Medieval History in Your Hands

Manuscripts are among our chief sources of information on medieval life. These treasuries include the book of hours.

Folios 15v-16r, "The Betrayal of Christ" / "The Annunciation" from "The Hours of Jeanne d'Evreux, Queen of France," circa 1324–1328, by Jean Pucelle. Grisaille, tempera, and ink on vellum; single folio: 3 5/8 inches by 2 7/16 inches. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City. Public Domain

There’s an object in my house that is over 500 years old. It’s a leaf from a medieval French illuminated manuscript of a book of hours, dating from about the year 1500.

It’s small. That was the first thing I noticed about it when my wife gave it to me as a Christmas present. But its smallness, neatness, and fineness of work only add to its beauty. And in this 4 1/4-inch by 2 7/8-inch piece of parchment, small enough to fit in the palm of your hand, are whole worlds of history and religious devotion.

A View to the Past

Manuscripts are among our chief sources of information on medieval life. As Raymond Clemens and Timothy Graham write in “Introduction to Manuscript Studies,” “Parchment is literally the substrate upon which virtually all knowledge of the Middle Ages has been transmitted to us.”