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Thomas Nickerson

2025-06-30T18:09:31Z

2A00:23C7:C8BC:C501:C0D9:23DA:4C97:C519: /* Movies */Removed link

{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2022}}
{{Short description|American sailor and author (1805–1883)}}
{{for|the president of the Santa Fe Railroad|Thomas Nickerson (ATSF)}}

{{Infobox person
| name = Thomas Nickerson
| image = Thomas Nickerson portrait.jpeg
| image_size =
| caption = Nickerson c. 1870
| birth_name = Thomas Gibson Nickerson
| birth_date = {{birth date|1805|3|20}}
| birth_place = [[Harwich, Massachusetts]], U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|1883|2|7|1805|3|20}}
| death_place =
| resting_place =
| occupation = Sailor
| known_for = Crewmate of whaleship ''[[Essex (1799 whaleship)|Essex]]''
| notable_works = ''The Loss of the Ship "Essex" Sunk by a Whale and the Ordeal of the Crew in Open Boats''
| spouse =
| parents =
| children =
| alma_mater=
}}
'''Thomas Gibson Nickerson''' (March 20, 1805 – February 7, 1883) was an American sailor and author. In 1819, when he was fourteen years old, Nickerson served as [[cabin boy]] on the [[whaleship]] ''[[Essex (1799 whaleship)|Essex]]''. On this voyage, the ship was sunk by a whale, and the crew spent three months at sea before the survivors were rescued. In 1876 he wrote ''The Loss of the Ship "Essex"'', an account of the ordeal and of his subsequent experiences at sea. The manuscript was lost until 1960, and was first published in 1984.

==Overview==
Nickerson was born in [[Harwich, Massachusetts]], the son of Rebecca (Gibson) and Thomas Nickerson. His mother was from [[Nantucket]] while his father was from [[Cape Cod]].<ref name=Philbrick>{{cite book |last=Philbrick |first=Nathaniel |date=2000 |title=In the Heart of the Sea: the epic true story that inspired Moby Dick|location=London |publisher=HarperCollinsPublishers}}</ref>{{rp|11}} Both his parents died before he was two years old, and he was raised by his grandparents on Nantucket.{{r|Philbrick|p=14-15}} Nickerson made his first sea voyage in 1819, at the age of fourteen, on the ill-fated whaler ''Essex,'' which sailed from Nantucket Harbor. A whale rammed and sank ''Essex'' on November 20, 1820. The first mate, [[Owen Chase]], later wrote about the incident in the ''Narrative of the Most Extraordinary and Distressing Shipwreck of the Whale-Ship Essex,'' a book that inspired [[Herman Melville]] to write ''[[Moby-Dick]]''.
[[Image:Essex photo 03 b.jpg|thumb|left|''Essex'' being struck by a whale on November 20, 1820; sketched later in life by Thomas Nickerson]]

When ''Essex'' sank her crew took to three small boats and set off for the coast of South America. After a harrowing 89 days at sea, Nickerson and two companions were rescued by {{ship||Indian|1815 ship|2}}. Nickerson returned to sea after his rescue, serving on other whale ships. He became a boatsteerer on the whaler {{ship||Two Brothers|ship|2}}, which was wrecked on 11 February 1823.

Nickerson eventually worked his way up to captain of a merchant vessel. Upon retiring he ran a boarding house in Nantucket, which was visited by the writer [[Leon Lewis (writer)|Leon Lewis]], who encouraged him to write down his story of the three months he was lost at sea with the ''Essex'' survivors. Nickerson did this, and in 1876, he sent an 80-page manuscript, as well as accounts of other adventures he had later in life, to Lewis for editing. Lewis, however, never prepared the manuscript for publication and left it in a trunk in the care of Darius Ogden, a neighbor in [[Penn Yan, New York]]. Nickerson died in 1883, seven years after sending his manuscript to Lewis. The trunk containing the manuscript was inherited by Ogden's grandson, James Finch. The trunk's contents were finally inspected in 1960 and ''The Loss of the Ship "Essex" Sunk by a Whale and the Ordeal of the Crew in Open Boats'' was discovered. Finch's wife Ann, recognizing the manuscript's importance, contacted the [[Nantucket Historical Association]]. It took another twenty years before it was authenticated by [[Edouard A. Stackpole]], a Nantucket whaling historian. The Finches donated the manuscript to the Association, who published an abridged version in 1984, a century after Nickerson's death.{{r|Philbrick|p=xiii-xiv}}<ref>{{cite book |last=Nickerson |first=Thomas |date=1984 |title=The loss of the ship Essex sunk by a whale and the ordeal of the crew in open boats|url=https://archive.org/stream/wh639.28n53l1984/Wh%20639.28%20N53L%201984_djvu.txt |location=Nantucket |publisher=Nantucket Historical Association |page=7 |isbn=}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://nha.org/research/the-collections/finding-aid/guide-to-the-collection-of-thomas-nickerson-material-circa-1870/|title=Guide to the Collection of Thomas Nickerson Material, circa 1870|work=Nantucket Historical Association|access-date=16 December 2023}}</ref>

==In popular culture==
===Books===
* The 1851 novel, ''[[Moby-Dick]] or, The Whale'' by [[Herman Melville]], which has been [[Adaptations of Moby-Dick|adapted]] several times for film, theatre and radio.
* ''[[In the Heart of the Sea|In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex]]'' by [[Nathaniel Philbrick]] (2000) - partly based on Nickerson's account.

===Movies===
Nickerson's historical character was dramatized in three films:
* A 2001 dramatized documentary, entitled ''[[Revenge of the Whale]]'', was produced and broadcast on September 7, 2001, by [[NBC]], in which Thomas Nickerson was voiced by actor [[Jeffrey Carlson]].<ref>{{IMDb title|qid=Q123537714|title=Revenge of the Whale (2001)}}</ref>
* In 2013, the television movie ''[[The Whale (2013 film)|The Whale]]'' was broadcast on [[BBC One]] on December 22, wherein an elderly Thomas Nickerson recounted the events of ''Essex.'' The elder Nickerson was played by [[Martin Sheen]], and the younger Nickerson by Charles Furness.
* In 2015, the theatrical film ''[[In the Heart of the Sea (film)|In the Heart of the Sea]]'' was released, directed by [[Ron Howard]]. The older Thomas Nickerson is portrayed by [[Brendan Gleeson]] and the young Nickerson is played by [[Tom Holland]].

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nickerson, Thomas}}
[[Category:1805 births]]
[[Category:1883 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century American writers]]
[[Category:American sailors]]
[[Category:Maritime writers]]
[[Category:People from Nantucket, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Writers from Massachusetts]]
[[Category:19th-century American male writers]]
[[Category:American people in whaling]]

Tsar Bell

2025-06-30T09:40:20Z

2A00:23C7:C8BC:C501:C0D9:23DA:4C97:C519: /* History */Improved link

{{Short description|World's heaviest bell, cast in 1735}}
{{Expand Russian|Царь-колокол|date=October 2018}}
{{Infobox monument
| native_name = Царь–колокол
| native_name_lang = ru
| image = Tsar Bell in Kremlin.jpg
| caption =
| location = Moscow, Russia
| designer = [[Ivan Motorin]]
| type = [[Bell (instrument)|Tower Bell]]
| material = [[Bell bronze]]
| length =
| width = {{convert|6.6|m|ft}}
| height = {{convert|6.14|m|ft}}
| begin = 1733
| complete = 1735
| open =
| dedicated_to =
| map_image =
| map_caption =
| map_width =
| coordinates = {{Coord|55|45|03|N|37|37|06|E|region:RU_type:landmark|display=inline,title}}
| lat =
| long =
| extra =
}}
[[File:Tsar Kolokol with humans for perspective.JPG|thumb|right|The Tsar Bell with humans for perspective{{snd}}broken piece is around the left, out of view]]
The '''Tsar Bell''' ({{langx|ru|Царь–колокол}}; {{Transliteration|ru|Tsar'-kolokol}}), also known as the '''Tsarsky Kolokol''', '''Tsar Kolokol III''', or '''Royal Bell''', is a {{convert|6.14|m|ft|adj=mid|-tall}}, {{convert|6.6|m|ft|adj=mid|-diameter}} [[bell (instrument)|bell]] on display on the grounds of the [[Moscow Kremlin]]. The bell was commissioned by [[Anna of Russia|Empress Anna Ivanovna]], niece of [[Peter the Great]].

