Fiat Lux? Rhythmen des Lichts und Temporalitäten von Sicherheit in den frühneuzeitlichen Debatten zur Straßenbeleuchtung

Drawing on a rhythm-analytically informed reading, this paper presents the security narratives and practices in early modern debates about street lighting. Since in early modern understanding the day-night rhythm did not per se correlate with safety and insecurity, but rather dangers and risks of life presented themselves in different forms at both times of the day, different strategies unfolded in dealing with them. Using the examples of Paris in the 17th century and London in the 18th century, this paper discusses the strategies of the authorities to enforce a steady "illumination of the night", because the working of the regulatory policies of early modern societies were based on visibility and therefore required brightness as an immanent prerequisite. In contrast, there were open complaints and resistant practices of both 'respectable' and 'dishonest' groups who feared for their respective advantages of the dark night.