A Medieval Christmas
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CHRISTMAS
sTORY is here illustrated with a) beautifully M miniatures selected from the eee) large collection of Books of Hours to be found in The British Library.
Some of the greatest European painters of the Middle Ages were employed in the decoration of these manuscripts: Gerard Horenbout, one of the illuminators of The Sforza Hours, In loving memory of illustrates a simple Nativity using rich reds, greens and blues; the Annunciation to the lichael Stephen Alexander Shepherds, depicted by the Master of the Duke of Bedford, is marvelously detailed and surrounded by classic miniatures; the Master of mber, 1950 - 04 December, 2012 the Dresden Hours, a prolific Flemish artist of hemist, Stargazer, Writer, the late 1400s, has strewn his Epiphany with flowers so realistic that it seems possible to pick them off the page. Intricate in scale and radiant
Gentleman and Wit with gold and colors, these manuscripts ought out the best in all of us represent the popular ideal of the medieval illuminated book.
The well-loved story is recounted in the words of William Tyndale. His masterly translation of the New Testament complements the magnificent illuminations, making this the perfect Christmas gift to be treasured by young and old.
20 color illustrations 09961445
Sin
ety
A MEDIEVAL
CHRISTMAS
The words are taken from the Tyndale translation of the Bible from the Gospels of St Matthew and St Luke.
A BULFINCH PRESS BOOK
LITTLE, BROWN AND COMPANY
Boston ¢ NEw YORK © TORONTO ® LONDON
ANNUNCIATION
ND IN THE SIXTH MONTH THE
angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, to a virgin spoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin's name was Mary. And the angel went in unto her, and said: Hail full of grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.
When she saw him, she was abashed at his saying: and cast in her mind what manner of salutation that should be.
ND THE ANGEL 'SAID UNTO HER: fear not Mary: for thou hast found grace with God.
Lo: thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and shalt bear a son, and call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and be called the son of the highest.
And the lord God shall give unto him the seat of his father David, and he shall reign over the house of Jacob, and of his kingdom shall be none end.
Then said Mary unto the angel: How shall this be, seeing | know not a man? And the angel answered and said unto her: The holy ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the highest shall overshadow thee. Therefore also that holy thing which shall be born, shall be called the son of God. And behold thy cousin Elizabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her age. And this is her sixth month, though she be called barren: for with God can nothing be unpossible.
And Mary said: behold the handmaiden of the lord, be it unto me even as thou hast said. And the angel departed from her.
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THE VISITATION
ND MARY AROSE IN THOSE DAYS, AND WENT
into the mountains with haste, into a city of Jewry and entered into the house of Zachary, and saluted Elizabeth. And it fortuned, as Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe sprang in her belly. And Elizabeth was filled with the holy ghost, and cried with a loud voice, and said: Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And whence happeneth this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe sprang in my belly for joy. And blessed art thou that believedst: for those things shall be performed which were told thee from the Lord.
And Mary abode with her about a three months, and returned again to her own house.
SESTAMIBI
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THE NATIVITY
ND IT CHANCED IN THOSE DAYS:
there went out a commandment from August the Emperor, that all the world should be taxed. And every man went unto his own city to be taxed. And Joseph also ascended from Galilee, out of a city called Nazareth, into Jewry: unto the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be taxed with Mary his spoused wife which was with child.
And it fortuned while they were there, her time was come that she should be delivered.
And she brought forth her first begotten son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them within in the inn.
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ANNUNCIATION
TRO) TBE
SHEPHERDS
ND THERE WERE IN THE
same region shepherds abiding in the field and watching their flock by night. And lo: the angel of the Lord stood hard by them, and the brightness of the Lord shone round about them, and they were sore afraid.
But the angel said unto them: Be not afraid. For behold, unto you is born this day in the city of David, a saviour which is Christ the Lord.
And they came with haste, and found Mary and Joseph and the babe laid in a manger.
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CIRCUMCISION @&
PRESENTATION
AT THE FE Vins
ND WHEN THE EIGHTH DAY
was come that the child should be circumcised, his name was called Jesus, which was named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb.
-And when the time of their purification was come, they brought him to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord and to offer a pair of turtle-doves or two young pigeons.
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'Tt SP T LY CIE SPIT Oar iti a HEN JESUS WAS BORN AT
BETHLEHEM
in Jewry, in the time of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east
REEF EE MP Lie HEN to Jerusalem saying: Where is he that is born Lt king of the Jews? We have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.
Then Herod privily called the wise men, and diligently enquired of them, the time of the star that appeared, and sent them to Bethlehem saying: Go and search diligently for the child. And when ye have found him, bring me word, that 1 may come and worship him also.
When they had heard the king, they departed: and lo the a a) és ; , 4 ba L "8 ak = . a .
AO NT Mi PRE NDF NY CALE D LITLE ELI I LAE IPI star which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over the place where the child was.
When they saw the star, they were marvellously glad:
ART LRI DUDO IT and went into the house, and found the child with Mary his mother, and kneeled down and worshipped him, and opened their treasures, and offered unto him gifts, gold,
SED APO RISE SS ne 7 frankincense and myrrh. And after they were warned of God in a dream, that they should not go again to Herod, ana they returned into their own country another way.
