Book of Hours - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The book of hours was a devotional book popular in the later Middle Ages

Middle Ages

The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...

. It is the most common type of surviving medieval illuminated manuscript

Illuminated manuscript

An illuminated manuscript is a manuscript in which the text is supplemented by the addition of decoration, such as decorated initials, borders and miniature illustrations...

. Like every manuscript, each manuscript book of hours is unique in one way or another, but most contain a similar collection of texts, prayers and psalms, often with appropriate decorations, for Christian

Christian

A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...

devotion. Illumination or decoration is minimal in many examples, often restricted to decorated capital letters at the start of psalms and other prayers, but books made for wealthy patrons may be extremely lavish, with full-page miniatures

Miniature (illuminated manuscript)

The word miniature, derived from the Latin minium, red lead, is a picture in an ancient or medieval illuminated manuscript; the simple decoration of the early codices having been miniated or delineated with that pigment...

.

Books of hours were usually written in Latin (the Latin name for them is horae), although there are many entirely or partially written in vernacular

Vernacular

A vernacular is the native language or native dialect of a specific population, as opposed to a language of wider communication that is not native to the population, such as a national language or lingua franca.- Etymology :The term is not a recent one...

European languages, especially Dutch. The English term primer is usually now reserved for those books written in English. Tens of thousands of books of hours have survived to the present day, in libraries

Library

In a traditional sense, a library is a large collection of books, and can refer to the place in which the collection is housed. Today, the term can refer to any collection, including digital sources, resources, and services...

and private collections throughout the world.

The typical book of hours is an abbreviated form of the breviary

Breviary

A breviary is a liturgical book of the Latin liturgical rites of the Catholic Church containing the public or canonical prayers, hymns, the Psalms, readings, and notations for everyday use, especially by bishops, priests, and deacons in the Divine Office...

which contained the Divine Office

Liturgy of the hours

The Liturgy of the Hours or Divine Office is the official set of daily prayers prescribed by the Catholic Church to be recited at the canonical hours by the clergy, religious orders, and laity. The Liturgy of the Hours consists primarily of psalms supplemented by hymns and readings...

recited in monasteries

Monastery

Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...

. It was developed for lay people who wished to incorporate elements of monasticism

Monasticism

Monasticism is a religious way of life characterized by the practice of renouncing worldly pursuits to fully devote one's self to spiritual work...

into their devotional life. Reciting the hours typically centered upon the reading of a number of psalms and other prayers. A typical book of hours contains:

A Calendar
Calendar
A calendar is a system of organizing days for social, religious, commercial, or administrative purposes. This is done by giving names to periods of time, typically days, weeks, months, and years. The name given to each day is known as a date. Periods in a calendar are usually, though not...

of Church feasts
Liturgical year
The liturgical year, also known as the church year, consists of the cycle of liturgical seasons in Christian churches which determines when feast days, including celebrations of saints, are to be observed, and which portions of Scripture are to be read. Distinct liturgical colours may appear in...
An excerpt from each of the four gospels
The Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary
The fifteen Psalms of Degrees
The seven Penitential Psalms
Penitential Psalms
The Penitential Psalms or Psalms of Confession, so named in Cassiodorus's commentary of the 6th century AD, are the Psalms 6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130, and 143 . These are specially expressive of sorrow for sin. Four were known as 'penitential psalms' by St. Augustine of Hippo in the early 5th century...
A Litany of Saints
An Office for the Dead
The Hours of the Cross
Various other prayers

Most 15th-century books of hours have these basic contents. The Marian prayers Obsecro te ("I beseech thee") and O Intemerata ("O undefiled one") were frequently added, as were devotions for use at Mass

Mass (liturgy)

"Mass" is one of the names by which the sacrament of the Eucharist is called in the Roman Catholic Church: others are "Eucharist", the "Lord's Supper", the "Breaking of Bread", the "Eucharistic assembly ", the "memorial of the Lord's Passion and Resurrection", the "Holy Sacrifice", the "Holy and...

, and meditations on the Passion

Passion (Christianity)

The Passion is the Christian theological term used for the events and suffering – physical, spiritual, and mental – of Jesus in the hours before and including his trial and execution by crucifixion...

of Christ

Christ

Christ is the English term for the Greek meaning "the anointed one". It is a translation of the Hebrew , usually transliterated into English as Messiah or Mashiach...

