27 November 2013
Marginali-yeah: Take 2! The Incomparable Luttrell Psalter
It is almost impossible to discuss the fabulous and incomparable Luttrell Psalter (Add MS 42130) without resorting to hyperbole. Produced in Lincolnshire, England c. 1320-1340, for Sir Geoffrey Luttrell, its namesake and patron (please see our earlier blog post for more details), the manuscript is a glorious explosion of visual delights. Besides the illuminated and historiated initials, the Psalter contains hundreds of marginal and bas-de-page images which display a staggering and creative diversity. A very few (compared with the overwhelming numbers in the manuscript!) selected details are below; please have a look at the fully digitised manuscript here for much much more.
A lady with a pet squirrel, Add MS 42130, f. 33r
A monkey riding a goat whilst hawking (except with an owl, so not hawking), Add MS 42130, f. 38r
The martyrdom of Thomas Becket, with a grotesque nearby, and later 'x' marks effacing the painting, Add MS 42130, f. 51r
A dejected, nude, and tonsured man (a winning combination!) with an archer below, Add MS 42130, f. 54r
A man being bled into a bowl while an attentive bird looks on, Add MS 42130, f. 61r
A blue-skinned man (perhaps a Saracen or Ethiopian?) doing battle with a dragon (not a snail in sight), Add MS 42130, f. 83v
Medieval Angry Birds, Add MS 42130, f. 145r
Two grotesques fighting and fighting dirty, Add MS 42130, f. 153r
A monkey being extremely rude, as far as we can tell, Add MS 42130, f. 189v
A cat (of course!), Add MS 42130, f. 190r
Stealing fruit, Add MS 42130, f. 196v
A female grotesque riding, um, herself, Add MS 42130, f. 198v
This grotesque is unimpressed, Add MS 42130, f. 202r
Eeyore-ish, Add MS 42130, f. 208v
Check me out, Add MS 42130, f. 210r
This won't end well, Add MS 42130, f. 211r
Please let us know if you have any other favourites; you can always leave us a note in the comments below, or get in touch with us on Twitter @BLMedieval.
- Sarah J Biggs
25 November 2013
Happy St Catherine's Day!
St Catherine of Alexandria was one of the most venerated saints and martyrs in the medieval era, and indeed still is today. Especially on this day, which is that of her feast; we hope you all have your fireworks ready for a St Catherine’s Wheel!
Miniature of St Catherine before the wheel, with the Emperor Maxentius in the background, from the Beaufort/Beauchamp Hours, England (London) and Netherlands (Bruges), 1401- c. 1500, Royal MS 2 A XVIII, f. 15v
According to her legend, Catherine was born to the pagan King Constus and Queen Sabinella of Alexandria in the very late 3rd century AD. She was said to have been extremely well-educated, and converted to Christianity as a teenager. Her devotion to Christ was such that she determined to visit the Roman Emperor Maxentius to argue against his persecution of Christians. Needless to say, Maxentius was not receptive to her pleas, and had the young woman scourged and then thrown into prison. While there she was visited by a number of notables, including Maxentius’ wife; Catherine’s passionate eloquence, we are told, succeeded in converting all of these visitors to Christianity, even though this meant that they were immediately put to death by the Roman authorities.
Detail of a miniature of St Catherine being scourged, from the Taymouth Hours, England, 2nd quarter of the 14th century, Yates Thompson MS 13, f. 16v
After prison proved an ineffective constraint on Catherine, legend has it that the Emperor Maxentius tried a proposal of marriage, which Catherine rejected on the grounds that she had consecrated her virginity to Christ (although one imagines that the Christian-executing Emperor would not have been an attractive candidate to her regardless). Maxentius did not take this well either, and sent Catherine to be executed on the back-breaking spiked wheel. The wheel, however, miraculously broke apart the moment Catherine touched it, so Maxentius ordered that she be beheaded.
Miniature of St Catherine being beheaded, from a Book of Hours (Use of Angers), France (Angers), c. 1450, Harley MS 5370, f. 167r
St Catherine is one of the most recognizable saints in medieval art, as she is usually depicted with one or both of the instruments of her martyrdom, most often the spiked wheel. Devotion to her in the Middle Ages was intense, and miniatures of her appear in many manuscripts of the period. A number of these can be found below, including a remarkable sequence in the Queen Mary Psalter that details her martyrdom.