It has never been in working order, suspended, nor rung.

The present bell is sometimes referred to as ''Kolokol III'' (Bell III), because it is the third generation.{{Citation needed|date=July 2013}}

==General description==
The Tsar Bell is located between the [[Ivan the Great]] Bell Tower and the Kremlin Wall. Made of [[bell bronze]], the bell cracked during a fire after being completed and has never been rung. The bell is the largest bell in the world,<ref>{{Citation | last =Slobodskoy | first =[[Archpriest]] Seraphim | contribution =Bells and Russian Orthodox Peals | year =1996 | title =The Law of God | page =624 | place=Jordanville, N.Y. | publisher =[[Holy Trinity Monastery (Jordanville, New York)|Holy Trinity Monastery]] | isbn =978-0-88465-044-7 }}</ref> weighing {{convert|201924|kg|lbs}},<ref>{{cite book |last1=Radó |first1=Sándor |title=Guide-book to the Soviet Union |date=1928 |publisher=International Pub. |pages=42 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wovVAAAAMAAJ |language=en |quote=It was recast in 1735 by the Moscow bell-founder Motorin from an old bell weighing 130000 kg., and weighs 201924 kgs}}</ref> with a height of {{convert|6.14|m|ft}} and diameter of {{convert|6.6|m|ft}}, and thickness of up to {{convert|61|cm|in}}. The broken piece weighs {{convert|11500|kg|lbs}}.
<ref group="Note">At 116 [[metric ton]]s, the [[Bell of Good Luck]] in [[Foquan Temple]], [[Pingdingshan]], [[Henan, China]] is the heaviest ''functioning'' bell in the world.</ref>

The bell is decorated with relief images of [[baroque]] angels, plants, oval medallions with saints, and nearly life-size images of Empress Anna and Tsar [[Alexis of Russia|Alexei]], who was reigning at the time the previous Tsar Bell was cast.

==History==
{{more citations needed section|date=August 2016}}
The history of Russian bell founding goes back to the 10th century, but in the medieval [[Russian Orthodox Church]], bells were not typically rung to indicate church services, but to announce important ceremonies and celebrations, and as an alarm in case of fire or enemy attack. One of the largest of the early bells was the original Tsar Bell, cast in the 16th century. Completed in 1600, it weighed {{convert|18000|kg|lbs}} and required 24 men to ring its clapper. Housed in the original wooden [[Ivan the Great Bell Tower]] in the Moscow Kremlin, it crashed to the ground in a fire in the mid-17th century and was broken to pieces.

The second Tsar Bell was cast in 1655, using the remnants of the former bell, but on a much larger scale. This bell weighed {{convert|100000|kg|lbs}}, but was again destroyed by fire in 1701.

After becoming Empress, Anna ordered that the pieces be cast into a new bell with its weight increased by another hundred tons, and dispatched the son of Field Marshal [[Burkhard Christoph von Münnich|Münnich]] to [[Paris]] to solicit technical help from the master craftsmen there. However, a bell of such size was unprecedented, and Münnich was not taken seriously. In 1733, the job was assigned to local [[foundry]] masters, [[Ivan Motorin]] and his son Mikhail, based on their experience in casting a [[bronze]] cannon.

A pit {{convert|10|m|ft}} deep was dug (near the location of the present bell), with a clay form, and walls reinforced with [[rammed earth]] to withstand the pressure of the molten metal. Obtaining the necessary metals proved a challenge, for in addition to the parts of the old bell, an additional {{convert|525|kg|lbs}} of [[silver]] and {{convert|72|kg|lbs}} of [[gold]] were added to the [[mixture]]. After months of preparation, casting work commenced at the end of November 1734. The first attempt was not successful, and the project was incomplete when Ivan Motorin died in August, 1735. His son Mikhail carried on the work, and the second attempt at casting succeeded on November 25, 1735. Ornaments were added as the bell was cooling while raised above the casting pit through 1737.

However, before the last ornamentation was completed, a major fire broke out at the Kremlin in May 1737. The fire spread to the temporary wooden support structure for the bell, and fearing damage, guards threw cold water on it, causing eleven cracks, and a huge {{convert|10432.6|kg|lbs}} slab to break off. The fire burned through the wooden supports, and the damaged bell fell back into its casting pit.
The Tsar Bell remained in its pit for almost a century. Unsuccessful attempts to raise it were made in 1792 and 1819. [[Napoleon Bonaparte]], during his [[French invasion of Russia|occupation of Moscow in 1812]], considered removing it as a trophy to France, but was unable to do so, due to its size and weight.

It was finally successfully raised in the summer of 1836 by the French architect [[Auguste de Montferrand]] and placed on a stone pedestal. The broken slab alone is nearly three times larger than the world's largest bell hung for [[full circle ringing]], the tenor bell at [[Liverpool Cathedral]].

For a time, the bell served as a chapel, with the broken area forming the door.<ref>{{cite journal |author = Blair, C. |title = Review of "The Bells of Russia. History and Technology" by Edward V. Williams |journal = [[The Antiquaries Journal]] |volume = 67 |issue = 2 |date=September 1987 |issn=1758-5309 |pages = 434–435 |doi = 10.1017/S0003581500025944 |quote=...including the remarkable story of Tsar-Kolokol, which is so large that it once contained a chapel... }}</ref>

[[Voltaire]] once joked that the Kremlin's two greatest items were a bell which was never rung and a cannon (the [[Tsar Cannon|Tsar Pushka]]) that was never fired.<ref name="ley196112">{{Cite magazine|last=Ley|first=Willy|date=December 1961|title=Dragons and Hot-Air Balloons|url=https://archive.org/stream/Galaxy_v20n02_1961-12_modified#page/n9/mode/1up|department=For Your Information|magazine=Galaxy Science Fiction|pages=79–89}}</ref>

==Bell diagnostics==
[[File:Builo S I 1986.jpg|thumb|Monitoring of cracks of the Tsar-bell by AE device. 1986]]
[[File:AE transducers 1986.jpg|thumb|AE sensors inside the Tsar Bell. 1986]]
[[File:AE diagnostics 1986.jpg|thumb|AE diagnostics of the Tsar-bell. 1986]]
In the mid-1980s, some deformation of the pedestal was noticed, as a result of which there were concerns about the possible growth of cracks in the bell. At the request of the Minister of Culture of the USSR and in accordance with the instructions of the Minister of Defense of the USSR, the Military Academy named after F. E. Dzerzhinsky (now [[Peter the Great Military Academy of the Strategic Missile Forces]]) was commissioned in 1986 to carry out a complex of works on the restoration and preservation of the Tsar Bell.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Builo |first=S. I. |date=2004 |title=Acoustic-Emission Diagnostics of the Tsar Bell’s State |url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11181-005-0096-7 |journal=Russian Journal of Nondestructive Testing |volume=40 |issue=7 |pages=498–501}}</ref> The actual condition of its cracks was assessed using the [[acoustic emission]] (AE) method. To conduct the AE diagnostics of the bell, employees of the Research Institute of Mechanics and Applied Mathematics of Rostov State University were involved under the guidance of the head of the AE laboratory, Ph.D. S. I. Builo. On behalf of the F. E. Dzerzhinsky Academy, these works were provided by Colonel, Ph.D. A. I. Gnevko. Diagnostics of the Tsar Bell was carried out in two stages using an in-house hardware AE complex brought from Rostov-on-Don.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Builo |first=S. I. |title=Physico-mechanical, statistical and chemical aspects of acoustic emission diagnostics |publisher=SFU Publishing House |year=2017 |isbn=978-5-9275-2369-6 |location=Rostov-on-Don |pages=136–142 |language=Russian}}</ref>

