A illuminated page from the Très Riches Heures showing the day for exchanging gifts from the month of January

A book of hours from the late 1470s.

A book of hours is the most common type of surviving medieval illuminated manuscript. Each book of hours is unique in one way or another, but all contain a collection of texts, prayers and psalms, along with appropriate illustrations, to form a reference for Catholic Christian worship and devotion. Download high resolution version (454x716, 96 KB) Les Très Riches Heures One of the early illustrated pages (Folio 2r) from the Très Riches Heures, one of the most richly decorated and most famous Book of Hours to have survived. ... Download high resolution version (454x716, 96 KB) Les Très Riches Heures One of the early illustrated pages (Folio 2r) from the Très Riches Heures, one of the most richly decorated and most famous Book of Hours to have survived. ... An illuminated page from the Très Riches Heures showing the day for exchanging gifts from the month of January The Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry (or simply the Très Riches Heures) is probably the most important illuminated manuscript of the 15th century, le roi des... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (2052x2824, 2038 KB) Hastings Book of Hours from late 1470s. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (2052x2824, 2038 KB) Hastings Book of Hours from late 1470s. ... The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times. ... In the strictest definition of illuminated manuscript, only manuscripts decorated with gold or silver, like this miniature of Christ in Majesty from the Aberdeen Bestiary (folio 4v), would be considered illuminated. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...

The Latin name for a book of hours is horae, the English one primer. The original books were always written in Latin. There are over 800 books of hours made in England scattered to libraries all over the world. Latin was the language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ...

Content

In its original form, a book of hours would list the appropriate texts for each liturgical hour of the day. However, over time, other references were often added, especially calendars of the religious and secular year along with the prayers and masses required for certain holy days. Owners often added their own notes.

The typical medieval manuscript called a book of hours is an abbreviated breviary, the book containing the liturgy recited in cloistered monasteries. The books of hours were composed for the lay people who wished to incorporate elements of monasticism into their devotional life. Reciting the hours typically centered upon the recitation or singing of a number of psalms, accompanied by set prayers. A typical book of hours contained: A breviary (from Latin brevis, short or concise) is a liturgical book containing the public or canonical prayers, hymns, the Psalms, readings, and notations for everyday use, especially for priests, in the Divine Office (i. ... A liturgy is the customary public worship of a religious group, according to their particular traditions. ... Monastery of St. ... Monasticism (from Greek: monachos — a solitary person) is the religious practice in which one renounces worldly pursuits in order to devote ones life fully to spiritual work. ... Psalms (Tehilim תהילים, in Hebrew) is a book of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, and of the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. ...

• The Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which included the fifteen Psalms of Degrees;
• The Office for the Dead, which included the seven Penitential Psalms;
• The Litany of Saints

Most books of hours began with these basic contents, and expanded them with a variety of prayers and devotions. The Marian prayers Obsecro te ("I beseech thee") and O Intemerata ("O undefiled one") were frequently added, as were devotions for use at Mass, and meditations on the Passion of Christ. The Little Office of Our Lady or Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a liturgical devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, in imitation of, and in addition to, the Divine Office in the Roman Catholic Church. ... This entry incorporates text from the public domain Eastons Bible Dictionary, originally published in 1897. ... The Office of the Dead is a prayer cycle of the Liturgy of the Hours in the Roman Catholic Church, said for the repose of the soul of a deceased. ... 24. ... The Litany of the Saints or Litaniae Sanctorum is a sacred prayer of the Roman Catholic Church and its Eastern Rite. ... A Medieval Low Mass by a bishop. ... The Passion is the theological term used for the suffering, both physical and mental, of Jesus in the hours prior to and including his trial and execution by crucifixion. ... Christ is the English of the Greek word (Christós), which literally means The Anointed One. ...

History

Originally the prayers in a book of hours were private ones but by the 12th century had become routine liturgical ones in the monasteries. After the Fourth Lateran Council, laypeople also become interested in them. Many of them were made for women. After the 1340s and the Black Death, the lay interest of these prayer books increased further. The Fourth Council of the Lateran was summoned by Pope Innocent III with his Bull of April 19, 1213. ... It has been suggested that Plague doctor be merged into this article or section. ...

