The Divine Comedy

(Bib. Trivulziana MS 1080. First page.)

      The Divine Comedy, written by Dante Alighiero (1265-1321) in the beginning of the fourteenth-century, is an epic poem that traces Dante’s journey through the three realms of the afterlife, namely Hell, Purgatory, and finally Heaven. The book is divided into three sections: the Inferno, Purgatory, and Paradise. Throughout Dante’s journey through Hell and Purgatory he is accompanied, and guided, by the Roman poet Virgil, the writer of the Aeneid. When Dante finally reaches Paradise (Heaven) he is reunited with his beloved, Beatrice, who guides Dante through the spheres of Heaven leading up to the Empyrean, the seat of God. Written in the Tuscan dialect and praised highly by Italian, particularly Florentine, society, the Divine Comedy assumes a prominent place in the history of medieval literature and it continues to have an influence on literary and artistic works even into the modern era. For this blog post you can see that we have been provided with more than one manuscript of the Divine Comedy, which should show exactly how popular the Divine Comedy was to medieval Europe as there exist several hundred different copies of Dante’s epic. There are subtle differences between the manuscripts that we have been provided, most notably that Biblioteca Comunale MS 88 that, while possessing very fine and beautiful illustrations, does not appear to specifically depict scenes from the Divine Comedy as Bib. Trivulziana MS 1080’s first page does; the illustration depicts Dante’s coming upon the dark wood in the beginning of the poem and being assaulting by several beasts before Virgil, having been sent by Beatrice, comes to Dante’s aid. Biblioteca Comunale MS 88, additionally, appears to boast Latin script written in the rubrics before switching back to what seems to be Italian which I will assume is of the Tuscan dialect, however, do not hold me to this for I am not, nor shall I ever claim to be an authority on medieval European languages of any kind. Each manuscript does, however, appear to have been fashioned in a very formal and traditional structure; the text being divided into two separate columns and the script is evenly distributed and neatly organized within the two columns.

(Domenico di Michelino, Dante holding the Divine Comedy, 1465)

     It is impossible to discuss the Divine Comedy without commenting on the breadth of its influence on various works of art, literature, and even more modern mediums such as movies, graphic novels, and video games (though I am loath to add this last one as each representation of Dante that I have seen in this medium has been filled with gaudy allusions created for the simple purpose of producing yet another over-the-top “historically signficant” gore fest to entertain people who can not be bothered to pick up a book; I am looking at you EA). The extent to which Dante’s journey through the afterlife has impacted creative work in the centuries since its creation simply can not be understated. Through his epic poem, Dante weaved an image of the afterlife that until its creation had not been readably available to Christian society despite its existence as being central to Christian dogma. By creating the Divine Comedy, Dante seemingly changed the way that people thought about the afterlife, how it functioned, and the way that it was presented. This is clearly evidenced by the multitude of artwork, created in just the fifteenth century, that is either directly influenced by or was created to depict scenes from the Divine Comedy. Dante holding the Divine Comedy by Domenico di Michelino in 1465 is one the most famous depictions of Dante. Adorning the interior of Florence’s Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Flower, the painting is of Dante holding a copy of the Divine Comedy with the circles of Hell, the mountain of Purgatory, the spheres of Heaven, and the city of Florence in the background. What was particularly interesting about the Biblioteca Comunale MS 88 was actually the lack of scene illustration from the Divine Comedy itself, as most of the manuscripts that I had seen of the Divine Comedy possessed some elements from the text itself. Whether it was the depiction of a triple-faced Satan imprisoned in ice at the bottom of Hell as his mouths busy themselves with their own Brutus, Cassius, and Judas chew-toys or Dante meeting the twelve wise-men in fourth sphere of Heaven, the Divine Comedy is a work that simply lends itself to illustration and is vivid enough in its detail that it is both easy to imagine and relatively easy to illustrate (with the exception of the artistically impotent such as myself).

