Original leaf from a medieval manuscript Book of Hours. 14 lines, of red-ruled Latin in dark brown ink, written in fine gothic script on animal vellum. (103 x 73mm – 4 x 2 3/8’’)
One two-line illuminated initial in burnished gold on a red and blue ground with white penwork – extending into the margin top and bottom with a delicate floral design in burnished gold, green, pink and brown.
England, c. 1440 (likely Syon Abbey, by a member of the Bridgettine Order).
This leaf concludes the prayer: “Familiam tuam…” (We beseech Thee, upon this thy family, for which our Lord Jesus Christ did not refuse to be delivered into the hands of wicked men, and to endure the torment of the cross; who liveth and reigneth).
The two-line illuminated “D” begins: “Deus qui…” (O God, whose hands, feet, and whole body suffered on the cross on behalf of us sinners…).
English manuscript Books of Hours are very uncommon. In 1533 Henry VIII decreed that books relating to the practices of the Church of Rome should be destroyed. Most of the remaining examples were held secretly in private hands.
The Bridgettine (or Brigittine) Order was a monastic religious order of Augustinian nuns. The Bridgettine monastery of Syon Abbey, Ipswich, Middlesex was founded and royally endowed by Henry V in 1415 and became one of the richest and most influential religious communities in England until its dissolution under Henry VIII.
Presented in an archival 14 x 11'' mat
