The Ranworth Antiphoner is a 15th-century

illuminated Illuminated may refer to: * "Illuminated" (song), by Hurts * Illuminated Film Company, a British animation house * ''Illuminated'', alternative title of Black Sheep (Nat & Alex Wolff album) * Illuminated manuscript See also * Illuminate (disambi ...

antiphoner An antiphonary or antiphonal is one of the liturgical books intended for use (i.e. in the liturgical choir), and originally characterized, as its name implies, by the assignment to it principally of the antiphons used in various parts of the ...

of the Sarum Rite. It was commissioned for the Church of St Helen in

Ranworth Ranworth is a village in Norfolk, England in The Broads, adjacent to Malthouse Broad and Ranworth Broad. It is located in the civil parish of Woodbastwick. The village's name origin is uncertain 'Edge enclosure' or perhaps, 'Randi's enclosure.' ...

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

, where it is now on display. The volume comprises 285

vellum Vellum is prepared animal skin or membrane, typically used as writing material. Parchment is another term for this material, from which vellum is sometimes distinguished, when it is made from calfskin, as opposed to that made from other anima ...

pages of writing and illustrations, with daily services in

medieval Latin Medieval Latin was the form of Literary Latin used in Roman Catholic Western Europe during the Middle Ages. In this region it served as the primary written language, though local languages were also written to varying degrees. Latin functione ...

and 19 miniatures. The manuscript was probably the Antiphoner bequeathed to the church in 1478 by William Cobbe. Previously thought to have been produced by the monks of

Langley Abbey Langley Abbey was an abbey of Premonstratensian Canons in Langley Green, now in the civil parish of Langley with Hardley, Norfolk, England. The monastery was founded by Robert fitzRoger in 1195. There are remains of the church and barn as well ...

, examinations of the illuminations suggest that the Antiphoner was manufactured by a Norwich workshop – a basic antiphoner could be produced on spec, and personalised to order. Two things may back this up: 1) the insertion at the end, out of order, of the

office An office is a space where an organization's employees perform administrative work in order to support and realize objects and goals of the organization. The word "office" may also denote a position within an organization with specific du ...

of St Helen; 2) Revd. Enraght's suggestion of a ''

terminus ante quem ''Terminus post quem'' ("limit after which", sometimes abbreviated to TPQ) and ''terminus ante quem'' ("limit before which", abbreviated to TAQ) specify the known limits of dating for events or items.. A ''terminus post quem'' is the earliest da ...

'' of 1443, owing to the lack of a feast of St Raphael, which was instituted in that year. Recent research has shown that it was not uncommon for churches to invest in liturgical music books by the later fifteenth century.C. Burgess and A. Wathey, 'Mapping the Soundscape: Church Music in English Towns, 1450-1550,' pp.37-8 The Antiphoner miraculously survived the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

, probably thanks to the local Holdych family. It fell into private hands, including, in the 1850s, those of Henry Huth, and eventually re-surfaced at auction in 1912, where it was bought and returned to St Helen's Church.

References

External links

*http://www.broadsideparishes.org.uk/bspicons/manuscript.htm *http://www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/ranworth/ranworth.htm *http://ranworthantiphoner.blogspot.co.uk/p/ranworth-antiphoner.html Music illuminated manuscripts 15th-century illuminated manuscripts Catholic liturgical books {{Manuscript-art-stub

References

Further reading

External links