Psalter
Encyclopedia
Book of Hours
The book of hours was a devotional book popular in the later Middle Ages. It is the most common type of surviving medieval illuminated manuscript. 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...
, psalters were the books most widely owned by wealthy lay persons and were commonly used for learning to read. Many Psalters were richly illuminated and they include some of the most spectacular surviving examples of medieval book art.
The Roman Catholic psalter
Psalters (as distinct from copies of the Psalms in other formats) developed in the Latin West from the early 8th century. The extensively illustrated Utrecht PsalterUtrecht Psalter
The Utrecht Psalter is a ninth century illuminated psalter which is a key masterpiece of Carolingian art; it is probably the most valuable manuscript in the Netherlands. It is famous for its 166 lively pen illustrations, with one accompanying each psalm and the other texts in the manuscript...
is one of the most important surviving Carolingian manuscripts and exercised a major influence on the later development of Anglo-Saxon art
Anglo-Saxon art
Anglo-Saxon art covers art produced within the Anglo-Saxon period of English history, beginning with the Migration period style that the Anglo-Saxons brought with them from the continent in the 5th century, and ending in 1066 with the Norman Conquest of a large Anglo-Saxon nation-state whose...
. In the 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...
psalters were among the most popular types of 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...
s, rivaled only by the Gospel Book
Gospel Book
The Gospel Book, Evangelion, or Book of the Gospels is a codex or bound volume containing one or more of the four Gospels of the Christian New Testament...
s, from which they gradually took over as the type of manuscript chosen for lavish illumination. From the late 11th century onwards they became particularly widespread - Psalms were recited by the clergy at various points in the liturgy
Liturgy
Liturgy is either the customary public worship done by a specific religious group, according to its particular traditions or a more precise term that distinguishes between those religious groups who believe their ritual requires the "people" to do the "work" of responding to the priest, and those...
, so psalters were a key part of the liturgical equipment in major churches.
Various different schemes existed for the arrangement of the Psalms into groups (see Latin Psalters
Latin Psalters
The Latin Psalters are the translations of the Book of Psalms into the Latin language. They are the premier liturgical resource used in the Liturgy of the Hours of the Latin Rites of the Roman Catholic Church...
). As well as the 150 Psalms, medieval psalters often included a calendar, a litany of saints, canticle
Canticle
A canticle is a hymn taken from the Bible. The term is often expanded to include ancient non-biblical hymns such as the Te Deum and certain psalms used liturgically.-Roman Catholic Church:From the Old Testament, the Roman Breviary takes seven canticles for use at Lauds, as follows:*...
s from the Old
Old Testament
The Old Testament, of which Christians hold different views, is a Christian term for the religious writings of ancient Israel held sacred and inspired by Christians which overlaps with the 24-book canon of the Masoretic Text of Judaism...
and New Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
s, and other devotional texts. The selection of saints mentioned in the calendar and litany varied greatly and can often give clues as to the original ownership of the manuscript, since monasteries and private patrons alike would choose those saints that had particular significance for them.
Many psalters were lavishly illuminated with full-page miniatures as well as decorated initials. Of the initials the most important is normally the so-called "Beatus initial", based on the "B" of the words Beatus vir... ("Blessed is the man...") at the start of Psalm 1. This was usually given the most elaborate decoration in an illuminated psalter, often taking a whole page for the initial letter or first two words. Historiated initial
Historiated initial
A historiated initial is an enlarged letter at the beginning of a paragraph or other section of text, which contains a picture. Strictly speaking, an inhabited initial contains figures that are decorative only, without forming a subject, whereas in a historiated initial there is an identifiable...
s or full-page illuminations were also used to mark the beginnings of the three major divisions of the Psalms, or the various daily readings, and may have helped users navigate to the relevant part of the text (medieval books almost never had page numbers). Many psalters, particularly from the 12th century onwards, included a richly decorated "prefatory cycle" - a series of full-page illuminations preceding the Psalms, usually illustrating the Passion story, though some also featuring Old Testament narratives. Such images helped to enhance the book's status, and also served as aids to contemplation in the practice of personal devotions.