At the first stage, the parameters and features of the AE radiation of the bell material were investigated. This part of the work was carried out on the territory of the F. E. Dzerzhinsky Academy when testing specially made large-sized (more than 10 cm thick and weighing about 100 kg) samples made of a bronze alloy identical to the bell material. At the second stage, acoustic calibration and diagnostics of the Tsar Bell itself were carried out on the territory of the Kremlin. The work on the bell consisted, if we do without scientific terms, as if in "listening" to it for the presence of ultrasonic radiation of growing cracks. It was found that the condition of the Tsar Bell at the time of diagnosis is satisfactory, and in the near future it is not in danger of catastrophic destruction.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />

To further monitor the condition of the bell cracks, Rostov residents were asked to make a multi-channel AE diagnostic system with the installation of a separate sensor at the top of each of the large cracks. However, for the permanent installation of AE receiving sensors on the bell, it was necessary to coordinate many different issues. For example, it was necessary to prove that a constantly working system listening to the bell would not be able to listen to anything else "wrong" around and so on. However, as a result of restructuring during [[Perestroika]], further assessment of the bell was deprioritized; the discussion and coordination of issues surrounding its preservation have since been delayed.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />

Judging by some external signs, a slight deformation of the bell still continues. The "tradition" of pushing metal coins into the cracks of the bell is also alarming. And if earlier small coins had a composition close to the bell material, then the current ones are made of completely different metals, which in the presence of moisture can cause noticeable electrochemical corrosion of the material inside the cracks. For a reliable assessment of the condition of the Tsar Bell in the future, it is necessary to periodically conduct a procedure for diagnosing the possible growth of cracks in its walls by non-destructive testing methods.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />

==Computational simulation of sound==
In the spring of 2016, a team of [[University of California, Berkeley]]; [[Stanford University]]; and [[University of Michigan]] researchers publicly performed an electronic reproduction of how the Tsar Bell would sound if it had not been damaged during casting.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://bcnm.berkeley.edu/2016/04/27/revisiting-the-tsar-bell |title=Revisiting the Tsar Bell |author= |date=27 April 2016 |publisher=[[Berkeley Center for New Media]] |access-date=11 January 2017}}</ref>
To simulate the sound of the bell, the team researched the bell's material characteristics and constructed a [[polygon mesh]] that modeled the shape of the bell. The team then used [[Finite element method|finite element analysis]] to compute the component frequencies of the bell when rung.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://bcnm.berkeley.edu/2016/04/14/recasting-the-tsar-bell-with-john-granzow |title=Recasting the Tsar Bell, Interview with John Granzow |author= |date=14 April 2016 |publisher=[[Berkeley Center for New Media]] |access-date=11 January 2017}}</ref>
For the first public performance, a stack of twelve speakers installed below the campanile on the [[University of California, Berkeley|UC Berkeley]] campus played the digital simulation of the Tsar Bell. The [[fundamental frequency]] of the sound was approximately 81 Hz.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Slobig |first=Zachary |date=January–February 2017 |title=The Tsar Bell |magazine=[[Pacific Standard]] |volume=10 |issue=1}}</ref> The American disk jockey [[DJ Spooky]] composed ''New Forms'' (2016), a [[duet]] for [[carillon]] and the reproduction of the Tsar Bell.<ref>{{cite report |last=Ng |first=Tiffany |title=Annotated Bibliography of African American Carillon Music |date=2018-11-26 |publisher=[[University of Michigan Library#Michigan Publishing|University of Michigan Library]] |via=DeepBlue |hdl=2027.42/146525 |url=https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/146525/Ng%20Af-Am%20Bibliography%2011.15.18.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y |access-date=2022-06-28 |page=5}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Russian Orthodox bell ringing]]
*The [[Liberty Bell]], a damaged colonial American bell cast two decades later
*[[List of heaviest bells]]

==Notes==

===Footnotes===
{{Reflist|group=Note}}

===Citations===
{{reflist}}

==References==
*Klein, Mina. ''The Kremlin: Citadel of History''. MacMillan Publishing Company (1973). {{ISBN|0-02-750830-7}}
*Tropkin, Alexander. ''The Moscow Kremlin: history of Russia's unique monument''. Publishing House "Russkaya Zhizn" (1980). {{ASIN|B0010XM7BQ}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Tsar Bell}}
*[http://www.kreml.ru/en-Us/visit-to-kremlin/what-to-see/tsar-kolokol/ Official website]

{{Kremlin|Monuments}}
{{Bells}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Broken bells]]
[[Category:Moscow Kremlin]]
[[Category:Music in Moscow]]
[[Category:1735 works]]

Church bell

2025-06-30T09:33:16Z

2A00:23C7:C8BC:C501:C0D9:23DA:4C97:C519: /* Funeral and memorial ringing */Added hyphen

{{Short description|Bell in a church}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2021}}
[[Image:Church bell cutaway.png|thumb|Cutaway drawing of a church bell, showing construction.]]
[[File:Geluid van de kerkklok van Aldeboarn - Church bell ringing in Aldeboarn, the Netherlands, 4 June 2022.oga|thumb|Church bell ringing in [[Aldeboarn]], [[Friesland]] (Frisia), the Netherlands, June 2022.]]

A '''church bell''' is a [[bell (instrument)|bell]] in a [[church (building)|church]] building designed to be heard outside the building. It can be a single bell, or part of a set of bells. Their main function is to call worshippers to the church for a [[Church service|service of worship]],<ref>{{cite web |title=Order of Worship: Liturgy of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Denmark |url=https://www.interchurch.dk/_Resources/Persistent/c/9/a/b/c9abeda7e295d661dc74cc5f332196a1f3e0e25f/Order%20of%20Worship.pdf |publisher=[[Church of Denmark|Evangelical Lutheran Church in Denmark]] |access-date=15 December 2024 |language=English |date=2009|quote=Prior to the service the church bells are rung three times. At the end of the third time, three times three strokes of the bell are heard, calling to prayer.}}</ref> but are also rung on special occasions such as a [[wedding]], or a [[funeral]] service. In certain Christian traditions, such as Catholicism and Lutheranism, church bells signify to people both inside and outside of the church that a particular part of the service (such as the recitation of the [[Lord's Prayer]] or [[Elevation (liturgy)|consecration]] of [[eucharist|Holy Communion]]) has been reached.<ref name="Church Words: Origins and Meanings">{{cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=XSOyfy061SQC&pg=PA76 |title= Church Words: Origins and Meanings|publisher=Forward Movement|date=August 1, 1996|access-date=August 16, 2012|quote=There are two sorts of liturgical bells in the history of the Christian Church-church bells in spires or towers used to call the faithful to worship, and sanctuary bells used to call attention to the coming of Christ in the Holy Eucharist.|isbn= 9780880281720}}</ref><ref name="Weedon2022">{{cite web |last1=Weedon |first1=William |title=“Smells, BELLS, and Yells”…oh my |url=https://www.gottesdienst.org/gottesblog/2022/6/22/y7onzchyccmbkqm3vq6acb4j0texo0 |publisher=Gottesdienst |access-date=15 December 2024 |language=English |date=22 June 2022|quote=The widespread custom in the Church of the Augsburg Confession [Lutheran Church] of ringing the church bell during the singing of the Our Father is a survival of this ancient custom, transferred to another element in the Service after the custom of a celebration of Holy Communion every Sunday and major Holy Day unhappily fell into desuetude.” (p. 28) Thus, the use of bells during the consecration is a free ceremony that has Luther’s approbation, is evidenced in Lutheran practice throughout the age of Orthodoxy, and particularly in Saxony, which is the primary heritage of our Synod, and serves to invite the attention of the people to those most beautiful and important words: “My body…My blood…for you, for the remission of sins.”}}</ref> The ringing of church bells thrice a day occurs in congregations of certain Christian denominations as a call to prayer, reminding the faithful to pray the Lord's Prayer or the [[Angelus Domini]].<ref name=Dryer/><ref>{{cite book |title=St. Vincent's Manual |date=1854 |publisher=John Murphy & Company |page=426 |language=en |quote=The church bells toll three times a day, in the morning, at noon, and about sunset, by which all the people are warned, whatever they are doing, to stop their employment and for a moment, and give praise to God by repeating the ''Angelus Domini''.}}</ref>

