in the recette génerale , with a single Italian supplier of silk and cloth of gold , Giovanni di Arrigo Arnolfini . Philip's court
3888-461: The legs lost their power of locomotion. The king was delighted. Other notable examples include Archytas 's dove, mentioned by Aulus Gellius . Similar Chinese accounts of flying automata are written of the 5th century BC Mohist philosopher Mozi and his contemporary Lu Ban , who made artificial wooden birds ( ma yuan ) that could successfully fly, according to the Han Fei Zi and other texts. By
3960-414: The mainspring barrel. Its curving shape continuously changed the mechanical advantage of the linkage to even out the force of the mainspring as it ran down. Fusees became the standard method of getting constant torque from a mainspring. They were used in most spring-driven clocks and watches from their first appearance until the 19th century when the going barrel took over, and in marine chronometers until
4032-510: The next step. On each side, the animals helped the King up until he was comfortably seated upon his throne. In ancient China , a curious account of automation is found in the Lie Zi text, written in the 3rd century BC. Within it, there is a description of a much earlier encounter between King Mu of Zhou (1023-957 BC) and a mechanical engineer known as Yan Shi, an 'artificer'. The latter proudly presented
4104-469: The performance was drawing to an end, the robot winked its eye and made advances to the ladies in attendance, whereupon the king became incensed and would have had Yen Shih [Yan Shi] executed on the spot had not the latter, in mortal fear, instantly taken the robot to pieces to let him see what it really was. And, indeed, it turned out to be only a construction of leather, wood, glue and lacquer, variously coloured white, black, red and blue. Examining it closely,
4176-441: The problem is caused by a dirty movement or other defect, not "overwinding". Another common cause of a watch stopped at full wind is that if a watch is dropped then the balance staff can break and the watch can no longer run even when the mainspring is fully wound. Self-winding or automatic watches , introduced widely in the 1950s, use the natural motions of the wrist to keep the mainspring wound. A semicircular weight, pivoted at
4248-520: The spring can release suddenly, causing potentially serious injury. Before servicing, mainsprings are “let down” gently by pulling the click back while holding the winding key, allowing the spring to slowly unwind. However, even in their “let down” state, mainsprings contain dangerous residual tension. Watchmakers and clockmakers use a tool called a "mainspring winder" to safely install and remove them. Large mainsprings in clocks are immobilized by "mainspring clamps" before removal. Mainsprings appeared in
4320-461: The spring or the weight provided the motive power, the pendulum merely controlled the rate of release of that power via some escape mechanism (an escapement) at a regulated rate. The Smithsonian Institution has in its collection a clockwork monk, about 15 in (380 mm) high, possibly dating as early as 1560. The monk is driven by a key-wound spring and walks the path of a square, striking his chest with his right arm, while raising and lowering
4392-410: The spring would bear against the narrower part of the cam and the opposing force would also decrease. The stackfreed added a lot of friction and probably reduced a clock's running time substantially; it was only used in some German timepieces and was abandoned after about a century. The fusee was a much longer-lasting innovation. This was a cone-shaped pulley that was turned by a chain wrapped around
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#17328908420794464-411: The watch at the end of its normal running period, and it stops prematurely. If the owner continues to wind and use the watch without servicing, eventually the friction force reaches the 'flat' part of the torque curve, and quickly a point is reached where the mainspring doesn't have the force to run the watch even at full wind, so the watch stops with the mainspring fully wound. The watch needs service, but
4536-456: Was burnt at the stake . Despite this action against Joan of Arc, Philip's alliance with England was broken in 1435 when he signed the Treaty of Arras , which completely revoked the Treaty of Troyes and recognised Charles VII as king of France. Philip signed the treaty for a variety of reasons, one of which may have been a desire to be recognised as the preeminent duke in France. This action proved
4608-782: Was a considerable patron of the visual arts. He commissioned many tapestries (which he tended to prefer over oil paintings), pieces from goldsmiths, jewellery, and other works of art, including numerous mechanical automata and fountains at the Chauteau of Hesdin . It was also during his reign that the Burgundian chapel became the musical centre of Europe, with the activity of the Burgundian School of composers and singers. Esteemed composers such as Gilles Binchois , Robert Morton , and later Guillaume Dufay were all part of Philip's court chapel. In 1428, van Eyck travelled to Portugal to paint
4680-484: Was a member of a cadet line of the Valois dynasty , to which all 15th-century kings of France belonged. During his reign, the Burgundian State reached the apex of its prosperity and prestige, and became a leading centre of the arts. Duke Philip has a reputation for his administrative reforms, for his patronage of Flemish artists (such as Jan van Eyck ) and of Franco-Flemish composers (such as Gilles Binchois ), and for
4752-400: Was created Count of Charolais as an appanage and was probably engaged to his second cousin , nine-year-old Michelle of France (1395–1422), daughter of King Charles VI on the same day. They were married in June 1409. In 1419, at the age of 24, Philip became duke of Burgundy (fief of France ) and count of Flanders (France), Artois (France) and Burgundy ( Holy Roman Empire ) upon
4824-413: Was driven by water, weights, or other roundabout, relatively primitive means, but in 1430 a clock was presented to Philip the Good , Duke of Burgundy , that was driven by a spring. This became a standard technology along with weight-driven movements. In the mid-16th century, Christiaan Huygens took an idea from Galileo Galilei and developed it into the first modern pendulum mechanism. However, whereas
4896-679: Was lost or forgotten in Europe, and only returned when brought from the Islamic world after the Crusades , along with other knowledge leading to the Renaissance . Clockwork finally recovered the equivalent of pre-Roman technological levels in the 14th century. As in Greek mythology, there are ambitious automation claims in the legends of other cultures. For example, in Jewish legend , Solomon used his wisdom to design
4968-504: Was noted for making watches that would run 40 hours between windings. The 18th century methods of making mainsprings are described by Berthoud and Blakey A problem throughout the history of spring-driven clocks and watches is that the force ( torque ) provided by a spring is not constant, but diminishes as the spring unwinds (see graph). However, timepieces have to run at a constant rate in order to keep accurate time. Timekeeping mechanisms are never perfectly isochronous , meaning their rate
5040-424: Was regarded as the most splendid in Europe by his contemporaries, and it became the accepted leader of taste and fashion, which probably helped the Burgundian economy considerably, as Burgundian (usually Flemish) luxury products became sought by the elites across Europe. During his reign, for example, the richest English commissioners of illuminated manuscripts moved away from English and Parisian products to those of
5112-458: Was seldom involved directly in the Hundred Years' War between England and France, although he did play a role during a number of periods, such as the campaign against Compiègne during which his troops captured Joan of Arc. In 1429, he incorporated Namur into Burgundian territory (by purchase, from John III, Marquis of Namur ) and Hainault and Holland , Friesland and Zeeland in 1432 with
5184-424: Was temperature changes. If a watch was fully wound in the evening and the temperature dropped at night, without any slack between the coils the thermal contraction of the long spring could break it loose from its attachments at one end. In earlier times, watch repairers noted that changes in the weather brought in a rash of watches with broken mainsprings. Broken mainsprings were the largest cause of watch repairs until
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