Detail of an historiated initial of St Catherine praying and the wheel breaking, from the Harley Hours (Use of Sarum), England, last quarter of the 13th century, Harley MS 928, f. 10r
Miniature of St Catherine before her suffrage, from a Book of Hours (Use of Sarum), Netherlands (Bruges), c. 1500, King’s MS 9, ff, 58v-59r
Miniature of St Catherine, much effaced (possibly because of devotional kissing of the miniature), from a Book of Hours (Use of Sarum), Netherlands, 3rd quarter of the 15th century, Harley MS 2966, f. 10r
Detail of a bas-de-page image of St Catherine in prison, surrounded by musical angels, from the Queen Mary Psalter, England, 1310-1320, Royal MS 2 B VII, f. 280r
Detail of a bas-de-page image of St Catherine praying and angels breaking apart the spiked wheel, from the Queen Mary Psalter, Royal MS 2 B VII, f. 283r
Detail of a bas-de-page image of St Catherine being buried by angels on Mount Sinai, from the Queen Mary Psalter, Royal MS 2 B VII, f. 284r
St Catherine is considered the patron saint of unmarried girls, craftspeople who work with wheels, such as potters and spinners, philosophers, students, librarians and archivists (luckily for us). Please do let us know if you have any other favourite images of this venerable saint, and we hope you have a happy St Catherine’s Day!
20 November 2013
The True History of Richard II
David Tennant (of Doctor Who and Hamlet fame) is currently wooing audiences in the new Royal Shakespeare Company production of Richard II. This is one of William's Shakespeare's most famous history plays, notable for the richness of its language (“This royal throne of kings, this sceptred isle ... This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England”) and its depiction of the king's decline and overthrow. But Shakespeare was equally notorious for embellishing the facts -- to what extent does his play reflect the true history of Richard II?
The presentation page of ‘The Capture and Death of King Richard’, showing the author, Jean Creton, and the Duke of Burgundy (London, British Library, MS Harley 1319, f. 2r).
Much of our knowledge of the downfall of King Richard II of England (1377–1399) is based on a contemporary account entitled La Prinse et Mort du Roy Richart (‘The Capture and Death of King Richard’). This work was composed by the French historian Jean Creton (c. 1386–1420), and presented to Philip the Bold, duke of Burgundy. Creton had been sent by King Charles VI of France to accompany Richard on a doomed expedition to Ireland in 1399, and was present when the English king was seized at Conwy in North Wales by the supporters of Henry Bolingbroke (the future Henry IV). La Prinse et Mort du Roy Richart records the official version of Richard II's death, namely that the king had died by starvation; but Creton believed that Richard remained alive and in prison. In 1402, when the French received reports that Richard II was in Scotland, Creton was despatched to ascertain the truth, at which point he finally concluded that King Richard was indeed dead.
A number of manuscripts of La Prinse et Mort du Roy Richart survive, one of which (Harley MS 1319) can be viewed in its entirety on the British Library's Digitised Manuscripts site. Made in Paris early in the 15th century, and painted by the Virgil Master, the manuscript in question contains a series of 16 miniatures which depict events in the final year of Richard II's reign.
A selection of images from Harley MS 1319 is reproduced here. We highly recommend that you look at the others on Digitised Manuscripts, so that you can see how people living in the 15th century would have viewed the life of Richard II, events which even at that time were subject to mystery and suspicion.
The relief ships (London, British Library, MS Harley 1319, f. 7v).
Archbishop Arundel preaching (London, British Library, MS Harley 1319, f. 12r).
Richard II at Conwy (London, British Library, MS Harley 1319, f. 19v).
Henry Bolingbroke and the dukes (London, British Library, MS Harley 1319, f. 30v).
Richard II and Henry Bolingbroke at Flint Castle (London, British Library, MS Harley 1319, f. 50r).
Richard II delivered to the citizens of London (London, British Library, MS Harley 1319, f. 53v).