The traditional European church bell ''(see cutaway drawing)'' used in Christian churches worldwide consists of a cup-shaped metal resonator with a pivoted clapper hanging inside which strikes the sides when the bell is swung. It is hung within a [[steeple]] or [[belltower]] of a church or religious building,<ref name="AdatoJudy">{{cite book|last1=Adato|first1=Joseph|last2=Judy|first2=George|title=The Percussionist's Dictionary|publisher=Alfred Music|language=en |isbn=9781457493829|page=11}}</ref> so the sound can reach a wide area. Such bells are either fixed in position ("hung dead") or hung from a pivoted beam (the "headstock") so they can swing to and fro. A rope hangs from a lever or wheel attached to the headstock, and when the bell ringer pulls on the rope the bell swings back and forth and the clapper hits the inside, sounding the bell. Bells that are hung dead are normally sounded by hitting the sound bow with a hammer or occasionally by a rope which pulls the internal clapper against the bell.

A church may have a single bell, or a collection of bells which are tuned to a common scale. They may be stationary and chimed, rung randomly by swinging through a small arc, or swung through a full circle to enable the high degree of control of English [[change ringing]].

Before modern communications, church bells were a common way to call the community together for all purposes, both sacred and secular. In some Christian traditions bell ringing was believed to [[exorcism in Christianity|drive out]] demons.<ref name="Booth2014">{{cite book|last=Booth|first=Mark|title=The Sacred History: How Angels, Mystics and Higher Intelligence Made Our World|date=February 11, 2014|publisher=Simon and Schuster|language=en|isbn=9781451698589|page=274|quote=Church bells would be rung to drive away demons.}}</ref><ref name="Cohen1990">{{cite book|last=Cohen|first=I. Bernard|title=Benjamin Franklin's Science|url=https://archive.org/details/benjaminfranklin00iber|url-access=registration|year=1990|publisher=Harvard University Press|language=en|isbn=9780674066595|page=[https://archive.org/details/benjaminfranklin00iber/page/119 119]|quote=The practice of ringing church bells to dissipate lightning storms and prevent their deleterious effects had a long tradition in Europe and had been a concomitant to the general belief in the diabolical agency manifested in storms. ... Typical inscriptions on church bells described their power to "ward off lightning and malignant demons"; stated that "the sound of this bell vanquishes tempests, repels demons, and summons men," or exhorted it to "praise God, put to flight the coulds, affright the demons, and call the people"; or noted that "it is I who dissipate the thunders."}}</ref><ref name="Lewis2001">{{cite book |last1=Lewis |first1=James R. |title=Satanism Today |date=2001 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=9781576072929 |language=en}}</ref>

==Uses and traditions==
===Call to prayer===
[[File:JEAN-FRANÇOIS MILLET - El Ángelus (Museo de Orsay, 1857-1859. Óleo sobre lienzo, 55.5 x 66 cm).jpg|thumb|[[The Angelus (painting)|The Angelus]], depicting prayer at the sound of the bell (in the steeple on the horizon) ringing a canonical hour.]]
[[Oriental Orthodox Christian]]s, such as [[Coptic Orthodox Church|Copts]] and [[Indian Orthodox Church|Indians]], use a [[breviary]] such as the [[Agpeya]] and [[Shehimo]] to [[Christian prayer|pray]] the [[canonical hours]] seven times a day while facing in the [[ad orientem|eastward direction]]; church bells are tolled, especially in monasteries, to mark these [[Fixed prayer times#Christianity|seven fixed prayer times]].<ref>{{cite web |title=What is the relationship between bells and the church? When and where did the tradition begin? Should bells ring in every church? |url=https://www.suscopts.org/q&a/index.php?qid=1484&catid=386 |publisher=Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States |access-date=August 8, 2020 |language=en |date=2020}}</ref><ref name="Amherst1906">{{cite book |author1=Mary Cecil |author-link=Mary Cecil, 2nd Baroness Amherst of Hackney |title=A Sketch of Egyptian History from the Earliest Times to the Present Day |date=1906 |publisher=Methuen |page=399 |language=en |quote=Prayers 7 times a day are enjoined, and the most strict among the Copts recite one of more of the Psalms of David each time they pray. They always wash their hands and faces before devotions, and turn to the East.}}</ref>

In Christianity, some churches ring their church bells from [[belltower]]s three times a day, at 9 am, noon and 3 pm to summon the Christian faithful to recite the [[Lord's Prayer]];<ref name=Dryer>{{cite book |author= George Herbert Dryer|title=History of the Christian Church|publisher=Curts & Jennings|year=1897|quote= …every church-bell in Christendom to be tolled three times a day, and all Christians to repeat Pater Nosters (The Lord's Prayer)}}</ref><ref name=Honig>{{cite web |author= Joan Huyser-Honig|title=Uncovering the Blessing of Fixed-Hour Prayer|url=https://worship.calvin.edu/resources/resource-library/uncovering-the-blessing-of-fixed-hour-prayer|publisher=Calvin Institute of Christian Worship|year=2006|quote=Early Christians prayed the Lord's Prayer three times a day. Medieval church bells called people to common prayer.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Church bells |url=https://wels.net/faq/church-bells/ |publisher=[[Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod]] |access-date=August 8, 2020 |language=en |date=July 25, 2017}}</ref> the injunction to pray the Lord's prayer thrice daily was given in ''[[Didache]]'' 8, 2 f.,<ref name=KF>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BqnmVGo6jA8C&pg=PA225 |title=Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, Volume 8|author=Gerhard Kittel|author2=Gerhard Friedrich|page=224|publisher=[[William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company]]|year=1972|access-date=October 26, 2012|quote=The praying of the Lord's Prayer three times a day in Did., 8, 2 f. is connected with the Jewish practice --> 218, 3 ff.; II, 801, 16 ff.; the altering of other Jewish customs is demanded in the context.|isbn=9780802822505}}</ref><ref name=Beckwith>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PVCUZ7BTD2gC&pg=PA193 |title=Calendar, Chronology, and Worship: Studies in Ancient Judaism and Early Christianity|author=Roger T. Beckwith|page=193|publisher=[[Brill Publishers]]|year=2005|access-date=October 26, 2012|quote=The Church had now two hours of prayer, observed individually on weekdays and corporately on Sundays – yet the Old Testament spoke of three daily hours of prayer, and the Church itself had been saying the Lord's Prayer three times a day.|isbn=9004146032}}</ref><ref name=Standing>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m_OShrBh0I0C&pg=PA91 |title=Matthew: A Shorter Commentary|publisher=Continuum International Publishing Group|year=2005|access-date=August 16, 2012|quote= Moreover, the central portion of the Eighteen Benedictions, just like the Lord's Prayer, falls into two distinct parts (in the first half the petitions are for the individuals, in the second half for the nation); and early Christian tradition instructs believers to say the Lord's Prayer three times a day (''Did''. 8.3) while standing (''Apost''. ''const''. 7.24), which precisely parallels what the rabbis demanded for the Eighteen Benedictions.|isbn=9780567082497}}</ref> which, in turn, was influenced by the Jewish practice of praying thrice daily found in the [[Old Testament]], specifically in {{bibleverse||Psalm|55:17|KJV}}, which suggests "morning and evening plus at noon", and {{bibleverse||Daniel|6:10|KJV}}, in which the prophet [[Daniel (biblical figure)|Daniel]] prays thrice a day.<ref name="KF"/><ref name="Beckwith"/><ref name=White>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MURUzRlz-hoC&pg=PT104 |title=Introduction to Christian Worship 3rd Edition: Revised and Enlarged|author=James F White|publisher=[[Abingdon Press]]|date=September 1, 2010|access-date=October 12, 2012|quote=Late in the first century or early in the second, the ''Didache'' advised Christians to pray the Lord's prayer three times a day. Others sought disciplines in the Bible itself as ways to make the scriptural injunction to "pray without ceasing" (1 Thess. 5:17) practical. Psalm 55:17 suggested "evening and morning and at noon," and Daniel prayed three times a day (Dan. 6:10).|isbn=9781426722851}}</ref><ref name=CCC>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cymM4xEM76wC&pg=PA588 |title=Catechism Of The Catholic Church |publisher=[[Continuum International Publishing Group]]|year=1999|access-date=September 2, 2014|isbn=0-860-12324-3|quote=Late in the first century or early in the second, the ''Didache'' advised Christians to pray the Lord's prayer three times a day. Others sought disciplines in the Bible itself as ways to make the scriptural injunction to "pray without ceasing" (1 Thess. 5:17) practical. Psalm 55:17 suggested "evening and morning and at noon," and Daniel prayed three times a day (Dan. 6:10).}}</ref> The early Christians thus came to pray the Lord's Prayer at 9 am, noon and 3 pm.<ref name="Beckwith2005">{{cite book |last1=Beckwith |first1=Roger T. |title=Calendar, Chronology And Worship: Studies in Ancient Judaism And Early Christianity |date=2005 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-14603-7 |language=en |quote=So three minor hours of prayer were developed, at the third, sixth and ninth hours, which, as Dugmore points out, were ordinary divisions of the day for worldly affairs, and the Lord's Prayer was transferred to those hours.}}</ref>
[[File:Cathedrale Notre-Dame de Paris nef nouvelles cloches.jpg|thumbnail|The [[Bells of Notre-Dame de Paris#21st century bells|new bells]] of [[Notre Dame de Paris]] on display in the nave in February 2013 before being hung in the towers of the cathedral.]]