The psalter is also a part of either the Horologion
Horologion
The 'Horologion' , or Book of Hours, provides the fixed portions of the Daily Cycle of services as used by the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic churches...
or 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...
, used to say the Liturgy of the Hours
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...
in the Eastern and Western Christian worlds respectively.
Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Catholic
In Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Catholic usage the psalter is divided into 20 kathismaKathisma
A Kathisma , literally, "seat", is a division of the Psalter, used by Eastern Orthodox Christians and Eastern Catholics who follow the Byzantine Rite...
ta, for reading at Vespers
Vespers
Vespers is the evening prayer service in the Western Catholic, Eastern Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, and Lutheran liturgies of the canonical hours...
and Matins
Matins
Matins is the early morning or night prayer service in the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran and Eastern Orthodox liturgies of the canonical hours. The term is also used in some Protestant denominations to describe morning services.The name "Matins" originally referred to the morning office also...
. Kathisma means sitting, since the people normally sit during the reading of the psalms. Each kathisma is divided into three stases, from stasis, to stand, because each stasis ends with Glory to the Father…
Doxology
A doxology is a short hymn of praises to God in various Christian worship services, often added to the end of canticles, psalms, and hymns...
, at which everyone stands. The reading of the kathismata are so arranged that the entire psalter is read through in the course of a week (during Great Lent
Great Lent
Great Lent, or the Great Fast, is the most important fasting season in the church year in Eastern Christianity, which prepares Christians for the greatest feast of the church year, Pascha . In many ways Great Lent is similar to Lent in Western Christianity...
it is read through twice in a week). During Bright Week
Bright Week
Bright Week or Renewal Week is the name used by the Eastern Orthodox Church and Eastern Catholic Churches of the Byzantine Rite for the period of seven days beginning on Pascha and continuing up to the following Sunday, which is known as Thomas Sunday...
(Easter Week) there is no reading from the psalter. Orthodox psalters usually also contain the Biblical canticles
Canticle
A canticle is a hymn taken from the Bible. The term is often expanded to include ancient non-biblical hymns such as the Te Deum and certain psalms used liturgically.-Roman Catholic Church:From the Old Testament, the Roman Breviary takes seven canticles for use at Lauds, as follows:*...
, which are read at the canon
Canon (hymnography)
A canon is a structured hymn used in a number of Eastern Orthodox services. It consists of nine odes, sometimes called canticles or songs depending on the translation, based on the Biblical canticles. Most of these are found in the Old Testament, but the final ode is taken from the Magnificat and...
of Matins during Great Lent. Some Orthodox psalters also contain special prayers for the departed
Prayer for the dead
Wherever there is a belief in the continued existence of man's personality through and after death, religion naturally concerns itself with the relations between the living and the dead...
, which are used during the wake
Wake (ceremony)
A wake is a ceremony associated with death. Traditionally, a wake takes place in the house of the deceased, with the body present; however, modern wakes are often performed at a funeral home. In the United States and Canada it is synonymous with a viewing...
, when the psalms are read over the deceased (see Christian burial
Christian burial
A Christian burial is the burial of a deceased person with specifically Christian ecclesiastical rites; typically, in consecrated ground. Until recent times Christians generally objected to cremation, and practised inhumation almost exclusively, but this opposition has weakened, and now vanished...
).
Post medieval psalters
In British North America, the first book printed was the Bay Psalm BookBay Psalm Book
The Bay Psalm Book was the first book, that is still in existence, printed in British North America.The book is a Psalter, first printed in 1640 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The Psalms in it are metrical translations into English...
in 1640 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The Psalms in it are metrical translations into English.
