Medieval mechanical clock

Timeline

1. 1000–1100Monasteries (Europe) · Western EuropeEuropean monasteries continued using Roman and Arab water clocks; from the 11th century craftsmen experimented with falling weights to provide steady power, laying the foundation for purely mechanical timekeeping.
2. 1100–1200Northern Italy · ItalyIn the 12th century the verge-and-foliot escapement appeared, intermittently releasing the gear train via a pallet bar, converting weight power into relatively even stepping motions, marking the completion of the mechanical clock's core invention.
3. 1180–1189Notre-Dame de Paris (under construction) · Île-de-FranceAround the 1180s, churches and civic clock towers in Paris, London, Regensburg and elsewhere began installing mechanical striking devices, using bells to regulate urban labor and religious rites; the mechanical clock became the authority on public time.
4. 1300Europe · EuropeAfter the 14th century tower clocks evolved into small table clocks and marine chronometers; the invention of the pendulum and balance spring further improved accuracy, and the medieval mechanical clock laid the foundation for time measurement in the modern scientific revolution.