, among other optional texts.

History

The book of hours has its ultimate origin in the Psalter

Psalter

A psalter is a volume containing the Book of Psalms, often with other devotional material bound in as well, such as a liturgical calendar and litany of the Saints. Until the later medieval emergence of the book of hours, psalters were the books most widely owned by wealthy lay persons and were...

, which monks and nuns were required to recite. By the 12th century this had developed into the breviary

Breviary

, with weekly cycles of psalms, prayers, hymns, antiphons, and readings which changed with the liturgical season. Eventually a selection of texts was produced in much shorter volumes and came to be called a book of hours.

Many books of hours were made for women. There is some evidence that they were sometimes given as a wedding present from a husband to his bride. Frequently they were passed down through the family, as recorded in wills.

Although the most heavily illuminated books of hours were enormously expensive, a small book with little or no illumination was affordable much more widely, and increasingly so during the 15th century. The earliest surviving English example

William de Brailes

William de Brailes was an English Early Gothic manuscript illuminator, presumably born in Brailes, Warwickshire. He signed two manuscripts, and apparently worked in Oxford, where he is documented from 1238 to 1252, owning property in Catte Street near the University Church of St Mary the Virgin,...

was apparently written for a laywoman living in or near Oxford

Oxford

The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...

in about 1240. It is smaller than a modern paperback but heavily illuminated with major initials, but no full-page miniatures. By the 15th century, there are also examples of servants owning their own Books of Hours. In a court case from 1500, a pauper woman is accused of stealing a domestic servant's prayerbook.

Very rarely the books included prayers specifically composed for their owners, but more often the texts are adapted to their tastes or sex, including the inclusion of their names in prayers. Some include images depicting their owners, and some their coats of arms. These, together with the choice of saints commemorated in the calendar and suffrages, are the main clues for the identity of the first owner.

By the 15th century, various stationer's shops mass-produced books of hours in the Netherlands and France. By the end of the 15th century, the advance of printing

Printing

Printing is a process for reproducing text and image, typically with ink on paper using a printing press. It is often carried out as a large-scale industrial process, and is an essential part of publishing and transaction printing....

made books more affordable and much of the emerging middle-class could afford to buy a printed book of hours.

Decorations

As many books of hours are richly illuminated, they form an important record of life in the 15th and 16th centuries as well as the iconography

Iconography

Iconography is the branch of art history which studies the identification, description, and the interpretation of the content of images. The word iconography literally means "image writing", and comes from the Greek "image" and "to write". A secondary meaning is the painting of icons in the...

of medieval Christianity. Some of them were also decorated with jewelled covers, portraits, and heraldic

Heraldry

Heraldry is the profession, study, or art of creating, granting, and blazoning arms and ruling on questions of rank or protocol, as exercised by an officer of arms. Heraldry comes from Anglo-Norman herald, from the Germanic compound harja-waldaz, "army commander"...

emblems. Some were bound as girdle book

Girdle book

Girdle books were small portable books worn by medieval European monks, clergymen and aristocratic nobles as a popular accessory to medieval costume, between the 13th and 16th centuries. They consisted of a book whose leather binding continued loose below the cover of the book in a long tapered...

s for easy carrying, though few of these or other medieval bindings have survived. Luxury books, like the Talbot Hours of John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury

John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury

John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury and 1st Earl of Waterford KG , known as "Old Talbot" was an important English military commander during the Hundred Years' War, as well as the only Lancastrian Constable of France.-Origins:He was descended from Richard Talbot, a tenant in 1086 of Walter Giffard...

, may include a portrait of the owner, and in this case his wife, kneeling in adoration of the Virgin and Child as a form of donor portrait

Donor portrait

A donor portrait or votive portrait is a portrait in a larger painting or other work showing the person who commissioned and paid for the image, or a member of his, or her, family...

. In expensive books, miniature cycles showed the Life of the Virgin
Life of the Virgin
The Life of the Virgin, showing narrative scenes from the life of Mary, the mother of Jesus, is a common subject for pictorial cycles in Christian art, often complementing, or forming part of, a cycle on the Life of Christ. In both cases the number of scenes shown varies greatly with the space...

or the Passion of Christ

Passion (Christianity)

in eight scenes decorating the eight Hours of the Virgin, and the Labours of the Months

Labours of the Months

The term Labours of the Months refers to cycles in Medieval and early Renaissance art depicting in twelve scenes the rural activities that commonly took place in the months of the year...

and signs of the zodiac decorating the calendar. Secular scenes of calendar cycles include many of the best known images from books of hours, and played an important role in the early history of landscape painting.