Many Catholic Christian churches ring their bells thrice a day, at 6 am, noon, and 6 pm to call the faithful to recite the [[Angelus]], a prayer recited in honour of the [[Incarnation (Christianity)|Incarnation of God]].<ref name=Anderson>{{cite book|author=John P. Anderson|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XVktuDe1aHUC&pg=PA93 |title=Joyce's Finnegans Wake: The Curse of Kabbalah, Volume 2 |publisher=Universal Publishers|year=2009|access-date=August 16, 2012|quote= The Angelus is a Christian devotion in memory of the Incarnation. Its name is derived from the opening words, Angelus Domini nuntiavit Mariæ. It consists of three Biblical verses describing the mystery, recited as versicle and response, alternating with the salutation "Hail Mary!" and traditionally is recited in Catholic churches, convents and monasteries three times daily, 6 am, noon and 6 pm, accompanied by the ringing of the Angelus bell. Some High Church Anglican and Lutheran churches also use the devotion.|isbn = 9781599429014}}</ref><ref name=Anglican>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jN4wspXqHBkC&pg=PA728 |title=The Anglican Service Book: A Traditional Language Adaptation of the 1979 Book of Common Prayer, Together with the Psalter Or Psalms of David and Additional Devotions|publisher=Good Shepherd Press|date=September 1, 1991|access-date=August 16, 2012|quote= The Angelus: In many churches the bell is run morning, noon, and evening in memory of the Incarnation of God, and the faithful say the following prayers, except during Eastertide, when the Regina coeli is said.|isbn=9780962995507}}</ref>

Some [[Protestant]] Christian Churches ring church bells during the congregational recitation of the Lord's Prayer, after the [[sermon]], in order to alert those who are unable to be present to "unite themselves in spirit with the congregation".<ref name=Protestant>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/stream/NewSchaffHerzogEncyclopediaOfReligiousKnowledgeVolumeIAachenBasiliansPhilipSchaff/New%20Schaff-Herzog%20Encyclopedia%20of%20Religious%20Knowledge%20Volume%20II%20-%20Basilica%20-%20Chambers%20%28Philip%20Schaff%29#page/n119/mode/2up/search/bell |title=The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Thought: Basilica-Chambers, Volume 2 |publisher=Kessinger Publishing|date=1952 |quote=The main use of bells has always been to announce the time of public worship. It is also a common Roman Catholic practise to ring the church bell at the consecration in the mass, as in some Protestant localities at the Lord's Prayer after the sermon, that those who are absent may unite themselves in spirit with the congregation.|page=117}}</ref><ref name=Reformed>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XAdFFePWliUC&pg=PA223 |title=The Valley's Legends & Legacies IV|publisher=Quill Driver Books|date=May 30, 2002|access-date=October 26, 2012|quote=At the end of the sermon, both bells began to ring and continued ringing through the Lord's Prayer.|page=223|isbn=9781884995217}}</ref>

In many historic Christian Churches, church bells are also rung on [[All Hallows' Eve]],<ref name="Bannatyne1998">{{cite book|last=Bannatyne|first=Lesley|title=Halloween |date=August 31, 1998|publisher=Pelican Publishing Company|language=en |isbn=9781455605538|page=22|quote=Priests in tiny Spanish villages still ring their church bells to remind parishioners to honor the dead on All Hallows Eve.}}</ref> as well as during the [[Procession#Christian processions|processions]] of [[Candlemas]] and [[Palm Sunday]];<ref>{{cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=XSOyfy061SQC&pg=PA76 |title= Church Words: Origins and Meanings|publisher= Forward Movement|date=August 1, 1996|access-date=August 16, 2012|quote= It is also traditional that the church bells ring during the processions of Candlemas (the Feast of the Purification) and Palm Sunday.|isbn= 9780880281720}}</ref> the only time of the [[Christian Year]] when church bells are not rung include [[Maundy Thursday]] through the [[Easter Vigil]].<ref>{{cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=XSOyfy061SQC&pg=PA76 |title= Church Words: Origins and Meanings|publisher= Forward Movement|date=August 1, 1996|access-date=August 16, 2012|quote= It is traditional that no bells be rung from the last service on Maundy Thursday until the Great Vigil of Easter.|isbn= 9780880281720}}</ref> The Christian tradition of the ringing of church bells from a belltower is analogous to the [[Islamic]] tradition of the [[adhan]] from a [[minaret]].<ref>{{cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=XSOyfy061SQC&pg=PA76 |title= Church Words: Origins and Meanings|publisher= Psychology Press|date=August 1, 1996|access-date=August 16, 2012|quote= But even for Muslims who pray infrequently, the adhan marks the passage of time through the day (in much the same way as church bells do in many Christian communities) and serves as a constant reminder that they are living in a Muslim community.|isbn= 9780880281720}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url= https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780761479260 |url-access= registration |page= [https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780761479260/page/77 77] |title= Islamic Beliefs, Practices, and Cultures|publisher= Marshal Cavendish|date=September 1, 2010|access-date=August 16, 2012|quote= Muslims living in predominantly Islamic lands, however, have the benefit of the call to prayer (adhan). In the same way that much of the Christian world traditionally used bells to summon the faithful to church services, so the early Muslim community developed its own method of informing the community that the time for prayer had arrived.|isbn= 9780761479260}}</ref>

===Call to worship===
Most [[Christian denomination]]s ring church bells to call the faithful to worship, signalling the start of a [[Mass (liturgy)|Mass]] or [[Church service|service of worship]].<ref name="Protestant"/><ref>{{cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=XSOyfy061SQC&pg=PA76 |title= Church Words: Origins and Meanings|publisher= Forward Movement|date=August 1, 1996|access-date=August 16, 2012|quote= It became customary to ring the church bells to call the faithful to worship and on other important occasions, such as the death of a parishioner.|isbn= 9780880281720}}</ref>
[[File:St Bees bells in up position.jpg|thumb|Example of [[full circle ringing|full-circle]] bells in England in the "up" position.]]
In the [[United Kingdom]] predominantly in the Anglican church, there is a strong tradition of [[change ringing]] on [[full circle ringing|full-circle]] tower bells for about half an hour before a service. This originated from the early 17th century when bell ringers found that swinging a bell through a large arc gave more control over the time between successive strikes of the clapper. This culminated in ringing bells through a full circle, which let ringers easily produce different striking sequences; known as ''changes''.