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T HT TO EGYPT oe
HEN THEY WERE DEPARTED:
behold the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in dream saying: arise, and take the child and his mother, and fly into Egypt, and abide there till I bring thee word.
For Herod will seek the child to destroy him. Then he arose, and took the child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt, and was there unto the death of Herod, to fulfil that which was spoken of the Lord, by the prophet which saith, out of Egypt have I called my son.
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HEN HEROD WAS DEAD: BEHOLD,
oa or an angel of the Lord appeared in we =— id a dream to Joseph in Egypt VAAN aa saying: arise and take the child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel. For they are dead which sought
Ue © SS the child's life. Then he arose up, and took the child and his mother, and came into the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus did reign in Jewry, in the room of his father Herod, he was afraid to go thither. Notwithstanding after he was warned of God in a dream, he turned aside into the parts of Galilee, and went and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, to fulfil
: 5 that which was spoken by the _ prophets: he shall be called a Nazarite.
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INDEX OF MANUSCRIPTS
I (Lerr) Front cover The Bedford Hours. BL Additional MS 18850 f.65. Paris, about 1423.
260 x 180 mm HE BEDFORD HOURS, one of the tee illuminated manuscripts ever produced, was originally owned by John of Lancaster, Duke of Bedford and his wife Anne of Burgundy, married in 1423.
On Christmas Eve 1430, the Duchess, with her husband's approval, offered the Hours as a gift to their nephew, nine year old
Henry VI, who was staying with them at Rouen before his French coronation. The marginal decoration of the manuscript is unusually rich and original, comprising over a thousand small, circular miniatures.
(RiGHT) Page 7 (title page) Hours of Etienne Chevalier.
BL Additional MS 16997 f.21.
France, early 15th century.
160 x 115 mm 1B EXQUISITE SMALL Book of Hours, regarded as one of the artist's finest works, was illuminated in the first quarter of the 15th century by the Boucicaut Master, a leading Parisian book painter of the day. He is named in honour of his principal patron, the Maréchal de Boucicaut, who was taken prisoner at the Battle of Agincourt and died in England in 1421.
(LEFT) Pages 8 - 9
THE ANNUNCIATION
BL Additional MS 30899 f.1.
Paris, early 15th century.
200 x 140 mm NE OF six detached leaves from a Book of Hours, typical of the best contemporary Parisian illumination. The delicate marginal decoration, along with singing angels, includes a pair of putti fencing with windmills. The arms of an early owner have been painted out in the lower margin.
(RicHT) Pages 10-11
THE ANNUNCIATION
The Hastings Hours. BL Additional MS HALTOM TINT fecundtay Witty (acu, AD IA HIE 54782 {.73. Flemish, about 1480.
165 x 120 mm HIS MANUSCRIPT was made for William, Lord Hastings, a close friend of King Edward IV. Hastings was beheaded in 1483 on the orders of the Duke of Gloucester, afterwards King Richard III. Its delicate, beautiful miniatures, surrounded by superb illusionistic floral borders, place it among the very finest of the manuscripts produced in Flanders by the founders of the Ghent/Bruges School, one of the last great styles of illumination. Lord Hastings' oe CIR RItOaTRTT j
PLC NNLETITON,
SHC Te | aaa | es Fora pac ctfilioct fy rn (ito aisenatin arms appear in the margin of the recto.
De nem Suen. & perciupercrba ons 1 anc Pedi aliens ifurg peng ner lym oad =F"
(Apove) Pages 14-15 (ABoveE) Page 12
THE NATIVITY
THE VISITATION
The Sforza Hours. BL Additional MS 34294 f.82v.
BL Egerton MS 1070 f.29v. French, Italian, about 1490, with Flemish additions early 15th century. made in 1519.
220 x 160 mm 130 x 95 mm HIS MANUSCRIPT was painted by one of lhe leading Parisian illuminators of the early 15th century.
It later belonged to René of Anjou, titular king of Naples and Jerusalem, who died in 1480. His daughter
HE ORIGINAL OWNER of the manuscript, illuminated by the Milanese court painter Pietro Birago, was
Bona of Savoy (D 1503), the wife of Galeazzo Maria Sforza, Duke of Milan. Unfinished at the time of her death, the manuscript eventually passed into the hands of Margaret of Austria who paid the Flemish miniaturist,
Gerard Horenbout, to provide the 16 miniatures, including this Nativity, needed to complete the work containing 64 miniatures in total. Horenbout took great pains to copy the format and range of colouring which he found in the book's Italian miniatures, but his landscapes
Margaret was married to King Henry VI of England. The recto (page 13) contains an image which has been replaced by text for the purposes of this book. and the faces of his characters are typically Flemish.
(Lert) Pages 16-17
Tue ANNUNCIATION TO THE SHEPHERDS
The Bedford Hours. BL Additional MS 18850 f.70v. Paris, about 1423.
260 x 180 mm (See entry for cover image) me
ae NC.
