The Bedford Hours is a French late medieval
book of hours
The book of hours is a Christian devotional book used to pray the canonical hours. The use of a book of hours was especially popular in the Middle Ages and as a result, they are the most common type of surviving medieval illuminated manuscrip ...
. It dates to the early fifteenth century (c. 1410–30); some of its
miniatures, including the portraits of the Duke and Duchess of Bedford, have been attributed to the
Bedford Master
The Bedford Master was a manuscript illuminator active in Paris during the fifteenth century. He is named for the work he did on two books illustrated for John of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Bedford between 1415 and 1435. One is the Bedford Hours ...
and his workshop in Paris. The
Duke
Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ran ...
and
Duchess of Bedford
{{Notability, date=September 2022
Duchess of Bedford is a title given to the wife of the Duke of Bedford, an extant title in the peerage of England which was first created in 1414.
Duchesses of Bedford
;1st creation (1414)
* Anne of Burgundy (140 ...
gave the book to their nephew
Henry VI in 1430.
[McKendrick 2011, p. 398] It is in the
British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...
, catalogued as Add MS 18850.
History
The manuscript was produced over several stages, including new material that was added as the manuscript passed from owner to owner.
["Add MS 18850" on the British Library's Digitised Manuscripts website] The origins of the manuscript are not known with certainty, nor is there agreement on its initial patron. The inclusion of certain heraldic symbols in its decorative programme may suggest an original patronage in the French royal family, perhaps the
dauphin,
Louis of Guyenne (d. 1415).
[Stirnemann and Rabel 2005, p. 537][McKendrick 2011, p. 399] Or this first stage in production might have taken place later, after Louis's death, the heraldic symbols having no immediate reference to patronage, but simply being part of the standard iconographic programme of the workshop.
[König 2007, pp. 76-77]
In the early 1420s the manuscript was in the possession of
John of Lancaster, the Duke of Bedford and regent of France on behalf of his nephew
Henry VI from 1422 until his death in 1435. In 1423 he gave the manuscript to his wife
Anne of Burgundy
Anne of Burgundy, Duchess of Bedford (french: Anne de Bourgogne) (30 September 1404 – 13 November 1432) was a daughter of John the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy (1371–1419), and his wife Margaret of Bavaria (1363–1423).
Duchess of Bedford
In ...
as a wedding present.
[Spencer 1965, p. 496] Personalizing additions to the manuscript's illumination that commemorate its ownership by the Duke and Duchess of Bedford include two large portrait miniatures (ff. 256v and 257v), showing John kneeling before St George and Anne of Burgundy kneeling before St Anne.
[Backhouse 1990, p. 37]
In 1430 Anne gave the manuscript as a Christmas present to the nine-year-old Henry VI, who was staying with the Bedfords in
Rouen
Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine in northern France. It is the prefecture of the Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one of ...
before his coronation as king of France.
[Backhouse 1990, p. 59] This gift was memorialized in the manuscript itself, on f. 256r, in an inscription made at the duke's request, written by
John Somerset
John Somerset or Somerseth (died 1454) was an English physician and administrator.
He was born in London and attended Oxford University, but moved to Cambridge University to avoid the plague, graduating master in 1418.
Thomas Beaufort, Duke of ...
, Henry's tutor and personal physician.
[Backhouse 1990, pp. 59-61] It is possible that it was in preparing the book as a gift to Henry that the portrait miniatures of the Bedfords were added, along with other additions to the programme of illumination.
Later owners include
King Henry II of France and his wife
Catherine de' Medici
Catherine de' Medici ( it, Caterina de' Medici, ; french: Catherine de Médicis, ; 13 April 1519 – 5 January 1589) was an Florentine noblewoman born into the Medici family. She was Queen of France from 1547 to 1559 by marriage to King ...
(identifiable by their coats of arms, added to the manuscript), and Frances Worsley (1673-1750), wife of Sir Robert Worsley, 4th baronet of Appuldurcombe.
Edward Harley probably purchased the manuscript from Frances Worsley, but he did not will it to his widow with the rest of the
Harley collection
The Harleian Library, Harley Collection, Harleian Collection and other variants ( la, Bibliotheca Harleiana) is one of the main "closed" collections (namely, historic collections to which new material is no longer added) of the British Library in ...
, instead bequeathing it directly to his daughter,
Margaret Bentinck, Duchess of Portland
Margaret Cavendish Bentinck, Duchess of Portland (11 February 1715 – 17 July 1785) was a British aristocrat, styled Lady Margaret Harley before 1734, Duchess of Portland from 1734 to her husband's death in 1761, and Dowager Duchess of Por ...
.
After the Duchess's death, the Bedford Hours was sold in 1786 to
James Edwards, a private collector who outbid the king.
