Shadow of Night

The historical anomalies are objects that are spontaneously discovered in the 21st century due to Matthew and Diana’s actions in the 16th century. The historical anomalies are a motif associated with The Complex Nature of Time.

When Diana and Matthew go back in time, they are determined to make their visit brief so they don’t affect the past in ways that will change the “future”—their contemporary 21st-century moment. However, due to the complex nature of time, Diana and Matthew become increasingly enmeshed with the past, and their actions cause an increasing number of “anomalous historical discoveries” (377). The anomalies appear in the order in which Diana and Matthew’s actions create them. The first is Diana’s diary; this ends up in a small, private archive in Seville. The second is a note Ysabeau finds from Philippe in their library, telling her about his encounters with Diana and Matthew in the 16th century and affirming his love for her; this gives her closure about his death. This discovery convinces Ysabeau and her allies to look for the anomalies: She knows that these changes could alert the Congregation to Matthew and Diana’s temporal whereabouts, thus endangering them.

The third anomaly is a pair of miniatures depicting Matthew and Diana. Marcus buys these from a woman named Phoebe. Marcus falls in love with Phoebe, realizing she is his mate. Since a vampire only has one mate in their lifetime, this is a significant plot development that would not have occurred without the recurring motif of the historical anomalies.

The fourth anomaly is the discovery of Mary Sidney’s alchemical notebook, detailing her work with an unnamed assistant. Historians assume this assistant is male, though in reality, it is Diana. This iteration of the motif thus also intersects with the theme of Gender Roles in Different Historical Periods. The fifth anomaly is a letter sent from Rabbi Loew to Matthew’s estranged son Benjamin, detailing the theft of Ashmole 782. The final anomaly is the discovery of a spyglass made by Thomas Harriot in 1591. Historically, Harriot had a series of inventions in the fields of mathematics, optics, and astronomy, which were only disseminated more widely after “credit had already gone elsewhere” (Chapman, Allan. “The Astronomical Work of Thomas Harriot (1560-1621).” Royal Astronomical Society, vol. 36, no. 2, 1995, pp. 97-107; 99). This discovery overturns previous historical assumption that the spyglass was invented in 1608, then greatly improved and popularized by Galileo Galilei a year later. Knowing that Harriot’s inventions were largely invisible in the historical record, Diana had his spyglass engraved with his name and the date. Though her actions thus result in a more true-to-life version of history, the historical anomaly this spyglass creates is large enough to rewrite history books.