Henry Bolingbroke recognized as king by the parliament (London, British Library, MS Harley 1319, f. 57r).
18 November 2013
Guess the Manuscript IX
We're returning to our Guess the Manuscript roots (which stretch all the way back to April of this year) for this latest instalment of everyone's favourite game: it's a diagram!
Same rules as always: the manuscript this comes from is part of the British Library collections and can be found somewhere on our Digitised Manuscripts site. Extra points if you can tell us what kind of diagram this is - good luck!
You can see previous examples of these puzzles here, and as always, you can leave a guess in the comments below, or contact us on Twitter @BLMedieval.
Update: This diagram is from Arundel MS 501, a miscellany put together from a number of different codices that range in date from the 11th to the 16th century and produced in Germany. Congratulations to @melibeus1, who solved this with impressive speed, and provided the following description: 'Diagram, at the end of an explanation to the Tables for finding the moveable feasts, the age of the moon, the golden number and the hour of the new moon.' Well done!
14 November 2013
A New Life for Royal Manuscripts
It is always a great pleasure for us in the Medieval and Earlier Manuscripts Section to see the many and varied new ways that people make use of our 'old' material; see, for example, the dozens of retweets on our @BLMedieval Twitter account, or our previous post about a film inspired by the Luttrell Psalter. So, when Turner Prize-winning artist Mark Leckey asked to borrow several banners that had been on display during Royal Manuscripts: The Genius of Illumination for an exhibition he was curating, we were thrilled to participate.
Leckey's exhibition The Universal Addressability of Dumb Things was sponsored by the Hayward Gallery, Southbank Centre, and travelled to Liverpool, Nottingham, and Bexhill on Sea earlier this year. The exhibition explored 'how our relationships with artworks and common objects alike are being transformed through new information technologies' and included works of art from every genre and period. If you weren't able to catch the exhibition, here are a few images of our Royal banners in action!
Installation view: The Universal Addressability of Dumb Things curated by Mark Leckey, a Hayward Touring exhibition at Nottingham Contemporary 27 April – 30 June 2013. Photo: Andy Keate
Installation View: The Universal Addressability of Dumb Things curated by Mark Leckey, a Hayward Touring exhibition at De La Warr Pavilion 13 July – 20 October 2013. Photo: Nigel Green
Installation View: detail of a Mappa mundi from Bartholomaeus Angelicus' De proprietatibus rerum, Royal MS 15 E III, f. 67v, behind Double Dome, 1967 by Derek Boshier, courtesy the Arts Council Collection from The Universal Addressability of Dumb Things curated by Mark Leckey, a Hayward Touring exhibition at Nottingham Contemporary 27 April – 30 June 2013. Photo: Andy Keate
11 November 2013
An Imperial Psalter
One of our latest uploads to the Digitised Manuscripts website is this exquisite copy of the Psalms which dates from the middle of the ninth century and takes its name from Lothar I, the grandson of Charlemagne and successor to half of his kingdom.
Binding of the Lothar Psalter with a large silver-gilt medallion showing a head in profile wearing a crown or helmet; it is believed to be from the 9th century and may represent the Emperor Lothar, Add MS 37768, upper binding
Following a prayer in gold and red on the opening folios is a full page portrait of the Emperor Lothar wearing a cloak decorated with precious stones. On the page opposite is a dedicatory poem to Lothar written throughout in gold capitals.
Full-page miniature of the Emperor Lothar, from the Lothar Psalter, Germany (Aachen), c. 840-855, Add MS 37768, f. 4r
Following the miniature of Lothar - and in the same style - are portraits of King David and St Jerome, whose translation of the Bible into Latin was the standard version used throughout Christendom in the Middle Ages. Here Jerome is shown holding a book with a jewelled cover, perhaps representing a copy of his translation.
Full-page miniature of St Jerome, from the Lothar Psalter, Germany (Aachen), c. 840-855, Add MS 37768, f. 6r
The artist or artists responsible for the Psalter deliberately portrayed Lothar in the company of two of the most important religious leaders of the past, who represent power and knowledge. This manuscript was produced either at the imperial court of Aachen or by the monks of the abbey of St Martin, Tours, who made a series of exquisite books for the Imperial family, and was clearly a luxurious production. Every word in the entire manuscript is written in gold, and every tenth Psalm opens with a full-page ornamented initial in the Franco-Saxon style.