George Spencer-Churchill, 5th Duke of Marlborough
George Spencer-Churchill, 5th Duke of Marlborough FSA (6 March 1766 – 5 March 1840), styled Marquess of Blandford until 1817, was a British nobleman, politician, peer, and collector of antiquities and books.
He was the first one to specifi ...
bought the manuscript, along with the rest of Edwards's library. Then from the sale of the Duke's library,
Sir John Tobin
Sir John Tobin (1763–1851) was a Manx merchant based in Liverpool. He was a merchant seaman who became a sea captain, making voyages both as a slave trader and as a privateer against French shipping. He was Mayor of Liverpool in 1819–1820. In ...
bought it: and in 1838 he gave it to his son, the Rev. John Tobin, who sold it in 1851 to the bookseller William Boone. The manuscript was purchased by the
British Museum
The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
in 1852, and now forms part of the British Library's collection of
Additional manuscripts The Additional manuscripts are a collection of manuscripts stored at the British Library. The collection was started at the British Museum in 1756, and passed to the British Library on its establishment in 1973. They form by far the largest collecti ...
.
Contents
![Annunciation - British Library Add MS 18850 f32r](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/ff/Annunciation_-_British_Library_Add_MS_18850_f32r.jpg)
The contents of the Bedford Hours can be divided into several major sections of content normal for a conventional book of hours, with the later addition of three smaller sections of supplementary material, mostly miniatures.
[Backhouse 1981, p. 47] These contents are:
[This list is adapted from the list of contents given in Backhouse 1990, p. 63, an]
'Add MS 18850'
on the British Library's Digitised Manuscripts website.
#Calendar (ff. 1r-12v): decorated with the
Labours of the Months
The term Labours of the Months refers to cycles in Medieval and early Renaissance art depicting in twelve scenes the rural activities that commonly took place in the months of the year. They are often linked to the signs of the Zodiac, and are ...
and the symbols of the
Zodiac
The zodiac is a belt-shaped region of the sky that extends approximately 8° north or south (as measured in celestial latitude) of the ecliptic, the Sun path, apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year. ...
#(minor insertion)
Genesis
Genesis may refer to:
Bible
* Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind
* Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book of ...
miniatures (ff. 13v-18v): includes full-page miniatures of the story of
Adam and Eve
Adam and Eve, according to the creation myth of the Abrahamic religions, were the first man and woman. They are central to the belief that humanity is in essence a single family, with everyone descended from a single pair of original ancestors. ...
,
Noah's Ark
Noah's Ark ( he, תיבת נח; Biblical Hebrew: ''Tevat Noaḥ'')The word "ark" in modern English comes from Old English ''aerca'', meaning a chest or box. (See Cresswell 2010, p.22) The Hebrew word for the vessel, ''teva'', occurs twice in t ...
and the
Tower of Babel
The Tower of Babel ( he, , ''Mīgdal Bāḇel'') narrative in Genesis 11:1–9 is an origin myth meant to explain why the world's peoples speak different languages.
According to the story, a united human race speaking a single language and mi ...
#Gospel excerpts and prayers to the
Virgin
Virginity is the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. The term ''virgin'' originally only referred to sexually inexperienced women, but has evolved to encompass a range of definitions, as found in traditional, modern ...
(ff. 19r-31v): includes large miniatures of the four
Evangelists
Evangelists may refer to:
* Evangelists (Christianity), Christians who specialize in evangelism
* Four Evangelists, the authors of the four Gospel accounts in the New Testament
* ''The Evangelists
''The Evangelists'' (''Evangheliştii'' in Roma ...
#
Hours of the Virgin
The Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary, also known as Hours of the Virgin, is a liturgical devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, in imitation of, and usually in addition to, the Divine Office in the Catholic Church. It is a cycle of psalms, ...
(ff. 32r-95v): includes large miniatures of the
Annunciation
The Annunciation (from Latin '), also referred to as the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Annunciation of Our Lady, or the Annunciation of the Lord, is the Christian celebration of the biblical tale of the announcement by the ange ...
,
Visitation,
Nativity,
Annunciation to the shepherds
The annunciation to the shepherds is an episode in the Nativity of Jesus described in the Bible in Luke 2, in which angels tell a group of shepherds about the birth of Jesus. It is a common subject of Christian art and of Christmas carols.
B ...
,
Adoration of the Magi
The Adoration of the Magi or Adoration of the Kings is the name traditionally given to the subject in the Nativity of Jesus in art in which the three Magi, represented as kings, especially in the West, having found Jesus by following a star, ...
,
Presentation in the Temple
A presentation conveys information from a speaker to an audience. Presentations are typically demonstrations, introduction, lecture, or speech meant to inform, persuade, inspire, motivate, build goodwill, or present a new idea/product. Presenta ...
