Importance Of Books Of Hours

The last time you probably read a book by mostly looking at the pictures was probably when you were a child, right? Around the twelfth century, this was a common way to read and to learn, and during the medieval times, around Europe mostly, books of hours were known as a “best seller,” and was the “era’s most commonly produced and owned book.” Books of hours were very important culturally, because it was a guide for prayer, literacy, and they were diverse art entities; furthermore, to the Queen of France, Jeanne d’Evreux, a book of hours was an instruction book for her “personal piety.”

The primary reason for books of hours was for prayer and worship or, liturgy. Another main reason a family or person owned a book of hours was because it was a “primer for literacy,” because school was often inaccessible. During the time period that these books were being produced, literacy was expanding, so it was very important to be literate. For many owners, according to French Books of Hours: Making an Archive of Prayer, “the book of hours combined prayer book with primer, art, object, reference work, and family album.”

Books of hours were small and meant to be read at a close distance for sacred purposes. An Image of St. Louis and the Structuring of Devotion explains, “When grasped in the hand it is almost worn, rather than carried, as if it were a jewel or an article of clothing. Familiarity with its pages is like the knowledge of the parts of one's body, particularly the hand, in which the manuscript becomes an extension of the person and her feelings, and is recognized and read as if reading one's own palm.”

Reading a book of hours was completely different than reading a book of the modern times. Looking at pictures and studying the...

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...rresponds to the woman. The serving bowls of food in the monastic infirmary are transformed into baskets in the bas-de-page, while the utensils used to serve Legier become tongs used as weapons below the miniature.” The juxtaposition of these scenes might have been created to serve as a visual “anti-model” of the miniature. The violent behavior is a great contrast to the miniature scene of King Louis feeding the poor, “his humble act of charity.”

As you can see, books of hours are very diverse and unlike books of the modern times. Using a book of hours was a way to learn more about God and to be closer to him; devotional reading was very important in the medieval times. Hours of Jeanne d’Evreux was not only meant to strengthen her faith and for prayer, but it was a way to study how she was supposed to act with a man of God, Saint Louis, as her leading example.