Originally only the royalty, nobility, and the rich could afford to have their personal book of hours. Sometimes the books included prayers specifically composed for their owners or adapted to their tastes or gender, including adding their personal names to suitable prayers. Some of the surviving ones include portraits of their owners.

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 made the books more affordable and sometimes even commoners and servants could afford to buy one of the printed, unbound books of hours for their own use, leading them to become more popular than Psalters. For other articles which might have the same name, see Print (disambiguation). ... Psalms (Tehilim תהילים, in Hebrew) is a book of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, and of the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. ...

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 of medieval Christianity. Some of them were also decorated with jewelled covers, portraits, heraldic emblems, numerous illustrations, textual illuminations and marginal decorations. Many were bound as girdle books for easy carrying. Many, like the Talbot Hours of John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury, include a portrait of the owner, and in this case his wife, kneeling in adoration of the Virgin and Child. Large miniature cycles often covered the Labours of the Months, decorating the calendar, the Life of the Virgin in eight scenes decorating the Hours of the Virgin, which were sometimes decorated with the Passion of Christ instead. (14th century - 15th century - 16th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 15th century was that century which lasted from 1401 to 1500. ... (15th century - 16th century - 17th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 16th century was that century which lasted from 1501 to 1600. ... Look up Iconography in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Christianity percentage by country, purple is highest, orange is lowest Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Wycliffe Tyndale · Luther · Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Pope · Archbishop of Canterbury Patriarch... Heraldry in its most general sense encompasses all matters relating to the duties and responsibilities of officers of arms. ... A book hangs from a monks girdle, ready for instant use and protected from thieves and the elements. ... John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury (1384/90 – 17 July 1453) was an important English military commander during the Hundred Years War. ... The term Labours of the Months refers to cycles seen in Medieval and early Renaissance art depicting in twelve scenes the rural activities that commonly took place in the months of the year. ... The Passion is the theological term used for the suffering, both physical and mental, of Jesus in the hours prior to and including his trial and execution by crucifixion. ...

The amount of money the books of hours represented made them also important status symbols that the wealthy wanted to have whether they were pious or not. Wealthy people also sometimes competed trying to outdo each other with decorations of the books they commissioned. The books were also often passed along as gifts to favoured children, friends and servants and even as signs of dynastic allegiances. A mother could pass her book on to her eldest daughter, and the same book could pass along in the same family for centuries. Various queens gave books to their favoured ladies in waiting. A status symbol is something, usually an expensive or rare object, that indicates a high social status for its owner. ...

Long-lived books of hours could also be modified for their new owner. After defeating Richard III, Henry VII gave Richard's book of hours to his mother, and she modified it to include her name. Many surviving books have numerous handwritten annotations, personal additions and marginal notes but some new owners also commissioned new craftsmen to include more illustrations or scripts. Sir Thomas Lewkenor of Trotton hired an illustrator to add details to what is now known as the Lewkenor Hours. Richard III (2 October 1452 – 22 August 1485) was King of England from 1483 until his death. ... Henry VII (January 28, 1457 – April 21, 1509), King of England, Lord of Ireland (August 22, 1485 – April 21, 1509), was the founder and first patriarch of the Tudor dynasty. ...

The pages of books with a less glorious fate could have been just used for notes and scrap paper. Flyleaves of many surviving books include notes of household accounting or records of births and deaths. Some owners had also collected autographs and remembrances of visitors.

Towards the end of the 15th century, printers produced books of hours with woodcut illustrations. Stationers could mass-produce manuscript books on vellum with only plain artwork and later "personalize" them with equally mass-produced sets of illustrations from local printers. (14th century - 15th century - 16th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 15th century was that century which lasted from 1401 to 1500. ... Four horsemen of the Apocalypse by Albrecht Dürer Ukiyo-e woodcut, Ishiyama Moon by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (1889) Woodcut is a relief printing artistic technique in printmaking in which an image is carved into the surface of a block of wood, with the printing parts remaining level with the surface... Vellum (from the Latin for wool or pelt) is a sort of parchment, a material for the pages of a book or codex, characterized by its thin, smooth, durable properties. ...