From the 14th century decorated borders round the edges of at least important pages were common in heavily illuminated books, including books of hours. At the beginning of the 15th century these were still usually based on foliage designs, and painted on a plain background, but by the second half of the century coloured or patterned backgrounds with images of all sorts of objects, were used in luxury books.

Second-hand books of hours were often modified for new owners, even among royalty. After defeating Richard III

Richard III of England

Richard III was King of England for two years, from 1483 until his death in 1485 during the Battle of Bosworth Field. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty...

, Henry VII

Henry VII of England

Henry VII was King of England and Lord of Ireland from his seizing the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death on 21 April 1509, as the first monarch of the House of Tudor....

gave Richard's book of hours to his mother, who modified it to include her name. Heraldry was usually erased or over-painted by new owners. Many have handwritten annotations, personal additions and marginal notes but some new owners also commissioned new craftsmen to include more illustrations or texts. Sir Thomas Lewkenor of Trotton hired an illustrator to add details to what is now known as the Lewkenor Hours. Flyleaves of some surviving books include notes of household accounting or records of births and deaths, in the manner of later family bibles. Some owners had also collected autographs of notable visitors to their house. Books of hours were often the only book in a house, and were commonly used to teach children to read, sometimes having a page with the alphabet

Alphabet

An alphabet is a standard set of letters—basic written symbols or graphemes—each of which represents a phoneme in a spoken language, either as it exists now or as it was in the past. There are other systems, such as logographies, in which each character represents a word, morpheme, or semantic...

to assist this.

Towards the end of the 15th century, printers produced books of hours with woodcut illustrations. Stationers could mass-produce manuscript books on vellum

Vellum

Vellum is mammal skin prepared for writing or printing on, to produce single pages, scrolls, codices or books. It is generally smooth and durable, although there are great variations depending on preparation, the quality of the skin and the type of animal used...

with only plain artwork and later "personalize" the volumes.

The luxury book of Hours

In the 14th century the book of hours overtook the psalter as the most common vehicle for lavish illumination. This partly reflected the increasing dominance of illumination both commissioned and executed by laymen rather than monastic clergy. From the late 14th century a number of bibliophile royal figures began to collect luxury illuminated manuscripts for their decorations, a fashion that spread across Europe from the Valois courts of France and the Burgundy

Duchy of Burgundy

The Duchy of Burgundy , was heir to an ancient and prestigious reputation and a large division of the lands of the Second Kingdom of Burgundy and in its own right was one of the geographically larger ducal territories in the emergence of Early Modern Europe from Medieval Europe.Even in that...

, as well as Prague

Prague

Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...

under Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor

Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor

Charles IV , born Wenceslaus , was the second king of Bohemia from the House of Luxembourg, and the first king of Bohemia to also become Holy Roman Emperor....

and later Wenceslaus

Wenceslaus, King of the Romans

Wenceslaus ) was, by election, German King from 1376 and, by inheritance, King of Bohemia from 1378. He was the third Bohemian and second German monarch of the Luxembourg dynasty...

. A generation later, Duke Philip the Good of Burgundy was the most important collector of manuscripts, with several of his circle also collecting. It was during this period that the Flemish cities

Flanders

Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...

overtook Paris as the leading force in illumination, a position they retained until the terminal decline of the illuminated manuscript in the early 16th century.

The most famous collector of all, the French prince John, Duke of Berry

John, Duke of Berry

John of Valois or John the Magnificent was Duke of Berry and Auvergne and Count of Poitiers and Montpensier. He was the third son of King John II of France and Bonne of Luxemburg; his brothers were King Charles V of France, Duke Louis I of Anjou and Duke Philip the Bold of Burgundy...

(1340–1416) owned several books of hours, some of which survive, including the most celebrated of all, the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry
Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry
The Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry or simply the Très Riches Heures is a richly decorated book of hours commissioned by John, Duke of Berry, around 1410...