Significant psalters
- Cathach of St. ColumbaCathach of St. ColumbaThe Cathach of St. Columba is an late 6th century Irish Psalter.It is traditionally associated with St. Columba , and was identified as the copy made by him of a book loaned to him by St. Finnian, and which led to the Battle of Cúl Dreimhne in 561...
, early 7th century - Psalterium SinaiticumPsalterium SinaiticumThe Psalterium Sinaiticum is a 209-folio Glagolitic Old Church Slavonic canon manuscript, the earliest Slavic psalter, dated to the 11th century...
, 11th century - Canterbury Psalter, 1147
- Salaberga Psalter
- Vespasian PsalterVespasian PsalterThe Vespasian Psalter is an Anglo-Saxon illuminated Psalter produced in the second or third quarter of the 8th century. It contains an interlinear gloss in Old English which is the oldest extant English translation of any portion of the Bible. It was produced in southern England, perhaps in St...
, 2nd quarter of the 8th century - Irish Bog PsalterIrish bog psalterThe Faddan More Psalter The Faddan More Psalter The Faddan More Psalter (also Irish Bog Psalter or "Faddan Mor Psalter" is an early medieval Christian psalter or text of the book of Psalms, discovered in a peat bog in July 2006, in the townland of Faddan More in north County Tipperary, Ireland. The...
- Psalter of Lothaire
- Montpellier PsalterMontpellier PsalterThe Montpellier Psalter is one of the oldest Psalter from the Carolingian era and was made in the 8th century in the then-Bavarian Mondsee Abbey during the reign of the Agilolfings and was supposedly originally dedicated to the Bavarian...
- Chludov PsalterChludov PsalterChludov Psalter is an illuminated marginal Psalter made in the middle of the 9th Century. It is a unique monument of Byzantine art at the time of the Iconoclasm, one of only three illuminated Byzantine Psalters to survive from the 9th century....
, 3rd quarter of the 9th century - Stuttgart Psalter
- Utrecht PsalterUtrecht PsalterThe Utrecht Psalter is a ninth century illuminated psalter which is a key masterpiece of Carolingian art; it is probably the most valuable manuscript in the Netherlands. It is famous for its 166 lively pen illustrations, with one accompanying each psalm and the other texts in the manuscript...
, 9th century - Southampton PsalterSouthampton PsalterThe Southampton Psalter is an Insular illuminated Psalter from Ireland. It is asserted by some to be from ninth-century in date, while other scholars have argued for a tenth- or even early eleventh-century dating...
- Gertrude PsalterGertrude PsalterThe Gertrude Psalter is a medieval illuminated manuscript Psalter preserved in the municipal museum of Cividale, Italy...
, late 10th century with mid-11th century illuminations - Stavelot Psalter
- Bosworth Psalter
- Aethelstan Psalter
- Harley PsalterHarley PsalterThe Harley Psalter is an illuminated manuscript of the second and third decades of the eleventh century, with some later additions. It is a Latin psalter on vellum, measures 380 x 310 mm and was probably produced at Christ Church, Canterbury...
- Ramsey PsalterRamsey PsalterThe Ramsey Psalter is an illuminated manuscript of the tenth century. Its script and decoration suggest that it was made at Winchester, but certain liturgical features have suggested that it was intended for use at the Benedictine monastery of Ramsey, or for the personal use of Ramsey's founder St...
- Codex Vossanius
- Paris PsalterParis PsalterThe Paris Psalter is a Byzantine illuminated manuscript containing 449 folios and 14 full-page miniatures "in a grand, almost classical style", as the Encyclopædia Britannica put it....
, 10th century - Heidelberg Psalter
- Vatopedi Psalter
- St. Albans PsalterSt. Albans PsalterThe St Albans Psalter, also known as the Albani Psalter or the Psalter of Christina of Markyate, is an English illuminated manuscript, one of several Psalters known to have been created at or for St Albans Abbey in the 12th century...