Sandro Botticelli, Inferno, Canto XXXIV (detail), 1480s, silverpoint on parchment, completed in pen and ink (Staatliche Museen, Berlin

In addition to its influence, one of the elements of the Divine Comedy that has always interested me is the social commentary that Dante’s journey provides on how certain historical figures were perceived by Dante and as a possible extent by medieval European society. Being personally inclined towards Roman history, the use of Classical figures in the Divine Comedy has always drawn my attention, the appearance of Julius Caesar in Limbo in particular. Through each successive level of Hell that Dante passes way through he comes across dozens of notable historical figures. There are popes, mythical heroes, kings, generals, and queens littered throughout Hell’s landscape, all having committed some sin for them to have earned their place in their respective levels of Hell. Caesar, however, a pagan, known adulterer, and all around proud and vain individual is merely allocated a lesser form of Heaven because he had not been baptized and held belief in God. Additionally, men who assassinated him are given the prominent place beside Judas Iscariot inside the mouths of Satan. What does this say about Dante’s, and possibly medieval society’s, opinion of Julius Caesar? Through his narrative, Dante has placed Caesar as a being whose betrayal and death was near equivalent to that of Christ and Caesar, despite being a pagan, is simply subjected to a depreciated version of heaven. And being that Caesar had been noted for his more modest lifestyle, as he hardly drank and is even recorded as having consumed stale bread or crackers for dinner without complaint while the other guests turned their noses up to such a meager appetizer, I doubt he would have been complaining very much. Does “Divine” Julius still hold the same sway to medieval society that he did while he was still alive and is it possible that even Christian European society believed that Caesar was cut from a different cloth than the remainder of humanity? What if Caesar had been a Christian? Where might Dante have placed such a prominent Classical figure in his narrative had he been baptized and been of the Christian faith? Or is it simply coincidence that Dante has placed allusions to Caesar and he merely needed a prominent historical figure to tie together the narrative of his poem? These, and other inquires like them, are just some of the of the elements that one is able to pull out of this text. It truly speaks to the longevity of the Divine Comedy that, nearly seven centuries after its creation, Dante’s epic still manages to permeate modern society in multiple forms.

The Book of the City of Ladies

Le Livre de la Cite des Dames, also known by the title, The Book of the City of Ladies, is manuscript very unlike the other works, as it’s content and author are empowering women’s self-confidence. This manuscript, completed around 1405, serves as one of Christine de Pizan's last works. This manuscript originated in Paris, and is written in the vernacular french, but also employs latin syntax within her french prose. The patron of the work was thought to be the Duc of Berry, although this is not certain. There are 9 miniatures included within the manuscript, attributed to the miniaturist, Master of the Cite des Dames.

This manuscript is a prime example of 15th century book making. The script is fluid, yet legible, and very readable for the audience. The text is broken into two rows, and overall the manuscript has a very organized quality to it. It contains 79 folios, made of parchment. Other than the miniatures, the text is decorated with elaborate initials, gilded with gold. This manuscript was essentially a luxury object, and it can be seen that only the best materials were used, such as the vivid pigment used for the paints in the miniatures.The illuminations of the manuscript provide a way to essentially illustrate her prose in a way to compliment her work.

Page 3

The author of The Book of the City of Ladies, was none other than a woman herself, named Christine de Pisan. Born in 1365 in Venice, she was taken to France as a young child, as her father worked in the royal court. She was married off at 15, but her husband would later die in 1389. With three children, alone, with no way to support herself, Pisan had to make a choice. She could choose to join a convent, leave her children or sustain herself. She picked the latter, and would be one of the most famous and respected writer of her time. She showed herself to be a capable person, and not let the notions of being a female taint how she was perceived, as she was capable of doing anything she set her mind to. She attracted many patrons, which at the time, would have practically been deemed odd, as other women were not getting the praise and commissions she was getting. She eventually retreated to a covenant in her old age, but continued writing, and essentially empowering the women who read her prose.

The content of this manuscript is a major factor to it’s understanding and discussion. It is essentially an utopian vision of a city of women, in a world of women. Through her book, she gathers important female figures throughout history. These women essentially become this created city of ladies, the women themselves becoming the building blocks and basis of this city, and way of thinking. She bases the city upon three virtues: reason, honesty, and justice. These three points are what she deems to govern the city on. Through her city of ladies, she is trying to show the point in which women are an essential part of society, and their achievements should not go un-noticed.