. This was begun around 1410 by the Limbourg brothers

Limbourg brothers

The Limbourg brothers, or in Dutch Gebroeders van Limburg , were famous Dutch miniature painters from the city of Nijmegen. They were active in the early 15th century in France and Burgundy, working in the style known as International Gothic...

, although left incomplete by them and decoration continued over several decades by other artists and owners. The same was true of the Turin-Milan Hours
Turin-Milan Hours
The Turin-Milan Hours is an incomplete illuminated manuscript, despite its name not strictly a book of hours, of exceptional quality and importance, with a very complicated history both during and after its production...

, which also passed through Berry's ownership.

By the mid-15th century a much wider group of nobility and rich businesspeople were able to commission highly decorated, often small, books of hours. With the arrival of printing the market contracted sharply, and by 1500 the finest quality books were once again being produced only for royal or very grand collectors. One of the last major illuminated book of hours was the Farnese Hours
Farnese Hours
The Farnese Hours is an illuminated manuscript created by Giulio Clovio, a Croatian artist, for cardinal Alessandro Farnese in 1546. Considered the masterpiece of Clovio, the book of hours is now in the possession of the Pierpont Morgan Library in New York City.It contains religious stories , and...

completed for the Roman Cardinal Alessandro Farnese in 1546 by Giulio Clovio, who was also the last major manuscript illuminator.

In Europe

Nuremberg-Book of hours, around 1296 : Stadtsbibliothek Nuremberg, Ms. Solger 4.4°
Breviarium Grimani, miniatures of Alexander Bening (father of Simon): Venice (Marciana Library)
Breviarium Mayer van den Bergh: Antwerp, Museum Mayer van den Bergh
The Golfbook, around 1540, miniatures of Simon Bening: London, British Library, Add. Ms. 24098
Sforza Hours: London, British Library, Add. Ms. 34294
Bedford Hours: London, British Library, Add. Ms. 18850
Book of hours of Beatrijs van Assendelft: Utrecht, Museum 'Catharijneconvent'
Hennessy-book of hours also 'Heures de Notre Dame', on perkament, 16th c. (after 1530): Brussels, 'Royal Library of Belgium
Royal Library of Belgium
The Royal Library of Belgium is one of the most important cultural institutions in Belgium. The library has a history that goes back to the age of the Dukes of Burgundy...

', Ms. II 158
Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry
Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry
The Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry or simply the Très Riches Heures is a richly decorated book of hours commissioned by John, Duke of Berry, around 1410...

, around 1411-1416: Musée Condé, Chantilly (France), Ms. 65
Les heures de Croy: Vienna, National Library, codex 1858
Turin-Milan Hours
Turin-Milan Hours
The Turin-Milan Hours is an incomplete illuminated manuscript, despite its name not strictly a book of hours, of exceptional quality and importance, with a very complicated history both during and after its production...

: Turin, Museo Civico d'Arte Antica, Ms. Inv. 47
Tres belles heures du Duc de Berry: Brussels, Royal Library of Belgium, 11060-11061
Petites heures du Duc de Berry
Petites Heures of Jean de France, Duc de Berry
The Petites Heures of Jean de France, Duc de Berry was an illuminated book of Hours commissioned by John, Duke of Berry. It is now housed at the Bibliothèque nationale de France under the reference ms. lat. 18014....