- Theodore Psalter, 1066, at the British LibraryBritish LibraryThe 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,...
- Eadui Psalter
- Tiberias Psalter
- Vitellius Psalter
- Winchester PsalterWinchester PsalterThe Winchester Psalter is an English 12th-century illuminated manuscript psalter , also sometimes known as the Psalter of Henry of Blois, and formerly known as the St Swithun's Psalter...
- Melisende PsalterMelisende PsalterThe Melisende Psalter is an illuminated manuscript commissioned around 1135 in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem, probably by King Fulk for his wife Queen Melisende...
, circa 1135 - Shaftesbury Psalter
- Westminster Psalter
- Camaldoli Psalter
- Gough Psalter
- London Psalter
- Psalter of Lambert de Bègue
- Grandisson Psalter
- Huth Psalter
- Oscott Psalter
- Alphonso Psalter
- Rutland Psalter
- Felbrigge PsalterFelbrigge PsalterThe Felbrigge Psalter is an illuminated manuscript Psalter from mid-13th century England that has an embroidered bookbinding which probably dates to the early 14th century. It is the oldest surviving book from England to have an embroidered binding...
- Psalter of Robert de Lindesey
- Ramsey PsalterRamsey PsalterThe Ramsey Psalter is an illuminated manuscript of the tenth century. Its script and decoration suggest that it was made at Winchester, but certain liturgical features have suggested that it was intended for use at the Benedictine monastery of Ramsey, or for the personal use of Ramsey's founder St...
- Psalter of St. LouisPsalter of St. LouisThe Psalter of Saint Louis is an illuminated psalter created for the saint King Louis IX of France sometime between the death of his mother Blanche of Castile in 1253 and his death in 1270...
- Luttrell PsalterLuttrell PsalterThe Luttrell Psalter is an illuminated manuscript written and illustrated circa 1320 – 1340 by anonymous scribes and artists...
- Gorleston Psalter
- Macclesfield PsalterMacclesfield PsalterThe Macclesfield Psalter is a lavishly illuminated manuscript from the English region of East Anglia, written in Latin and produced around 1330...
- De Lisle Psalter
- Queen Mary PsalterQueen Mary PsalterThe Queen Mary Psalter is a fourteenth-century psalter named for Mary I of England, who received it in 1553. Besides devotional texts, the illuminated manuscript contains a bestiary. The psalter is an important devotional text and is noted for its beauty, and is called "one ofthe choicest...
- St. Omer Psalter
- Psalter of Henry VIIIPsalter of Henry VIIIThe Psalter of Henry VIII is a 16th century illuminated psalter that belonged to Henry VIII of England. It is now in the British Library as MS Royal 2 A xvi. The king commissioned the book in the early 1540s from the French illuminator Jean Mallard, who had at one time worked for Francis I...
- Tomich Psalter
- Psalter of Bonne de Luxembourg
- Tickhill PsalterTickhill PsalterThe Tickhill Psalter is an 14th century illuminated manuscript. It is beautifully illuminated with scenes from the life of King David. Created in the early 14th century, the manuscript was originally part of the library of the Worksop Priory in north Nottinghamshire. It is now kept in the New York...
- Ormesby Psalter
- Psalter of Jean, Duc de Berry
- Vienna Bohun Psalter
- Kiev Psalter of 1397Kiev Psalter of 1397The Kiev Psalter of 1397, or Spiridon Psalter, is one of the most famous East Slavic illuminated manuscripts, containing over three hundred miniatures...
- Burnet Psalter
- Sofia PsalterSofia PsalterThe Sofia Psalter , also known as Ivan Alexander's Psalter or the Kuklen Psalter, is a 14th-century Bulgarian illuminated psalter. It was produced in 1337 and belonged to the royal family of Tsar Ivan Alexander of Bulgaria....