===Exorcism of demons===
In Christianity, the ringing of church bells is traditionally believed to [[exorcism in Christianity|drive out]] demons and other [[unclean spirit]]s.<ref name="Booth2014"/><ref name="Fanthorpe2002"/><ref name="Lewis2001"/> Inscriptions on church bells relating to this purpose of church bells, as well as the purpose of serving as a call to prayer and worship, were customary, for example "the sound of this bell vanquishes tempests, repels demons, and summons men".<ref name="Cohen1990"/> Some [[church (building)|churches]] have several bells with the justification that "the more bells a church had, the more loudly they rang, and the greater the distance over which they could be heard, the less likely it was that evil forces would trouble the parish."<ref name="Fanthorpe2002">{{cite book|last1=Fanthorpe|first1=Lionel |last2=Fanthorpe|first2=Patricia|title=The World's Most Mysterious Objects|date=October 1, 2002|publisher=Dundurn|language=en|isbn=9781770707580|page=100}}</ref>

===Funeral and memorial ringing===
[[File:Half muffled bell.jpg|thumb|English-style full circle bell with clapper half-muffled. A leather muffle is put over one side only of the clapper ball. This gives a loud strike, then a muffled strike alternately.]]The ringing of a church bell in the English tradition to announce a death is called a [[death knell]]. The pattern of striking depended on the person who had died; for example, in the [[Counties of England|counties]] of [[Kent]] and [[Surrey]] in England, it was customary to ring three times three strokes for a man and three times two for a woman, with varying usage for children.<ref>{{Cite book |last = Stahlschmidt | first = J. C. L. | url = https://archive.org/details/churchbellsofken00stah | title = The Church Bells of Kent: Their Inscriptions, Founders, Uses and Traditions | page = [https://archive.org/details/churchbellsofken00stah/page/126 126] | location = London | publisher = Elliot Stock | date = 1887}}</ref> The age of the deceased was then rung out. In small settlements, this could effectively identify who had just died.<ref name="B Walters pp156-160">H B Walters, The Church bells of England. published 1912 and republished 1977 by Oxford University Press. pp156-160</ref>

There were three occasions surrounding a death when bells could be rung. There was the "Passing Bell" to warn of impending death, the second was the actual Death Knell to announce the death, and the last was the "Lych Bell", or "Corpse Bell", rung as the funeral procession approached the church.<ref name="B Walters pp156-160"/> This latter is known today as the [[Funeral toll]].

A more modern tradition where there are full-circle bells is to use "half-muffles" when sounding one bell as a tolled bell, or all the bells in change-ringing. This means a leather muffle is placed on the clapper of each bell so that there is a loud "open" strike followed by a muffled strike, which has a very sonorous and mournful effect. In the [[United Kingdom]], bells are traditionally rang fully muffled only at the death of the [[Monarchy of the United Kingdom|sovereign]]. A slight variant of this rule occurred in 2015, when the bones of [[Richard III of England]] were found and later interred in [[Leicester Cathedral]], 532 years after his death at the [[Battle of Bosworth Field]].<ref>{{YouTube|bC_hFZPVVEQ|Bob Triples, fully muffled bells}}</ref>

===Sanctus bells===
[[File:Sacring ring of St. Jude Thaddeus Church in San Leonardo, Nueva Ecija.jpg|thumb|The sacring ring or Gloria wheels used at the St. Jude Thaddeus Church, in the former Spanish colony of the Philippines.]]
The term "Sanctus bell" traditionally referred to a bell suspended in a [[bell-cot]] at the apex of the nave roof, over the chancel arch, or hung in the church tower, in [[medieval]] churches. This bell has been rung at the singing of the [[Sanctus]] and again at the [[elevation (liturgy)|elevation]] of the consecrated elements, to indicate to those unable to see the altar that the consecration had been reached. The practice and the term remain common in many Traditional Catholic, Lutheran and Anglican churches.<ref name="Weedon2022"/>

A small hand bell or set of such bells (called [[altar bell]]s) may also be rung as a signal shortly before the [[consecration]] of the bread and wine into the [[Eucharist|Body and Blood of Christ]], and again when each of the consecrated elements is shown to the people.<ref>General Instruction of the Roman Missal, 150</ref> Sacring rings or "Gloria wheels" are commonly used by Catholic churches in Spain and its former colonies for this purpose, with modern ones made from metal instead of the traditional wood.<ref>Herrera, Matthew D. (2005). [http://www.adoremus.org/0305SantusBells.html ''Sanctus Bells. Their History and Use in the Catholic Church''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120308014749/http://www.adoremus.org/0305SantusBells.html |date=March 8, 2012 }}. Adoremus Bulletin. Retrieved on November 11, 2014.</ref>

===Orthodox Church===
[[File:Tampereen ortodoksinen kirkko 4 ulkoseinän ikoni ja kello.jpg|thumb|upright|A church bell of the [[Alexander Nevsky and the Saint Nicholas Orthodox Church]] in [[Tampere]], [[Finland]]]]
In the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]] there is a long and complex history of bell ringing, with particular bells being rung in particular ways to signify different parts of the [[Divine Service (Eastern Orthodoxy)|divine service]]s, [[Funeral toll]]s, etc. This custom is particularly sophisticated in the [[Russian Orthodox Church]]. Russian bells are usually stationary, and are sounded by pulling on a rope that is attached to the clapper so that it will strike the inside of the bell.{{citation needed|date=August 2021}}

===Victory Celebration===
{{refimprove section|date=March 2024}}
The noon church bell tolling in Europe has a specific historical significance that has its roots in the [[Siege of Belgrade (1456)|Siege of Belgrade]] (Nándorfehérvár at the time)by the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottomans]] in 1456. Initially, the bell ringing was intended as a call to prayer for the victory of the defenders of Belgrade. However, because in many European countries the news of victory arrived before the order for prayer, the ringing of the church bells was believed to be in celebration of the victory. As a result, the significance of noon bell ringing is now a commemoration of [[John Hunyadi]]'s victory against the Turks.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2006-06-12 |title=Ottoman-Hungarian Wars: Siege of Belgrade in 1456 |url=https://www.historynet.com/ottoman-hungarian-wars-siege-of-belgrade-in-1456/ |access-date=2022-08-10 |website=HistoryNet |language=en-US}}</ref>{{dubious|reason=see canonical hours, above; the custom of ringing church bells at noon predates these events by well over a millenium|date=March 2024}}

===Other uses===
====Clock chimes====
Some churches have a [[clock chime]] which uses a [[turret clock]] to broadcast the time by striking the hours and sometimes the quarters. A well-known musical striking pattern is the [[Westminster Quarters]]. This is only done when the bells are stationary, and the clock mechanism actuates hammers striking on the outside of the sound-bows of the bells. In the cases of bells which are normally swung for other ringing, there is a manual lock-out mechanism which prevents the hammers from operating whilst the bells are being rung.