For example, in this miniature, Christine de Pisan is pictured herself, along with three other women. They are housed in a late gothic house, looking through a manuscript, which happens to be Pisan's own work. These three ladies are meant to resemble the three virtues: reason, honesty, and justice. These three virtues/women, are there to help her build the perfect and ideal city. On the right side, the building of the city is actually seen, with Pisan and one of the virtues essentially making walls. The miniatures were integral not only to communicate parts of her narrative, but to also convey the message of the overall goal of the prose. It is also noted that the author herself in this manuscript had specific domain with the miniatures, and were directed by her vision, not the artists.

The Book of the City of Ladies, is essentially a response to the cliche idea of femininity. The authors goal was to make her book go against the patriarchal standards of medieval women. It was a book in which listed the grievances of women in a male dominated world. I also thought that this book was interesting, as it was basically a response to another manuscript in which we are looking at this week, La Roman de la Rose. The Romance of the Rose latches on to a cliche and standard way of approaching femininity and portraying women, of which Pisan wanted to change. She is tackling not only how women are being portrayed in literature, but throughout history, and her lived life, and is trying to make a case for women as a whole.

This manuscript is an example of the way in which writing and literary were essentially being embraced by the laity and middle class. The concept of the individual, or group of individuals was being assessed by many of her contemporaries in other parts of Europe, and she takes up the challenge, but in the way of using the stories of women. This shift of content, of aspects of reality and essential problems with how women were perceived in her book. This copy of her book provides a revolutionary point in women being writers, and the importance that they could receive. To me, her text truly can be read as one of the first feminist texts of its time, and as the basis for future feminist writers as well. Her literature was truly bounds before any other writer and thinker, bringing up ideas so out of place to when she was living. The copy of her writing in this manuscript allows a way in which to see her writing as it would have been seen in the middle ages, and to me really shows how much of a progressive and individual woman she truly was, and how starkly different her message and content was from other writers.


Sources:

Nobert Woiff and Ingo Walther, Codices Illustres/Masterpieces of Illumination: The World's Most Famous Illuminated Manuscripts (Taschen, 2007): 260-263.

http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b6000102v.

The Morgan Crusader Bible

The Crusader Bible, otherwise known as the Morgan Bible, was probably commissioned by King Louis IX of France. It was estimated to have been made at some point between 1244 and 1250 C.E. for the enjoyment of King Louis (Presumably). The bible was given Latin inscriptions in Italy around 1300 C.E. After that the history of the text gets a lot murkier, having somehow ended up in the possession of the Polish Cardinal Bernard Macieojowski. Cardinal Macieojowski then sent the manuscript to Isfahan, Persia (modern day central Iran) as a gift to Shah Abbas the Great. It was sent to him as part of the mission to Persia to foster Shah Abbas tolerance and good favor towards Christians in Persia (as well as to help grease the Shahs palms towards a military and economic alliance). Shah Abbas ordered Persian text to be written next to the image, not as translations of the Latin, but Persian interpretation of the illustrations themselves. After a series of private sales the manuscript ended up in the possession of John Pierpont Morgan. Morgan (who lends his name to the manuscripts title) donated the manuscript to the Pierpont Morgan Library in New York. 

The manuscript consists of portions of Genesis, Exodus, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, and Samuel. The manuscript contains 346 episodes from these six books of the bible. Roughly forty percent of the space in the book is made up of the life of David.

Perhaps the most interesting thing about the manuscript is that all of the scenes, both the combat scenes and the more peaceful ones, are illustrated the way they would have occurred had the events transpired in the 13th century. This was a very common artistic technique from the time period, and one that we even do today with modern retellings of ancient stories, like the TV series Kings, which was a modern retelling of the story of King David. This is the reason the Morgan Bible is often referred to as the crusader bible, as those who study/studied the crusades (such as I when I took Early crusades last semester) because a general idea of what combat and life during the crusades must have looked like can be gleaned from the illustrations, because it is contemporary to the time period. So, as a result you can see the armor and weapons they would have used during the crusades, as well as some of their battlefield tactics. The state of fortifications can also be seen, as well as some of the designs for siege engines that might be used to counter these same fortifications. These illustrations in the Crusader bible are so detailed, that the weapons and armors can be accurately replicated (and they have) by researchers interested in the form and function of battlefield implements in the crusader era. This has led to data about how the crusader army’s must have fared during their expeditions to the Middle East, and contributed to the scholarship in that area as a whole.

