Introduction
Religion played a fundamental role in teaching the population of the Middle Ages how to read. Two highly regarded texts were available to the masses, either through attending religious services and listening to clergy read from the Psalter manuscript, or through private devotion embodied in a personal prayer book such as a Book of Hours. The latter text gave women and the non-nobility a foothold in religious practices otherwise taught to nobility or otherwise dominated by men.
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| Illuminated Psalter (10) |
Psalter
Psalters were religious manuscripts used by members of the religious community—such as priests, monks, and nuns—as a guide for daily prayers. They were kept in churches and monasteries, and contained the Book of Psalms from the Bible, a collection of 150 Hebrew religious hymns (2); Old Testament texts, creeds, and other prayers (3); and illuminations colored in reds, blues, and golds, depicting many religious figures (2). The illuminations within the manuscripts were helpful for monastic students struggling to read Latin (1), and were very illustrative for the illiterate population of the Middle Ages.
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| "Initial B" (9) |
The texts of the Psalms were divided by large initials decorating entire pages, their sizes meant to differentiate from specific psalms that had to be read at certain hours (2). Those hours were marked by the Divine Office, or the Liturgy of the Hours, and consisted of seven-day hours and one night hour set aside for daily prayer and devotion to God. Before the book of hours was created, the wealthy laypeople, who could afford their own psalter, were able to read and participate in the hourly prayers, or they could reflect upon the psalms later in their own free time (1).
Books of Hours
The Books of Hours were personalized prayer books created for any common person of the Middle Ages. According to the Library of Congress, they were used for private devotion, and their rising popularity revealed how much the public wanted to speak to God and the saints independently rather than through the church (4). Similar to the Psalter, the Books of Hours contained psalms, prayers, and other religious texts, but "no two [were] exactly alike" (6). They were unique to their patrons in how much the pages were illuminated, the number of texts they desired, and how often they marked the calendars with personal events (such as births, deaths, and marriages) and saint's days.
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| The Annunciation, from a book of hours (11) |
Sections of any Book of Hours included (5):
1. A calendar that marked saint's days and other personal events unique to its owner.
2. Hours of the Virgin - Similar to the Psalter, the Hours of the Virgin adopted the same hours of the Divine Office, but they were hours devoted to the Virgin at the following times: Matins/Lauds (at night or after awakening), Prime (6 a.m.), Terce (9 a.m.), Sext (noon), None (3 p.m.), Vespers (in the evening), and Compline (before bed).
3. The Seven Penitential Psalms that helped readers avoid sin.
4. Obsecro Te and O Intemerata - Two opening prayers to the Virgin: "I beseech you" and "O immaculate Virgin."
5. Litany - a listing of saints.
6. Office of the Dead - Prayers meant to help loved ones pass on into Heaven.
7. Suffrages of the Saints - A section customized for the patron's favorite saint, including its portrait.
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| The Book of Hours (12) |
Women's Literacy & Religious Practices of the Middle Ages
Although the Books of Hours were available to anyone, regardless of gender or class, many Books had special relationships with the women that owned them. Not only did the Books give women a place in religious practices, they were often gifted to brides by their mothers to pass down into the new family they'd create (7). According to Reinburg, "women considered their books of hours intimate possessions, objects to be passed down as a precious legacy to daughters, goddaughters, and dearest friends" (8). Passing down the book of hours became a tradition of sharing female emotions, thoughts, and aspects of their lives, as well as fostering female connection between descendants and ancestors through religion.
Works Cited
(1) Cybulskie, Danièle. “What Is a Psalter?” Medievalists.Net, 1 Sept. 2022, www.medievalists.net/2015/08/what-is-a-psalter/.
(2) “Psalter.” Getty: The J. Paul Getty Museum Collection, www.getty.edu/art/collection/object/105SWH. Accessed 9 Sept. 2024.
(3) “The Psalter.” The Fitzwilliam Museum, fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/explore-our-collection/highlights/context/tradition-and-change/the-psalter. Accessed 9 Sept. 2024.
(4) “Book of Hours.” The Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/50041712/#:~:text=Summary,Virgin%20Mary%2C%20and%20individual%20saints. Accessed 9 Sept. 2024.
(5) “Books of Hours: Understanding the Sections of Books of Hours.” LibGuides at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, https://guides.library.illinois.edu/booksofhours. Accessed 9 Sept. 2024.
(6) Stein, Wendy A. “The Book of Hours: A Medieval Bestseller.” The Met’s Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History, June 2017, www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/hour/hd_hour.htm.
(7) “Books of Hours: Women’s Literacy & Religious Lives.” University College Oxford, 21 Feb. 2023, www.univ.ox.ac.uk/news/books-of-hours/#:~:text=Although%20not%20exclusively%20made%20for,worship%20independently%20of%20the%20church.
(9) Leaf from the Psalter: Initial B. 1300. The Walters Art Museum, https://art.thewalters.org/detail/8364/initial-b-with-two-men-playing-harps-2/
(10) Illuminated Psalter. 1100. The Met, https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/474236
(11) The Annunciation. 1390. The J. Paul Getty Museum, https://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/transcending_time/
(12) Catholic Church, et al. "Book of Hours." 1524. Pdf. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, .www.loc.gov/item/50041712/.
This is such an interesting topic. You have a lot of great information here. My favorite aspect you touched on was the book being an heirloom for women. I also found it interesting how accessible the Book of Hours is to individuals of every class.
ReplyDeleteAll of this information was new to me, and I think you did a wonderful job in your explanations. I especially liked how you broke down what the sections of the Book of Hours look like. Moreover, I like the connection you explained between the Book of Hours and women.
ReplyDelete