====Warning====
In World War II in Great Britain, all church bells were silenced, to ring only to inform of an invasion by enemy troops.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/stories/19/a4036619.shtml |title=Recollections of a Wartime Childhood |work=WW2 People's War |author=[[Age Concern|Age Concern Shropshire]] |publisher=[[BBC]] |date=9 May 2005}}</ref> However this ban was lifted temporarily in 1942 by order of Winston Churchill. Starting with Easter Sunday, April 25, 1943, the Control of Noise (Defence) (No. 2) Order, 1943, allowed that church bells could be rung to summon worshippers to church on Sundays, Good Friday and Christmas Day.<ref>{{Hansard|url=1943/apr/20/ringing-of-church-bells |house=lords |access-date=July 2, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ringbell.co.uk/info/WarBells.htm |title=Ban on Ringing of Church Bells during WW2}}</ref> On May 27, 1943, all restrictions were removed.<ref>{{Hansard|url=1943/may/27/church-bell-ringing-removal-of |title=Church Bell Ringing (Removal of Restrictions) |access-date=July 2, 2021}}</ref>

In the [[2021 German floods]] it was reported that church bells were rung to warn inhabitants of coming floods.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://apnews.com/article/europe-business-floods-acd9448c228ed0c457597937f3b69366 |title = Residents say flood-hit German towns got little warning {{!}} AP News|website = [[Associated Press]]|date = July 24, 2021}}</ref> In Beyenburg in [[Wuppertal]] the last friar of [[:de:Kloster Steinhaus|Steinhaus Abbey]] rang the storm bells after other systems failed.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/left-to-their-own-defenses-catastrophic-flooding-spotlights-germany-s-poor-disaster-preparedness-a-b3821147-97d2-4f23-951c-0206bd9ff9b2|title=Catastrophic Flooding Spotlights Germany's Poor Disaster Preparedness|newspaper=Der Spiegel|date=July 23, 2021|last1=Gathmann|first1=Florian}}</ref> Some church bells are being used in England for similar purposes.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-devon-47350638 |title = Starcross SOS church bells to warn of flood - BBC News|work = BBC News|date = February 24, 2019}}</ref>

==Design and ringing technique==
{{Infobox Instrument
|name=Bell
|image=Parts of a Bell.svg
|image_capt=Parts of a typical tower bell hung for swinging: {{nowrap|1. yoke, or headstock}} {{nowrap|2. canons,}} {{nowrap|3. crown,}} {{nowrap|4. shoulder,}} {{nowrap|5. waist,}} {{nowrap|6. sound bow,}} {{nowrap|7. lip,}} {{nowrap|8. mouth,}} {{nowrap|9. clapper,}} {{nowrap|10. bead line}}}}
{{main|Bell#Styles of ringing}}
{{See also|Bell-founding}}
[[File:English full circle bell mechanism.png|thumb|Mechanism of a bell hung for English full-circle ringing. The bell can swing through just over a full circle in alternate directions.]]
Christian church bells have the form of a cup-shaped cast metal resonator with a flared thickened rim, and a pivoted ''clapper'' hanging from its centre inside. It is usually mounted high in a [[bell tower]] on top of the [[church (building)|church]], so it can be heard by the surrounding community. The bell is suspended from a headstock which can swing on bearings. A rope is tied to a wheel or lever on the headstock, and hangs down to the [[bell ringer]]. To ring the bell, the ringer pulls on the rope, swinging the bell. The motion causes the clapper to strike the inside of the bell rim as it swings, thereby sounding the bell. Some bells have full-circle wheels, which is used to swing the bell through a larger arc, such as in the [[United Kingdom]] where full- circle ringing is practised.

Bells which are not swung are "chimed", which means they are struck by an external hammer, or by a rope attached to the internal clapper, which is the tradition in Russia.

==Blessing of bells==
[[File:Vinko Puljić u Podmilačju 5838.JPG|thumb|right|Ceremony of blessing of the bell in Hungary]]
In some churches, bells are often blessed before they are hung.

In the [[Roman Catholic Church]] the name ''Baptism of Bells'' has been given to the ceremonial blessing of church bells, at least in France, since the eleventh century. It is derived from the washing of the bell with [[holy water]] by the [[bishop]], before he anoints it with the "oil of the infirm" without and with [[chrism]] within; a fuming [[thurible|censer]] is placed under it and the bishop prays that these [[sacramentals]] of the Church may, at the sound of the bell, put the demons to flight, protect from storms, and call the faithful to prayer.{{citation needed|date=August 2021}}

==History==
:''See [[List of European medieval musical instruments#Percussion|European medieval musical instruments, percussion]]''
Before the introduction of church bells into the [[Christian Church]], different methods were used to call the worshippers: playing [[trumpet]]s, hitting [[semantron]]s (wooden planks), shouting, or using a [[courier]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Buse |first=Adolf |title=S. Paulin évêque de Nole et son siècle (350-450) |publisher=H. Casterman |year=1858 |location=Paris |pages=415–418 |language=fr |translator-last=Dancoisne |translator-first=L.}}</ref> In AD 604, [[Pope Sabinian]] officially sanctioned the usage of bells.<ref name="Roger J. Smith 1997">{{Cite web |last=Roger J. Smith |year=1997 |title=Church Bells |url=http://www.awakentoprayer.org/church_bells.htm |publisher=Sacred Heart Catholic Church and St. Yves Mission |quote=Bells came into use in our churches as early as the year 400, and their introduction is ascribed to [[Paulinus of Nola|Paulinus]], bishop of Nola, a town of [[Campania]], in Italy. Their use spread rapidly, as in those unsettled times the church-bell was useful not only for summoning the faithful to religious services, but also for giving an alarm when danger threatened. Their use was sanctioned in 604 by Pope Sabinian, and a ceremony for blessing them was established a little later. Very large bells, for church towers, were probably not in common use until the eleventh century. |access-date=October 26, 2012 |archive-date=December 7, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211207150201/http://www.awakentoprayer.org/church_bells.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Henry Beauchamp Walters |url=https://archive.org/details/churchbells00waltgoog |title=Church Bells |publisher=A. R. Mowbray & Company |year=1908 |page=[https://archive.org/details/churchbells00waltgoog/page/n20 4]}}</ref> These ''tintinnabula'' were made from [[Forging|forged metal]] and did not have large dimensions.<ref name=":0" /> Larger bells were made at the end of the 7th and during the 8th century by [[Casting (metalworking)|casting metal]] originating from [[Campania]]. The bells consequently took the name of ''campana'' and ''nola'' from the [[Nola|eponymous city]] in the region.<ref name=":0" /> This would explain the attribution of the origin of church bells to [[Paulinus of Nola]] in AD 400.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="Roger J. Smith 1997" /><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Kathy Luty |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j-nmAinYFJ0C&pg=PT133 |title=Clip Notes for Church Bulletins - Volume 1 |last2=David Philippart |year=1997 | publisher=LiturgyTrainingPublications |isbn=9781568541693 |quote=The first known use of bells in churches was by a bishop named Paulinus in the year 400.}}</ref> By the [[early Middle Ages]], church bells became common in Europe, rung singly (cymbalum) or in tuned sets ([[cymbalum]]).<ref name="CE">{{Cite web |title=The Catholic Encyclopedia: Bells |url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02418b.htm | website =New Advent}}</ref>

They were first common in northern Europe, quadrangular sheet-metal bells, reflecting [[Celt]]ic influence, especially that of Irish missionaries.<ref name="CE" /> Before the use of church bells, Greek monasteries would ring a flat metal plate (see ''[[semantron]]'') to announce services.<ref name="CE" /> The ''signa'' and ''campanae'' used to announce services before Irish influence may have been flat plates like the ''semantron'' rather than bells.<ref name="CE" /> The oldest surviving circle of bells in Great Britain is housed in [[St Lawrence Church, Ipswich]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Worthington |first=Mark |date=September 10, 2009 |title=Oldest ring of bells played again |agency=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8247631.stm |access-date=September 10, 2009}}</ref>

