This article touches on the religious obligation issues but I feel it doesn&#x27;t go far enough.<p>In the middle ages, you were religiously required to get up in the middle of the night to say a set of prayers. This practice was mandated by the authorities and failure to comply was not regarded well.<p>Articles about medieval first and second sleep tend to present this practice as if it is a natural human practice found in all cultures before the modern world.<p>The specific manifestation of first and second sleep in this era in europe though is clearly a result of authoritarian mandates of behavior that should not be neglected.