Consider the following picture for example. This is an illustration of Ehud, leader in the Old Testament of the tribe of Benjamin fighting the Moabite army. The story can be found in the very beginning of the Book of Judges. Although the actual battle took place in the Bronze/Iron age (a long time before the 13th century) we see some very medieval looking armor and armaments. Consider the full chainmail on the horseback riders, the armor on the horses and the very un-bronze age Israeli pikes and swords. Also, note the garb of the political figure in the top right of the picture.

This page shows a different side of the information that might be gleaned from the Manuscript. Notice the agricultural implements in the bottom left of the page. The page is depicting another scene from the Book of Judges, that of the sign of Gideon. As Gideon requests the sign via sacrifice of a lamb, his companions shake grain in a winnowing fan. This illustration of agricultural methods provides information on agricultural practices in 13th century France, where the manuscript was illustrated and illuminated.

On this page we see another example of 13th century armor, weaponry and garb. The passage from the Bible that this page illustrates is from 1 Kings. Specifically, the story of David on the run from King Saul. Notice the “peasants” in the top right corner of the picture. Also check out “King Saul” sitting on the throne in the bottom right corner. This images provide an excellent idea of what a king was expected to look like, as well as what peasants were supposed to look like.

In conclusion, the Morgan/Crusader Bible represents the legacy of a time when popular episodes from the Bible were serialized in the form of illustrations, when the papacy was concerned about its influence in the Middle East (Particularly Persia) and a window into which we can see the way combat was conducted during the period of the Crusades. All of this information is very important, as it informs those three very different periods of historical scholarship. In a way, this manuscript reminds me of a comic book that different writers tried to put commentary to. I definitely think the parallels are interesting and I hope you do too!

The websites that I used as sources both for my text and for pictures are as follows:

1. http://www.medievaltymes.com/courtyard/maciejowski_bible.htm

2. http://www.themorgan.org/collection/crusader-bible/about

3. http://www.themorgan.org/collection/crusader-bible/1 

4. http://www.themorgan.org/exhibitions/Crusader-Bible

-Mason Smith

The Crusader Bible: A Picture Book Unlike Any Other

The Crusader Bible, also called the Morgan Bible, is a 13th century French-Gothic bible, containing some of the most notable miniatures of the Old Testament, and serves as the epitome of French gothic illumination. This bible is made up of stories from the old testament, and are noted as some of the greatest visualizations of these stories ever made. 46 folios contain 346 episodes of the Old Testament. The Crusader Bible does not include all the books of the Old Testament, but only parts from Genesis, Exodus, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, and Samuel.

 The pages themselves are the real focus of the manuscript, images covering every single folio in gold, vibrant paint, and precise figures. Measuring 380 x 300 mm overall, as the commentary is not measured, the book is grand in both its size, and of what is inside of it. This bible was originally conceived as a picture book, not really looking to put text in. The images are made of rich pigment, gold leaf, and clearly outlined pictures. The notion that this book was more concerned with pictures than words, lets any reader, literate or not, read this book. They would have had to have an understanding of the Old Testament to understand the narrative, but regardless, like an picture book, the images tell the story, and are downright just pretty to look at. As time went on, ink commentaries were added to the margins. Past owners deemed it necessary to have a commentary on what the image was depicting, and through time the manuscript acquired Latin, Persian, and Judeo-persian notations. These inscriptions are very defined, and the reader can differentiate between the three translations. The Latin text looks as if it was the first language to be added, as it has gilded initials starting of the Latin commentary. These gilded initials offer another element of decoration to an already extravagant manuscript. The latin script is very organized and very legible to be read from. The Persian and Judeo-persian inscriptions are also, very legible and easy to decipher the distinguishing languages being used. The persian and judeo-persian scripts are only written in ink, and have no decoration purpose to the book, they are there purely for just being text.