As bells became more numerous, they were hung in sets called [[cymbala]] (related to both chimes and cymbals) and played with a hammer.<ref name="GroveCymbalum">{{cite encyclopedia |editor-last= Sadie |editor-first= Stanley |author1= James W. Mc Kinnon|author2= Robert Anderson |entry= Cymbalum |encyclopedia= The New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments |year=1984 |volume=1 |pages=532-533}}</ref> Images "usually show from four and eight bells", but also as many as 15.<ref name="GroveCymbalum"/><ref>The Hunterian Psalter shows a grouping of 15, played by two people. [[:File:Kind David tuning harp while musicians play bells, detail from Glasgow University Library MS Hunter 229 (U.3.2), folio 21V.jpg]]</ref>

==In literature==
The evocative sound of church bells has inspired many writers, both in poetry and prose. One example is an early poem by the English poet [[Letitia Elizabeth Landon]] entitled simply, {{ws|[[s:Landon in The Literary Gazette 1821/Bells|Bells]]}}<ref>{{cite book|last =Landon|first=Letitia Elizabeth|title=Literary Gazette, 1821|url=https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=bmkyAQAAMAAJ&pg=GBS.PA600|year=1821|section=Original poetry|page=601|publisher=The Proprietors, Wellington Street, Strand.}}</ref> She returned to the subject towards the end of her life in Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1839 with {{ws|[[s:Letitia Elizabeth Landon (L. E. L.) in Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1839/The Village Bells|The Village Bells]]}}, a poetical illustration to a picture by J. Franklin.<ref>{{cite book|last =Landon|first=Letitia Elizabeth|title=Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1839|url=https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=ufpcAAAAcAAJ&pg=GBS.PA76|section=picture|year=1838|publisher=Fisher, Son & Co.}}{{cite book|last =Landon|first=Letitia Elizabeth|title=Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1839|url=https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=ufpcAAAAcAAJ&pg=GBS.PA54|section=poetical illustration|year=1838|publisher=Fisher, Son & Co.}}</ref> ''How Soft the Music of those Village Bells.''

== Controversies about noise ==
{{See also|Loudspeakers in mosques#Opposition|Shabbat siren#Criticism}}
The sound of church bells is capable of causing noise that [[sleep deprivation|interrupts or prevents people from sleeping]]. A 2013 study from the [[ETH Zurich|Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich]] found that "an estimated 2.5-3.5 percent of the population in the [[Canton of Zurich]] experiences at least one additional awakening per night due to church bell noise." It concluded that "the number of awakenings could be reduced by more than 99 percent by, for example, suspending church bell ringing between midnight and 06 h in the morning", or by "about 75 percent (...) by reducing the sound-pressure levels of bells by 5 [[decibel|dB]]."<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Omlin |first1=S. |last2=Brink |first2=M. |date=October 2013 |title=Awakening effects of church bell noise: geographical extrapolation of the results of a polysomnographic field study 1. |journal=[[Noise & Health]] |publisher=Medknow Publications |volume=15 |issue=66 |pages=332–41 |doi=10.4103/1463-1741.116582 |pmid=23955130 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

In the [[Netherlands]] there have been lawsuits about church bell [[noise pollution]] experienced by nearby residents.<ref name="RTL Nieuws">{{Cite news |url=https://www.rtlnieuws.nl/editienl/laatste-videos-editienl/video/4801871/kerkklok-op-mute |title=Kerkklok op mute |work=RTL Nieuws |date=August 2, 2019 |access-date=October 8, 2019}}</ref> The complaints are usually, but not always, raised by new local residents (or tourists who spend the night in the neighbourhood<ref name="Bruinisse">{{Cite news |url=https://www.hartvannederland.nl/nieuws/2018/kerkklok-beiert-hotelgasten-wakker/ |title=Kerkklok beiert hotelgasten wakker |work=Hart van Nederland |date=May 12, 2018 |access-date=October 8, 2019}}</ref>) who are not used to the noise at night or during the day.<ref name="Bruinisse"/>

==Image gallery==
<gallery>
Image:Lullusglocke.jpg|[[Lullusglocke]], cast in 1038, in monastery of [[Bad Hersfeld]] in Hesse, Germany
Image:Torun Tuba Dei 02.JPG|[[Tuba Dei]] bell in [[Cathedral Basilica of St. John the Baptist and St. John the Evangelist, Toruń|Cathedral]] in Toruń, Poland, cast in 1500
Image:Kraków, Dzwon Zygmunta - fotopolska.eu (227571).jpg|[[Sigismund Bell]] in Kraków, Poland, cast in 1520 by Hans Beham
Image:Pummerin Stephansdom Vienna July 2008 (14).JPG|[[Pummerin]] in Stephansdom, Vienna
Image:Tsar Kolokol with humans for perspective.JPG|[[Tsar Bell]] in Moscow, Russia, the heaviest existing bell in the world (over 196 tons)
Image:St Xaviers church peyad Belgium bell.jpg|Belgian-made bell of [[St. Xavier's Church, Peyad]], Trivandrum, Kerala, India
Image:Church bell of the Cathedral Church of Saint Matthew at Dallas.jpg|Bell in the [[Cathedral Church of Saint Matthew, Dallas, Texas]]
Image:CathedralCologneBell.jpg|Bell in [[Cologne Cathedral]]
File:Suomenlinna Church bell.jpg|Bell in [[Suomenlinna Church]]
Image:16 21 2668 san miguel.jpg|Bell for [[San Miguel Mission]]
Image:Ipatios monastery Kostroma 19.jpg|Ringing the bells at [[Ipatiev Monastery]] in [[Kostroma]], Russia.
Image:Bells in the tower - geograph.org.uk - 1369287.jpg|Ring of eight bells in the tower of St Michael and All Angels' parish church, [[Blewbury]], [[Oxfordshire]]
Cloche dans l'église Saint-Jacques de Tournai (DSCF8555).jpg|Bell in the Saint-Jacques church of [[Tournai]]
File:Church bells of Ulm Minster (2019).jpg|Church bells of [[Ulm Minster]] seen from above (2019)
</gallery>

==See also==
{{Portal|Christianity}}

* [[Bellfounding]]
* [[Bolognese bell ringing art]]
* [[Campanology]]
* [[Central Council of Church Bell Ringers]]
* [[Change ringing]]
* [[Handbells]]
* [[Loudspeakers in mosques]]
* [[Ring of bells]]
* [[Russian Orthodox bell ringing]]
* [[Veronese bellringing art]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
* {{commons category-inline}}
* [https://washingtonringingsociety.org/galleries/animations Animation of English Full-circle church bell ringing]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KYWtFeQzyw Video of English full circle-ringing, 8 bells half muffled and one bell tolling]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlxfmA7FJ9E Video of English full circle-ringing, 8 bells ringing "open"]
* [http://www.hibberts.co.uk/ Sound of Bells - An Investigation into their tuning]
* [http://www.math.bas.bg/bells/belleng.html Research and Identification of Valuable Bells of the Historic and Culture Heritage of Bulgaria and Development of Audio and Video Archive with Advanced Technologies]
* [http://www.bellringingcentral.co.uk Bell-Ringing Central]
* [http://cityark.medway.gov.uk/query/results/?Mode=ShowImg&Img=/cityark/Scans/Unofficial_or_Privately_Originated_Collections/DE0402_Couchman_ephemera_and_MSS_/DE0402_16.html/DE402_16_44L.jpg Old archive image of church bells in Chatham, Kent, England, ca.1900]
*[https://sites.google.com/site/allsaintsbells/ All Saints Bell Tower]

{{Bells}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Bells (percussion)]]
[[Category:Campanology]]