: Paris, Royal Library, lat. 18014
Les très belles heures de Notre-Dame du Duc de Berry: Paris, Biblothèque nationale, nouv. acq. lat. 3093
Das Berliner Stundenbuch der Maria von Burgund und Kaiser Maximilians, 15th c.: Berlin, Preuss. Kulturbesitz, Kupferstichkabinett, 78 B 12
Book of hour of 'Joos van Wassenaar', 1480-1490: Rotthalmünster, Coll. Tenschert
Book of hours, around 1500: Cambridge, Fitzwilliam Museum, Ms. 294
Book of hours, around 1530, miniatures of Simon Bening: Munchen, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Cod. lat. 23638
Albrecht of Brandenburg Book of hours, around 1525, Simon Bening and others: Amsterdam, Bibliotheca Hermetica Philosphica, Ms. Astor, A 24/2
La Flora book of hours, before 1489, with 22 fullpages-miniatures of Simon Marmion: Napoli, Biblioteca Nazionale
Huth Hours, around 1480 with 24 fullpages-miniatures and 74 smaller ones of Simon Marmion: London, British Library
The Croy-Arenberg book of hours, Flanders, 1505-1515 (206 f°): private collection
Book of Hours (Milan, Biblioteca Trivulziana, Cod. 470)
Book of Hours (Milan, Biblioteca Trivulziana, Cod. 470)
Milan, Biblioteca Trivulziana, Cod. 470 is a 15th century Book of Hours. It was made in a French-Burgundian scriptorium. It measures 131 by 89 mm and has 366 folios. The text is written in Textualis Gothic bookscript. There are twenty grisaille miniatures within wide, decorated borders....
Hours of Gian Galeazzo Visconti
Hours of Gian Galeazzo Visconti
The Hours of Giangaleazzo Visconti is a Roman-liturgy illuminated book of the Hours, produced in two volumes in Milan for Gian Galeazzo Visconti. It was begun in 1388 by Giovannino de' Grassi and completed around 1428 by Belbello da Pavia during the reign of Gian's son Filippo Maria Visconti.It is...

In the United States

Belles Heures of Jean de France, Duc de Berry
Belles Heures of Jean de France, Duc de Berry
The Belles Heures of Jean de France, Duc de Berry, or Belles Heures of Jean de Berry is an early 15th century illuminated manuscript book of hours commissioned by John of France, Duke of Berry...

, miniatures of 'the Limburg Brothers': New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Cloisters
Book of hours 'Margreth of Beaujeu' Arras or Saint-Omer (France), second quarter of the 14th c.: New York, The Morgan Library & Museum, M. 754
Book of hours, Flanders, early 14th c.: Baltimore, Walters Art Gallery, W 82
The also called 'Black Book of Hours': New York, The Morgan Library & Museum, Ms. 493
Hours of Catherine of Cleves
Hours of Catherine of Cleves
The Hours of Catherine of Cleves is an ornately illuminated manuscript in the Gothic art style, produced in about 1440 by the anonymous Dutch artist known as the Master of Catherine of Cleves. It is one of the most...

, 15th c. (property of 'Katharina van Kleef'): New York, The Morgan Library & Museum
Hours of Jeanne d'Evreux
Hours of Jeanne d'Evreux
The Hours of Jeanne d'Evreux is an illuminated Book of hours. It was created between 1324 and 1328 by Jean Pucelle for Jeanne d'Evreux, the third wife of Charles IV of France. Adolphe de Rothschild of Geneva acquired the book at the 19th century. On his death in 1900, it was left to his nephew...

, 1325-1328: New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Cloisters
Book of hours 'Henry VIII', with miniatures by Jean Poyer
Jean Poyer
Jean Poyer was a French miniature painter and manuscript illuminator, active from 1483 until his death. He worked in the courts of Louis XI of France, Charles VIII of France and Louis XII of France....

: New York, The Morgan Library & Museum

External links

General information:

Sacred Image and Illusion in Late Flemish Manuscripts, Robert G. Calkins, Cornell University
Abebooks, Collecting Books of Hours with a varied selection of examples.
541 examples from the Digital Scriptorium
Book of Hours Tutorial, Les Enluminures and The Pierpont Morgan Library, MS M.1093

Full turn the pages online individual manuscripts:

Lavishly illustrated Books of Hours, 13th - 16th century, Center for Digital Initiatives, University of Vermont Libraries
The Sforza hours Turn the pages of the Sforza Hours at the British Library
British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom, and is the world's largest library in terms of total number of items. The library is a major research library, holding over 150 million items from every country in the world, in virtually all known languages and in many formats,...

(May require software loading, and time).
Book of Hours (Ms. Library of Congress. Rosenwald ms. 10) From the Rare Book and Special Collections Division of the Library of Congress.The same in pdf format.
Picturing Prayer, Books of Hours at Houghton Library, Harvard University.
Book of Hours, of Premonstratensian Use at the Digital Archives Initiative Memorial University of Newfoundland.

The texts:

A Hypertext Book of Hours; full texts and translation
Late Medieval and Renaissance Illuminated Manuscripts - Books of Hours 1400-1530 - An excellent guide containing tables describing all the various uses; also with original Latin texts and high-resolution photographs of many books.

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.