 The text has in no way any superiority over the illuminations. The illuminations fill every single folio, creating a sequential narrative to follow along with. The images are truly un-parallel to any other manuscript miniatures I have seen, as they are executed perfectly, by masterful illuminators. Seven artists can be identified, with one being the master artist and doing a majority of the illuminations. The master artist can be distinguished as he had an unprecedented naturalistic quality to his work, and he never used gold backgrounds as well. Who the artists were, we do not know, as manuscript production was moving from monasteries to secular out sourcing.

 An important element to the bible is that all of the illuminations are not set in the time period of the Old Testament, but rather in 13th century France. The well known stories of the creation of the world, King Solomon, and stories any pious person would know, were turned into narratives through a contemporary setting. They weren't set in the Holy Land that these narratives were originally thought to be set in. By putting them into a different context, it makes the image much more relatable, as the reader could see themselves in the image, as it was familiar to them.

 A particular favorite illumination from this manuscripts is f.23v, which depicts Saul Slaying Nahash and Ammonites and Samuel anoints Saul and sacrifices to the Lord. When first looking at this illumination, I had to remind myself of the title over and over, because at first looking at it, this contemporary scene did not remind me of the particular story. It's not the usual image of this scene, instead replacing Old Testament figures with Medieval knights, looking like a scene from a crusade or battle during the Middle Ages. It provides a 13th century spin on an old story that people would have been familiar with. The Illumination of Saul slaying the Ammonites is very dynamic and full of action, figures clad in armor, horses bucking, and images even stretching into the margins. The war machine that the one man is holding on to, expands the scene from the main image, making it a more interesting image to look at as well. It draws the viewer in, with drama and narrative.

   

Folio 23v

Originally made with no captions, the images were the main source of narrative. The images serve to tell the story, without the reliance of text. In this weeks lecture, we have talked about the inclusion of pictures as an indication of status, very apparent in this bible. The higher in the aristocracy you are, the more detailed and image oriented your manuscript was made. But, just because these pictures are included, and serve as a way to "show" the story, the understanding of the Old Testament as a whole was needed as well. One would have had to have an understanding of the stories of the old testament to decipher what was being illustrated in the narratives. More knowledge is needed to understand these images in particular to me, because they are set in 13th century France, and the reader may not recognize them at first glance. One would really have to know the stories in order to have a coherent understanding of what was particularly being illustrated.

 The Crusader Bible, with its inclusions of masterful illuminations, provides a great example of French Gothic illumination and book production. It shows that these illuminations were an important part of social status, narrative, and understanding of biblical knowledge. This manuscript, to me, provides a ideal illuminated manuscript, to be seen as inspiration for future manuscripts and illuminators. Imagery is such an important part of the Crusader Bible, that to me, it stresses that while it may not have as many words, it can tell a story in a much more detailed and aesthetically pleasing way than script can. This manuscript might just be a "picture book" in the most generalized terms, but no picture book can truly meet the standard that the Crusader Bible had instilled.

The Gospels of Henry the Lion

The Gospels of Henry the Lion is an extremely ornate, highly luxurious copy of all four of the Holy Gospels on 226 parchment pages. Fifty of the pages are colorful and elaborate full page illuminated miniatures. The manuscript is in excellent condition, all of the pages are intact and when considering its particularly mysterious history that’s pretty amazing. This manuscript definitely seems like it would have been commissioned to be a display piece rather than functionally used, but surprisingly, its existence did serve a very functional purpose; passages would have been read from it during masses. Through the evolution of court culture, commissioned religious books with large pictures served to increase accessibility to the text and would have been seen as a status symbol. This manuscript is pretty huge, 34.2 × 25.5 cm, and when this book of gospels was commissioned in 1188 to honor the Brunswick Cathedral it was during a time of great artistic innovation, which is evident though its design and decoration. Henry the Lion, one of the most powerful rulers of the Middle Ages, definitely displayed his wealth and power with this incredibly luxurious set of gospels.