- St. John's Bible- Psalms, 2007
Printed psalters
- Psalterium Romanum, 1457 [Mainz], Johann FustJohann FustJohann Fust was an early German printer.- Family background :Fust belonged to a rich and respectable burgher family of Mainz, traceable back to the early thirteenth-century; members of the family held many civil and religious offices.The name was always written Fust, but in 1506 Peter Schöffer, in...
and Peter SchöfferPeter SchöfferPeter Schöffer or Petrus Schoeffer was an early German printer, who studied in Paris and worked as a manuscript copyist in 1451 before apprenticing with Johannes Gutenberg and joining Johann Fust, a goldsmith, lawyer, and money lender.-Life and works:Working for Fust, Schöffer was the principal...
. The first printed psalter. - Psalterium Benedictinum, 1459 [Mainz], Johann FustJohann FustJohann Fust was an early German printer.- Family background :Fust belonged to a rich and respectable burgher family of Mainz, traceable back to the early thirteenth-century; members of the family held many civil and religious offices.The name was always written Fust, but in 1506 Peter Schöffer, in...
and Peter SchöfferPeter SchöfferPeter Schöffer or Petrus Schoeffer was an early German printer, who studied in Paris and worked as a manuscript copyist in 1451 before apprenticing with Johannes Gutenberg and joining Johann Fust, a goldsmith, lawyer, and money lender.-Life and works:Working for Fust, Schöffer was the principal...
. The second printed psalter. - Genevan PsalterGenevan psalterThe Genevan Psalter is a collection of metrical psalms created under the supervision of John Calvin.-Background:Before the Protestant Reformation the singing of the Psalms was generally done by a select group of performers, not by the entire congregation. John Calvin understood that the entire...
, 1562 - David's Psalter, a translation of the Book of Psalms into PolishPolish languagePolish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries...
by Jan KochanowskiJan KochanowskiJan Kochanowski was a Polish Renaissance poet who established poetic patterns that would become integral to Polish literary language.He is commonly regarded as the greatest Polish poet before Adam Mickiewicz, and the greatest Slavic poet, prior to the 19th century.-Life:Kochanowski was born at...
, 1579 - Scottish PsalterHymnbooks of the Church of ScotlandDecisions concerning the conduct of public worship in the Church of Scotland are entirely at the discretion of the parish minister. As a result, a wide variety of musical resources are used...
,1635 and 1650 - Bay Psalm BookBay Psalm BookThe Bay Psalm Book was the first book, that is still in existence, printed in British North America.The book is a Psalter, first printed in 1640 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The Psalms in it are metrical translations into English...
, 1640 - Grail, The Psalms, 1963, 1993
- ICEL PsalterICEL PsalterThe ICEL Psalter is a 20th century translation of the Book of Psalms, translated by the International Commission on English in the Liturgy, usually known as ICEL. The Psalter was Published by Liturgical Training Publications in 1995 with the imprimatur of Cardinal William Henry Keeler...
, 1995 - New England PsalterNew England PsalterThe New England Psalter was an early reading textbook for children which was first published in the late 17th century. It was preceded by the hornbook and the primer as early reading texts and by a variety of psalters which were used in religious services...
See also
- Metrical psalterMetrical psalterA metrical psalter is a kind of Bible translation: a book containing a metrical translation of all or part of the Book of Psalms in vernacular poetry, meant to be sung as hymns in a church. Some metrical psalters include melodies or even harmonizations...
- Book of HoursBook of HoursThe book of hours was a devotional book popular in the later Middle Ages. It is the most common type of surviving medieval illuminated manuscript. 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...
- Latin PsaltersLatin PsaltersThe Latin Psalters are the translations of the Book of Psalms into the Latin language. They are the premier liturgical resource used in the Liturgy of the Hours of the Latin Rites of the Roman Catholic Church...
- Luttrell PsalterLuttrell PsalterThe Luttrell Psalter is an illuminated manuscript written and illustrated circa 1320 – 1340 by anonymous scribes and artists...