,
Flight into Egypt
The flight into Egypt is a story recounted in the Gospel of Matthew ( Matthew 2:13– 23) and in New Testament apocrypha. Soon after the visit by the Magi, an angel appeared to Joseph in a dream telling him to flee to Egypt with Mary and the i ...
, and
Death
Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...
and
Coronation
A coronation is the act of placement or bestowal of a coronation crown, crown upon a monarch's head. The term also generally refers not only to the physical crowning but to the whole ceremony wherein the act of crowning occurs, along with the ...
of the Virgin.
#
Penitential Psalms
The Penitential Psalms or Psalms of Confession, so named in Cassiodorus's commentary of the 6th century AD, are the Psalms Psalm 6, 6, Psalm 32, 31, Psalm 38, 37, Psalm 51, 50, Psalm 102, 101, Psalm 130, 129, and Psalm 143, 142 (6, 32, 38, 51, 102 ...
, Litany, and Hours specific to the days of the week (ff. 96r-156v): includes large miniatures of
David
David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...
and
Bathsheba
Bathsheba ( or ; he, בַּת־שֶׁבַע, ''Baṯ-šeḇaʿ'', Bat-Sheva or Batsheva, "daughter of Sheba" or "daughter of the oath") was the wife of Uriah the Hittite and later of David, according to the Hebrew Bible. She was the mother of ...
, the Trinity, a performance of the
Office of the Dead
The Office of the Dead or Office for the Dead (in Latin, Officium Defunctorum) is a prayer cycle of the Canonical Hours in the Catholic Church, Anglican Church and Lutheran Church, said for the repose of the soul of a decedent. It is the proper r ...
, the Coronation of the Virgin,
Pentecost
Pentecost (also called Whit Sunday, Whitsunday or Whitsun) is a Christianity, Christian holiday which takes place on the 50th day (the seventh Sunday) after Easter Sunday. It commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles in the Ne ...
, the
Last Supper
Image:The Last Supper - Leonardo Da Vinci - High Resolution 32x16.jpg, 400px, alt=''The Last Supper'' by Leonardo da Vinci - Clickable Image, Depictions of the Last Supper in Christian art have been undertaken by artistic masters for centuries, ...
, the
Crucifixion
Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the victim is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross or beam and left to hang until eventual death from exhaustion and asphyxiation. It was used as a punishment by the Persians, Carthagin ...
, and the Virgin as the
Virgin of Mercy
The Virgin of Mercy is a subject in Christian art, showing a group of people sheltering for protection under the outspread cloak, or pallium, of the Virgin Mary. It was especially popular in Italy from the 13th to 16th centuries, often as a speci ...
#
Office of the Dead
The Office of the Dead or Office for the Dead (in Latin, Officium Defunctorum) is a prayer cycle of the Canonical Hours in the Catholic Church, Anglican Church and Lutheran Church, said for the repose of the soul of a decedent. It is the proper r ...
(ff. 157r-99r): introduced by a large miniature of the
Last Judgement
The Last Judgment, Final Judgment, Day of Reckoning, Day of Judgment, Judgment Day, Doomsday, Day of Resurrection or The Day of the Lord (; ar, یوم القيامة, translit=Yawm al-Qiyāmah or ar, یوم الدین, translit=Yawm ad-Dīn, ...
#French prayers (ff. 199v-207v): includes large miniatures of the
Madonna and Child
In art, a Madonna () is a representation of Mary, either alone or with her child Jesus. These images are central icons for both the Catholic and Orthodox churches. The word is (archaic). The Madonna and Child type is very prevalent in ...
and the
Trinity
The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God the F ...
#Hours of the
Passion (ff. 208r-55v): includes miniatures of the
Agony in the Garden
The Agony in the Garden of Gethsemane is an episode in the life of Jesus. After the Last Supper, Jesus enters a garden where he experiences great anguish and prays to be delivered from his impending death on the cross ("Take this cup from me") ...
, the
Arrest of Christ, Christ before
Pilate
Pontius Pilate (; grc-gre, Πόντιος Πιλᾶτος, ) was the fifth governor of the Roman province of Judaea, serving under Emperor Tiberius from 26/27 to 36/37 AD. He is best known for being the official who presided over the trial of J ...
, the
Flagellation
Flagellation (Latin , 'whip'), flogging or whipping is the act of beating the human body with special implements such as whips, rods, switches, the cat o' nine tails, the sjambok, the knout, etc. Typically, flogging has been imposed on ...
,
Christ carrying the cross
Christ Carrying the Cross on his way to his crucifixion is an episode included in the Gospel of John, and a very common subject in art, especially in the fourteen Stations of the Cross, sets of which are now found in almost all Roman Catholic ...
, the Crucifixion, the
Deposition from the cross, and the
Entombment
Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and objec ...