The twelfth century saw a rapidly advancing cultural and artistic renaissance, the growth of cities, development of urban universities, and the interest of secular populations to become more involved in their own religion sparked many of these changes. Because of these developments more and more books were being composed and copied in the vernacular of their different regions. The Gospels of Henry the Lion are not written in vernacular. Despite vernacular becoming more increasingly common this manuscript is written in Latin, which was still considered the language of learning at that time. The fact that it was written in Latin indicates its high importance for religious purposes. But the large miniatures make the text accessible for even less educated lay audiences. And it makes sense that a ruler would want to both connect with his subjects and also remind them of his extreme wealth and influence. There is no way other nobles in Henry the Lion’s court could have competed in commissioning a book to rival this manuscript. The original binding most probably would have been impressive too, but the current binding, red leather containing relics of saints and other metalwork of religious iconography and looks quite impressive and quite heavy. When the cover was updated in 1594, The Dean of the St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague got his own coat of arms on the cover. 

Almost every page has decoration of some kind, many of the pages being entirely illustrations. The colors are vibrant reds, blues, greens, and illuminated with much gold leaf. There are thousands of illustrations throughout the book even the pages with fewer decorations are still beautifully detailed. Many of the pages show traditional religious iconography. One of the pages that is of particular interest to me is Folio 171v. This folio depicts the coronation of Henry the Lion and his wife Mathilde in the lower portion. Henry the Lion is shown kneeling with Mathilde standing beside him, the hands of Christ place crowns on their heads as other important family members including his parents, Duke Henry the Proud and Duchess Gertrude, his grandparents, Emperor Lothar III. and Empress Richenza, Mathilde’s father, King Henry II. of England, and her grandmother, Matilda, stand looking on. Each figure in the lower section is labeled and includes captions. In the upper portion of the miniature is Christ surrounded by eight saints, one of which is depicted as Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury. The page is exquisitely detailed with color and copiously illuminated. Henry the Lion shapes the image that will be remembered of him with pictures in a highly lavish and skillfully painted manuscript. The inclusion of such regal images of himself and other important family members indicates the, rightly deserved, sense of self-importance and inclination to strengthen the image of his family in memory and even in years to come.

 f.71

f.29

Not only is the manuscript itself beautiful, it also boasts a tantalizing mystery about its enigmatic providence, and has limited visibility to the public throughout the year. Almost like a reclusive celebrity, the Gospels of Henry the Lion makes a public appearance only six weeks every year, and then returns to its special safe designed to keep the manuscript in its best condition for the rest. Also, not much is known about the location of the book before arriving in Prague and then being acquired by King George V of Hanover in 1861. After being dethroned in 1866 George V took the gospels with him to Austria. The manuscript somehow ended up in England after World War II, and in 1945 it was offered for sale to the King of England, but he refused the offer. It is unknown where the book remained for the thirty-eight years until it was put up for sale in August, 1983 to the auction house Sotheby’s in London by an unknown party. The book was offered for sixteen million euros ($20.7 million), making it at that time the most expensive piece of art ever purchased. The manuscript was purchased with combined funds from Germany’s federal government, the state governments of Lower Saxony and Bavaria, the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, and private donors. The gospels were brought back to Germany and are now housed in the Herzog August Library in Wolfenbüttel just outside of Braunschweig in Lower Saxony. The manuscript’s spotty provenance is only half of the mystery as it is still unclear who received the 16 million euros.

f.21

The Trinity Apocalypse

          While the Apocalypse is approached by our generation mostly as a conspiracy theory by large haired men on the History Channel, in Medieval Europe it was a constant aspect of their lives that could happen at any moment. Many famous clergy, from Saint Beatus of Liebana who wrote a commentary on the Book of Revelations, to Pope Innocent III who declared 666 AD as the coming again of the Messiah due to the rise of Islam, spent their lives reading, interpreting, and predicting the End of Days. 

          This obsession with the end of the world stemmed from the persecution faced by early Christians from the Romans. The belief that they would be rewarded and those who denied their faith and oppressed them would be punished was a form of solidarity for many Christians. From the 6th Century onward, the Apocalypse became an almost type of safety cushion for medieval Christians whenever anything would go wrong, whether it was the fall of the Roman Empire or the Black Plague. To the point where a trend of predicting the Apocalypse occurred several times a century, or during or after any prominent event.

           By the 13th Century, when the secular masses began to own and read religious manuscripts, the Book of Revelations became a hot topic. Basically as close as one could get to a science-fiction novel at the time. Many of the learned aristocracy and clergy were fascinated by the final book of the Bible, which led to many manuscripts, such as the Trinity Apocalypse, an Anglo Norman commentary on the subject, being produced.

