book of hours - Content, The Hours of Jeanne d'Evreux, The Rothschild Prayerbook

A prayer book, popular in the Middle Ages, and known in England as a primer. It typically contained the Little Office of Our Lady, psalms of penitence, and the Office of the Dead (usually in Latin).

A Book of Hours is the most common type of surviving medieval illuminated manuscript. Each Book of Hours is unique, but all contain a collection of texts, prayers and psalms, along with appropriate illustrations, to form a convenient reference for Christian worship and devotion.

Content

In its original form, a Book of Hours would list the appropriate texts for each liturgical hour of the day.

The typical medieval manuscript called a book of hours is an abbreviated breviary, the book containing the liturgy recited in cloistered monasteries; the Books of Hours were composed for use by lay people who wished to incorporate elements of monasticism into their devotional life. A typical book of hours contained:

The Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which included the fifteen Psalms of Degrees; The Litany of Saints

Most Books of Hours began with these basic contents, and expanded them with a variety of prayers and devotions.

As many Books of Hours are richly illuminated, they form an important record of life in the 15th and 16th centuries as well as the iconography of medieval Christianity.

Towards the end of the 15th century, various printed versions of the Book of Hours were produced, with woodcut illustrations.

One of the most famous Books of Hours, and one of the most richly illuminated medieval manuscripts, is the Très Riches Heures painted sometime between 1412 and 1416 in France for John, Duke of Berry.

The Hours of Jeanne d'Evreux

The Hours of Jeanne d'Evreux was created between 1324 and 1328 by Jean Pucelle for Jeanne d'Evreux, the third wife of Charles IV of France.

The Rothschild Prayerbook

The Rothschild Prayerbook, a Book of Hours, use of Rome, was made c. Owned by Louis Nathaniel von Rothschild, immediately following the March 1938 German annexation of Austria, the medieval Rothschild Book of Hours was looted by the Nazis from members of the Viennese branch of the Mayer Amschel Rothschild family.