ET ; fonapreeerfihoc(pimae Lystes rarccaremeprnraproctnec P2224 enyrrer meontla (erator i ae pa nen prs Ne fy \ REA arvaratorfpris nem ve Sb monic in Sea ey plelrrrmagraagnearaca i ACH OF THE main miniatures of the manuscript is accompanied by an elaborate set of marginal roundels. The marginal roundels decorating the text pages cover the whole of the New Testament, each episode accompanied either by its Old Testament prefiguration,
0. SERS amare fatnasandorgd maquordamaponscmlLeR Rurgmenafende fama funp (0s, ET
AHA MATE GTAAE NAT,
MICAS abLofeprorearct Sti eae wr.
: xh. or by some form of pictorial commentary.
The readers understanding is aided by explanatory 'subtitles' written at the bottom; on the text pages, they are written in blue and gold and on each main miniature page, in blue and red.
1S antge dep ttabie atitioncr ate RAO eau fariat Mrotucanx
CR NE ORT OPC CC
regAUeKTC A a) Ca Ai H qultarctane prctroumet ue Hur fanere der qrnreras ce TAYTUS
NAALLE MATANT
AGMUUS MTCETLAUES OAT
reito aatofets maqueerabr'
CUTTS 010. eter cant qa TonUNee teaguars lactate Trac rohit ali au ce (RicHT) Pages 18 — 19
THE PRESENTATION IN THE TEMPLE
aes, (ORT : aA : i Additional MS 31834 f.66.
Paris, second quarter of the 15th century.
245 x 1/5 mm HF crernngeledte mmurata do HCAS.
AD TON RTT AUT
} feraprecniia jarcepetine Coll ee aN al ne N THIS VERSION of the Presentation, the Jewish priest is shown garbed as a Christian bishop. The manuscript is one of } numer notte aie.
DTCUIAS Donato.
EC By .
BH co quinas. aflonne a number bequeathed to the national collection in 1881 by William Burges, the Victorian architect and designer, whose own work was heavily influenced by Ne ey X Fig medieval models.
Pmt OC mph dr. ort] ey Hormreknennemea |4 grin bethiemm aaosare do |i minnn. craps fhefanves fis peecota mine obtalermtanra Art requnaqe. tins hata de) roamrcun feprloree ens alla ey (LEFT) Pages 20-21 Tue EPIPHANY Hears thavles ctantulennin ens offernnraie daria lat. mna somiemr. Aol ecke. § Egerton MS 2125 f.182v.
Flemish, early 16th century.
Ens illamanatoronn ky hu aappnhs fins Pepa pa qanarectallad he mien tplordrmn mew wnt Holts.quoo tam maqam Merobrs atprratt.79 tamu, Oeartro de trbus reqabi saw 155 x 100 mm HIS ELEGANT LITTLE BOOK, containing 22 miniatures and borders of flowers, insects and jewels, was made in the workshop of the celebrated Flemish illuminator Simon Bening, apparently for the personal use of the abbess of Messines, near Ypres in West Flanders.
(RiGHT) Pages 22 — 23 and back cover (detail) Tue FLIGHT TO EGypt Additional MS 25695 f.114.
Paris, about 1470.
190 x 135 mm Ike sToRY OF Joseph's dream is told on a scroll wound around the tree trunks that enclose the main miniature. Inside a bejewelled frame the Holy Family crosses the foreground. Behind them a farmer is interrogated by Herod's soldiers.
The margins of the folio are peopled with figures depicting the story of the Massacre of the Innocents.
(Lert) Pages 24 — 25
THE HOLy FAMILY
== Additional MS 18193 f.48y. peroU IN eNctN Spanish, second half of the 15th century. c 195 x 135 mm SPECIAL Mass in honour of the Virgin is frequently found in Books of Hours.
In this manuscript it begins with an illustration of the Holy Family in St Joseph's carpenter's shop. An array of tools
MEF BEL TEAMS TIS MAT DPE B LE BLY hangs from the wall at the back of the picture, most of them very little different from those in use today. The Virgin is at work on some embroidery, her materials supported on a cushion and a work-basket at her side. The Child has toys and a bird in a cage. The entire scene could represent an episode in the contemporary everyday life.
A Medieval Christmas copyright © 1996 by Frances Lincoln Limited Text copyright © 1996 by Yale University
Illustrations copyright © 1996 by The British Library Board All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review.
First published by Frances Lincoln Limited, London, U.K.
First North American Edition
ISBN 0-8212-2279-1
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 95-82125 Bulfinch Press is an imprint and trademark of Little, Brown and Company (Inc.)
Published simultaneously in Canada by Little, Brown & Company (Canada) Limited
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ILLIAM TYNDALE printed his English translation of the Old and New Testaments in the early 1530s. The first to translate the Bible from the original Hebrew and Greek, his work formed the basis of the King James Authorized Version of 1611 and all subsequent
English bibles. Tyndale outraged the clerical establishment by giving the laity access to the word of God in English. Considered a heretic, he was hunted down and burnt at the stake in 1536.
This version of Tyndale's translation is taken from the modern spelling edition (1989) by David Daniell.
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