           The manuscript is believed to be made for Queen Eleanor, the wife of King Henry III of England, and its beautiful illumination and gilding demonstrates a richness that only the the Duke of Aquitaine, the largest and wealthiest province of France and another title held by Henry III, could provide. Along with incredible amounts of gold, the manuscripts show an impressive amount of lapis lazuli (the deep blue ink seen below), which at the time in Britain was worth more than its weight in gold.

folio 29r

folio 30r

For so much luxury and expense to be spent on a manuscript, especially one with so many full page miniatures and detailed initials, the subject matter of the text must have held significant value to the owner, and proceeding owners as well.

The manuscript was well kept in private hands until 1649, when Dame Anne Sadleir gave the manuscript to Trinity College in Dublin, with the inscription:

I commit this booke to the custodie of the Right Reuerend Father in God Raffe Lo: Bishop of Exon, when times are better setled (which God hasten) it is with my other booke & my coins giuen to Trinitie Colledge Librarie in Cambridge, God in his good time restore her with her Sister Oxford to there pristine happiness, the Vulger People to there former obedience, and God blesſ and restore Charles the Second, & make him like his most glorious Father. Amen. 

August the 20tie. 1649. Anne Sadleir.

        This demonstrates the importance the Book of Revelations held throughout medieval history and Christianity, focusing less on the horrors of the End, and more on the Paradise that awaited those who were righteous. 

The Charter of Edward I confirming the privileges of Cambridge University was issued on February 6, 1292.  The document is written in small, concise, and consistent text across the length of the page, in a text with prominent ascenders and descenders, and maybe capital letters as well. The charter itself is not in the best condition, due to numerous losses at the top and bottom of the page. However, the seal and tassel attached to the document are still in tact. The metal seal appears to have a seated man in robes, but pieces are missing and there is corrosion so it is difficult to tell. What is unique about this particular charter is that it contains one of the earliest known examples of illumination produced in Cambridge. The decorative initial E appears to be the first letter in Edward. It depicts the monarch presenting the charter to a doctor of civil law, a doctor of canon law, and two kneeling doctors of theology, all dressed in their respective academic robes.

Why is this small bit of illumination causing such a fuss? There are a ton of illuminated manuscripts that came before the charter, and after as well? The answer is complicated and really awesome. Universities such as those in Oxford, Cambridge, Paris, and Bologna were founded in the late 12^th century, and with the emergence of so many institutions, the demand for academic books increased. These universities became important hubs for manuscript production (as opposed to scriptoriums or monasteries).  As you can imagine, on a student budget, illuminated manuscripts were expensive and unnecessary and sort of impractical. However, for the students and scholars that could afford illuminated manuscripts, the texts that were commissioned would most likely have been copies of legal and theological texts and popular encyclopedias. So yes, there were illuminated manuscripts produced at the time, but then the Reformation happened.

Fast-forward three hundred years. The Reformation occurred in the 16^th century during the Tudor reign. King Henry VIII decided to get rid of his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, after she failed to produce a male heir. Luckily for Anne Boleyn, she was Catherine’s successor, but unlike Catherine, the king did not divorce her when he decided to marry Jane Seymour. She lost her head, but such is the fate of King Henry’s other 67 wives. I digress. The Roman Catholic Church did not recognize divorce; the only way for one to remarry was if their previous spouse was dead.  Henry did not want to be excommunicated by the Pope, or have his soul go to Hell. In short, the Pope did not allow Henry to get divorced, even though Henry requested Papal Dispensation. This made Henry angry, so he made the Archbishop of Canterbury grant him one, he subsequently went off the deep end broke away from the Church completely. Henry VIII established himself as the new head of church in Protestant England.  There were also numerous injustices that the Catholic Church committed against the people of England, so perhaps this wasn’t completely selfish on Henry VIII part.

Returning to the charter, a majority of the students at Cambridge during the 13th century focused on divinity, canon and civil law, and medicine.  The Reformation caused many of the texts from this time to become obsolete. Fortunately, foundation charters and official documents of the university remain, and provide insightful evidence on the practice of illumination in Cambridge from this period. The charters and documents also provide insight into how academics were treated by successive monarchs.