Jacquemart (bellstriker)

A jacquemart (soemtimes spelled "Jaquemart") is a automaton, an animated, mechanised figure of a person, usually made from wood or metal, who strikes the hours on a bell with a hammer. Jacquemarts are usually part of clocks or clocktowers, and are often near or at the top of the construction. One of the oldest and best known Jacquemarts is found on the south tower of the cathedral church of Notre Dame of Dijon. It was installed by Phillippe II of Burgundy in 1383. Other well known historic jacquemarts are found on top of the Zytglogge [cite book
last = Marti
first = Markus
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = 600 Jahre Zytglogge Bern - Eine kleine Chronik der Zeitmessung
publisher = Staempfli
date = 2005
location = Bern
pages = 48
url =
doi =
id = 3-7272-1180-6
isbn = ] tower in Bern, Switzerland or the moors on the Torre dell'Orlogio di San Marco in Venice. Italy.

The word is originally French but is sometimes used in English as well. The origins of the word is disputed, but one theory relates it to a tool called a 'jacke', used by the craftsman building church towers, the steeplejacks.

References

cite web
last =
first =
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = Wikipedia (French language Edition)
work =
publisher =
date =
url = http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacquemart
format =
doi =
accessdate = 2008-07-08