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The
Illuminated Manuscript Company Presents: This Issue: Books of Hours |
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Book of Hours, the most common books found in medieval households, were the “bestsellers” of the high middle ages. Unlike most religious texts, Books of Hours were written for private devotion; these were the laity’s prayer books. Families who owned no other books often owned a Book of Hours. Although all books were expensive, Books of Hours could be relatively affordable. Mind you, only fairly wealthy people could afford books (or even read them!) so as popular as they may have been, they weren’t Harry Potter. |
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| A family wanting a Book of Hours had a few options. The first decision they needed to make was whether they wanted a ready made one or a custom made one. If the family opted for the custom-made Book of Hours, the patron needed to decide how elaborate he wanted the book. A wealthy patron might choose to have numerous miniatures (paintings) and lavishly decorated borders with ornate initials. He might even opt to have a painting of himself included in the book (in penitential prayer of course!) Those on a tighter budget could opt for fewer miniatures, and simple (or no) borders and initials. Thus, today, when we look at a Book of Hours, we can get a good sense of the economic status of the patron. |
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| Once the proprietor of the book shop and the patron agreed on the terms of the sale, the shop would likely hire subcontractors to do much of the work. Numerous scribes and illuminators often worked on a single text |
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The owner of the Book of Hours was meant to stop eight times a day to read the appropriate prayers. The eight hours of prayer refer to the eight canonical hours (Matins, Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, None, Vespers, and Compline). These were the times that the clergy stopped to pray and the laity also was encouraged to perform their own abridged prayers during each of the eight hours. Of course we have no way of knowing if people in fact did read their prayers at each of the hours.
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Leaf with rubrics declaring at which canonical hour to recite specific prayers (matins, prime, etc.) |
| Books of Hours were not technically controlled by the church, so there were no specific requirements as to what payers they contained. Books of Hours, then, are not identical. They could vary by patron—for example a particularly sinful patron might request extra penitence prayers or a morbid patron might ask for second helpings of prayers for the Office of the Dead. Commonly, though, Books of Hours tended to be identifiable by the region in which they were used. You will see the phrase “Use of” followed by a city to indicate in which region the Book was used. Thus, a Book of Hours “Use of Paris” was somewhat different from one that was “Use of Utrecht.” |
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Despite the differences among various Books of Hours, they share a common core. For each canonical hour, there are usually a few Psalms, a brief reading and a prayer. The “Hours of the Virgin” are a universal component to Books of Hours. These are a series of prayers honoring the Virgin Mary at each of the canonical hours. Additionally, most Books of Hours contain the Office of the Dead (prayers reminding us of our mortality), the Penitential Psalms, and the Litany. The Litany evokes a series of saints, each of whom is followed by the words “ora pro nobis” or “pray for us.” Additionally, Books of Hours generally contained a calendar containing all of the Saints days.
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Litany of Saints from a Book of Hours |
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Individual regions or individual people might add other elements such as the Office of the Cross, Hours of the Holy Spirit, Hours of the Trinity, Hours of the Passion, etc. Sometimes prayers were added in the vernacular, especially French.
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A leaf written in French. |
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Not only were Books of Hours the key prayer book of each household, they were also the primer for teaching children how to read. The word “primer,” meaning a first reading book, is believed to derive from the office of Prime (the third canonical hour of the day). Books of Hours, then, were the medieval child’s Dick and Jane.
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Psalm 101, a Penitential Psalm, may have offered excellent lessons for children! |
| Books of Hours rose in popularity in the 14th and 15th centuries with relatively few dated before this time. Paris was a great center of illumination and illuminators came to Paris from throughout Europe. Flanders, Ghent, and Bruges were other popular centers. England may well have produced many Books of Hours, but few of these remain due to the destruction of Catholic scripture during the Reformation. Dutch Books of Hours are unusual in that they were often written in Dutch rather than Latin. |
Leaf in Dutch. The rebellious Dutch translated the Latin into the vernacular (perhaps shocking!) |
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Read prior issues of A Peek into the Past * For more information on Books of Hours or illuminated manuscripts in general, we recommend: De Hamel, Christopher. A History of Illuminated Manuscripts. London: Phaidon Press, 2005. |
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