Sample books of hours

One of the most famous books of hours, and one of the most richly illuminated medieval manuscripts, is the Très Riches Heures painted sometime between 1412 and 1416 in France for John, Duke of Berry. An illuminated page from the Très Riches Heures showing the day for exchanging gifts from the month of January The Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry (or simply the Très Riches Heures) is probably the most important illuminated manuscript of the 15th century, le roi des... Events End of the reign of Emperor Go-Komatsu of Japan. ... May 30 - The Catholic Church burns Jerome of Prague as a heretic. ... John of Valois, the Magnificent, (November 30, 1340 – March 15, 1416) was Duke of Berry and Auvergne and Count of Poitiers and Montpensier. ...

The De Brailes Hours was made around 1240. It is the earliest surviving English book of hours and includes four portraits of its first owner.

The Rothschild Prayerbook

The Rothschild Prayerbook, use of Rome, was made c. 1505 and is only three and a half inches thick. Louis Nathaniel von Rothschild owned it but Nazis confiscated the medieval Rothschild Book of Hours immediately after the March 1938 German annexation of Austria from members of the Viennese branch of the Mayer Amschel Rothschild family. Through the efforts of Bettina Looram-Rothschild, the niece and heir of the owner, the government of Austria returned the book and other works of art to her in 1999. It was sold for Ms Looram-Rothschild by Christie's auction house of London on July 8, 1999 for £8,580,000 ($13,400,000), a world auction record price for an illuminated manuscript. Baron Louis Nathaniel de Rothschild (German language: Louis (Ludwig) Nathaniel Freiherr von Rothschild) was an Austrian baron from the famous Rothschild family. ... National Socialism redirects here. ... German troops march into Austria on 12 March 1938. ... “Wien” redirects here. ... Rothschild Coat of Arms The Mayer Amschel Rothschild family (often referred to simply as The Rothschilds), is an eminent international banking and finance dynasty of German Jewish origin that established operations across Europe, and was ennobled by the Austrian and British governments. ... The Christies auction house in South Kensington, London Christies American branch in Rockefeller Center, New York Christies is a fine art auction house, the largest and by some accounts the oldest in the world. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ...

The Connolly Book of Hours

The Connolly Book of Hours, was produced during the fifteenth century and is an excellent example of a manuscript Book of Hours produced for a non-aristocratic patron. It was the subject of a 1999 volume by Timothy M. Sullivan, et al, that documented and contextualized all the illuminated leaves in the book. Timothy M. Sullivan (born October 24, 1977) is an interior designer and entrepreneur in Boston. ...

See also

• Canonical hours
• Horologion

Canonical hours are ancient divisions of time, developed by the Christian Church, serving as increments between the prescribed prayers of the daily round. ... Please wikify (format) this article as suggested in the Guide to layout and the Manual of Style. ...

Notes

References

• The Oxford Dictionary of Art ISBN 0-19-280022-1
• Duffy, Eamon, The Stripping of the Altars: Traditional Religion in England 1400-1580 (Yale, 1992) ISBN 0-300-06076-9
• The Hours of Mary of Burgundy (facsimile edition, Harvey Miller, 1995) ISBN 1-872501-87-7
• Eamon Duffy - A Very Personal Possession (History Today November 2006)

Eamon Duffy is an Irish Professor of the History of Christianity at the University of Cambridge, and former President of Magdalene College. ...

External links

General information:

• A Hypertext Book of Hours; full texts and translation
• Museum of the Book, The Hague. Explanation and many examples illustrated
• 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.

Full turn the pages online individual manuscripts:

• The Sforza hours Turn the pages of the Sforza Hours at the British Library (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.
• MS Richardson 7. Heures de Nôtre Dame at Houghton Library, Harvard University.