#(minor insertion) prayers and portraits of John, Duke of Bedford and his wife Anne, Duchess of Bedford (ff. 256r-59v): includes also the inscription by John Somerset, recording the gift of the manuscript to Henry VI
#Suffrages to the saints, commemorations of saints, special masses (ff. 260r-87v)
#(minor insertion) full-page miniature depicting the legend of the
Fleurs-de-lis
The fleur-de-lis, also spelled fleur-de-lys (plural ''fleurs-de-lis'' or ''fleurs-de-lys''), is a lily (in French, and mean 'flower' and 'lily' respectively) that is used as a decorative design or symbol.
The fleur-de-lis has been used in the ...
and its presentation to King
Clovis (ff. 288r-89v)
Illumination
The programme of decoration in the Bedford Hours is an outstanding example of late medieval
illumination. The artists responsible for the manuscript have not been identified with certainty, but are collectively known as the "Bedford Workshop", and the head artist is likewise known as the "
Bedford Master
The Bedford Master was a manuscript illuminator active in Paris during the fifteenth century. He is named for the work he did on two books illustrated for John of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Bedford between 1415 and 1435. One is the Bedford Hours ...
".
[Stirnemann and Rabel 2005]
The hands of the Bedford Master and the Bedford Workshop have been identified in other manuscripts from this period, including the Salisbury Breviary (Paris,
Bibliothèque nationale de France
The Bibliothèque nationale de France (, 'National Library of France'; BnF) is the national library of France, located in Paris on two main sites known respectively as ''Richelieu'' and ''François-Mitterrand''. It is the national repository ...
, MS.lat. 17294), also owned by the Duke of Bedford.
The illumination of the Bedford Hours is also related to that of the ''
Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry
The Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry (; en, The Very Rich Hours of the Duke of Berry) or Très Riches Heures, is the most famous and possibly the best surviving example of manuscript illumination in the late phase of the International Goth ...
'' (Chantilly, Musée Condé MS 65), illuminated by the
Limbourg brothers
The Limbourg brothers ( nl, Gebroeders van Limburg or Gebroeders Van Lymborch; fl. 1385 – 1416) were famous
Dutch miniature painters (Herman, Paul, and Johan) from the city of Nijmegen. They were active in the early 15th century in France ...
.
[Reynolds 2005] It is possible that some of the Bedford Hours miniatures were based on images in the ''Très Riches Heures''.
[Reynolds 2005, pp. 536-37]
Other products of the Bedford Workshop include:
[Reynolds 2005, p. 529]
*the Lamoignon Hours (Lisbon, Gulbenkian Foundation, MS LA 237): made c. 1420 and owned by
Isabella of Brittany
Isabella of Brittany (french: Isabelle; 1411 – c. 1444) was a daughter of John V, Duke of Brittany, and his wife, Joan of Valois. Isabella was a member of the House of Dreux.
Family
Isabella's maternal grandparents were Charles VI of France a ...
["The ''Book of Hours of Isabel of Brittany''" on the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation's Manuscripts Online website]
*Vienna,
Österreichische Nationalbibliothek
The Austrian National Library (german: Österreichische Nationalbibliothek) is the largest library in Austria, with more than 12 million items in its various collections. The library is located in the Neue Burg Wing of the Hofburg in center of Vi ...
cod. 1855: made c. 1422-1425 for
Charles VII of France
Charles VII (22 February 1403 – 22 July 1461), called the Victorious (french: le Victorieux) or the Well-Served (), was King of France from 1422 to his death in 1461.
In the midst of the Hundred Years' War, Charles VII inherited the throne of F ...
[Hermann 1938, p. 142]
/ref>
*the Sobieski Hours (Royal Collection
The Royal Collection of the British royal family is the largest private art collection in the world.
Spread among 13 occupied and historic royal residences in the United Kingdom, the collection is owned by King Charles III and overseen by the ...
, Windsor Castle
Windsor Castle is a royal residence at Windsor in the English county of Berkshire. It is strongly associated with the English and succeeding British royal family, and embodies almost a millennium of architectural history.
The original cast ...
): made c. 1420-1425, probably for Margaret of Burgundy, Dauphine of France
Margaret of Nevers (french: link=no, Marguerite; December 1393 – February 1442), also known as Margaret of Burgundy, was Dauphine of France and Duchess of Guyenne as the daughter-in-law of King Charles VI of France. A pawn in the dynastic strugg ...
, and wife of Louis of Guyenne.["The Sobieski Book of Hours" on The Royal Collection website]
Notes
References
Add MS 18850
Overview (and images of all pages) on The British Library's Digitised manuscripts website. Retrieved 30 October 2012
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External links
*
{{Authority control
1410s books
Illuminated books of hours
British Library additional manuscripts
Cultural depictions of Adam and Eve
15th-century Latin books