Decorated initial 'B'(eatus vir) (Blessed is the man) at the beginning of Psalm 1, from the Lothar Psalter, Germany (Aachen), c. 840-855, Add MS 37768, f. 9r
This initial is followed by folio after folio of beautiful Carolingian script, punctuated by finely decorated initials in green, red and gold.
Text page from the Psalms, from the Lothar Psalter, Germany (Aachen), c. 840-855, Add MS 37768, f. 11r
This was no doubt a prized family possession, as the opening prayer is believed to have been composed by a sister or daughter of Lothar. It was passed on to the Abbey of St Hubert near Liège and is believed to have been stolen from the abbey in the eleventh century. Fortunately it was eventually recovered, and was rescued during the French Revolution by Dom Etienne, a monk of St Hubert. There is no record of how it came to England, but it was owned by Sir Thomas Brooke of Huddersfield, who bequeathed it to the British Museum in 1908.
Decorated initial 'Q'(uem ammodum) at the beginning of Psalm 41, from the Lothar Psalter, Germany (Aachen), c. 840-855, Add MS 37768, f. 45v
- Chantry Westwell
06 November 2013
How Does Beowulf Begin?
We always like to hear about research that touches on the British Library's collections; and here is a good example. Anglo-Saxon scholars will invariably be familiar with the opening of the epic poem Beowulf, which starts with the word "Hwæt!". You can see the word in question above (the second letter is a wynn, pronounced w-), and you can view the whole manuscript online on our Digitised Manuscripts site.
This word "Hwæt" has puzzled translators for some considerable time, and it has been rendered variously as "What!" by William Morris (1895) and "So!" by Seamus Heaney (1999), among other interpretations. However, new research by George Walkden (University of Manchester) suggests that the context of "Hwæt" has been misunderstood: instead of functioning as a command to listen (along the lines of Hey! Oi you!), Walkden proposes that it should be translated as "How", in the sense of "How we have heard of the might of kings". Dr Walkden's conclusion is based on a close study of the other uses of this word and, if correct, adds a fresh perspective to the opening lines of Beowulf. Perhaps the original audience wasn't so inattentive, after all?
For those of you interested in what the poem would have sounded like, we'd also highly recommend the version by Benjamin Bagby. Or if you'd prefer to hear the opening lines in Hungarian (or French or Telugu), click here! "Listen up"" (as the Beowulf-poet apparently didn't say).
04 November 2013
Blackburn's 'Worthy Citizen': A Colloquium on the R. E. Hart Collection
Personification of Death at the beginning of the Office of the Dead, from an Italian Book of Hours, c. 1470-1480, Hart 20966, f. 106v
It is our very great pleasure to invite you - by proxy - to an upcoming colloquium about one of England's 'hidden' rare book and manuscript collections. Although it is not entirely unknown to scholars, the R. E. Hart collection of manuscripts, incunables, and early printed books (now held by the Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery) is rarely utilised by academics; the present curator of the Museum, Vinai Solanki, has welcomed only three such visitors in the past five years. This is a particular shame as the collection, though small, is spectacular, and contains such gems as the Peckover Psalter (France, c. 1220-40) and the Blackburn Psalter (England, William of Devon workshop, c. 1250-60), as well as a number of significant Books of Hours and early printed books.
Detail of an historiated initial 'B'(eatus vir) with two scenes of King David, at the beginning of the Psalms, from the Peckover Psalter, France, c. 1220-40, Hart 21117, f. 14v
An exhibition of ten items from the Hart collection will be available from 8 November to 28 November in Goldsmith's Library Reading Room, Senate House, London (see below), and this exhibition will culminate in a one-day colloquium on 23 November at the Institute of English Studies, Senate House; please see the relevant IES page here. Registration includes refreshments, lunch, and a wine reception at the end of the day, and the first 25 student places are offered free of charge.
More details about the project can be found at: http://www.blackhartbooks.wordpress.com/. We hope to see you there!
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