Alice White – HI5042: Gothic Art: Image and Imagination in Europe, c.

1140-1500 – Seminar
Leader: Dr Laura Cleaver

A Matter of Life and Death:

Medieval Attitudes to Mortality in
Books of Hours
Death was a pervasive presence in medieval life, and people were constantly
preparing themselves not only for death but more importantly for what followed
death. The phrase ‘memento mori’ or ‘remember you must die’1 came not from a
morbid preoccupation with death, but arose due to the necessity of repenting
one’s sins and achieving absolution before death in order to avoid being
condemned to hell for all eternity. Death could occur at any time, through
violence or disease and to be underprepared was a huge risk to Christians.
Medieval monk Thomas à Kempis summarises the Medieval attitude thus: ‘To-
morrow is an uncertain day; and how knowest thou, that to-morrow will be thine?
... Be therefore, always read; and so live, that death may not find thee
confounded at its summons.’2

To be prepared for death was to lead a pious life; the Book of Hours (also known
as a Primer) provided a way to follow the church programme of daily devotion
whilst going about daily life, and therefore suitably prepared the reader for their
deaths. It usually took the form of both text and image combined to enrich the
spiritual life of the owner by providing them with lectio divina, or ‘prayerful
reading’3 involving meditation on images, which became popular among the late
medieval laity. The Book of Hours has come to be known as the ‘Medieval
Bestseller’ because of its contemporary popularity.4 Margaret Aston has named
this phenomenon of increased consciousness and use of devotional text and
image which occurred in the later Middle Ages “devotional literacy”.5 The closest
that most laypeople could come to possessing literary copies of the word of God

1 Etymology of “memento” <http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?

search=memento&searchmode=none> accessed 24/02/2010

2 Of The Imitation of Christ: In Three Books, Thomas à Kempis translated by John Payne,
(William Storer, 1822) p.42-43

3 ‘Reading and meditation in the Middle Ages: Lectio divina and books of hours’, Laura
Sterponi, Text & Talk 28–5 (Mouton de Gruyter, 2008), p. 671

4 Medieval Bestseller: The Book of Hours, Morgan Library Exhibition, (1997-8)

<http://utu.morganlibrary.org/Checklists/ExhibIntro.cfm?exhib=1> accessed 24/02/2010

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Alice White – HI5042: Gothic Art: Image and Imagination in Europe, c.1140-1500 – Seminar
Leader: Dr Laura Cleaver

was via the Book of Hours. Death was not merely an end to life but continued to
the journey of the soul through purgatory and resurrection of the body at the last
judgement, and therefore it was necessary to prepare for using a Book of Hours
as a map guiding the reader on how to undertake this spiritual journey and reach
the aspired to place in heaven.

Images in Books of Hours reinforce the importance of the Book as a route to

salvation. For instance, in the De Brailes Hours, there is an image of Christ
enthroned as judge, holding the book of life (f. 81r.), and many editions have
illuminations of the four evangelists writing their gospels. By combining images
of the evangelists writing with ‘In principio erat Verbum...’ from the Gospel of
John, and potentially going on to demonstrate Christ in majesty holding a book,
the Book of Hours advertises itself as a device with which to gain access to God
and to secure hopes for redemption in the afterlife. The importance of the
devotional book was additionally indicated by the life of Saint Louis, who called
out for his lost prayer book after being imprisoned by Saracens and had it
miraculously returned to him; an image used to illustrate the Hours of Jeanne
d’Evreux.6 This reinforced the importance of the word and the importance of the
book as a method of devotion to secure the desired life after death.

Some examples are lavishly decorated using the most expensive materials
available. Examples such as the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry
demonstrate how Books of Hours could be used to serve the material purpose of
status symbols. Despite this, they are not merely reflections of vanity and
affluence. Devotion in the Middle Ages was often associated with display and
luxury, for instance in public processions and pilgrimages, and the richer
examples of Books of Hours are a reflection of this. They are not necessarily less
sincere because of their elaborate nature. Spending money on devotion can be
seen as a route to dying well and getting into heaven. The example of the De
Brailes Hours (ff. 97v.-98r. and 101r.) shows this, where the burgess purchases a
chalice for the Church which is then added to the good side of the scales when

5 Margaret Aston, ‘Devotional Literacy’ in Lollards and Reformers: Images and Literacy in
Late Medieval Religion, History Series, no. 22 (London: Hambledon Press, 1984), 101-33.
As quoted in ‘The Neville of Hornby Hours and the Design of Literate Devotion’, Kathryn
A. Smith, The Art Bulletin, Vol. 81, No. 1 (Mar., 1999, College Art Association), p.72

6 The Hours of Jeanne d’Evreux, Metropolitan Museum of Art.

<http://www.metmuseum.org/explore/Jde/jde6.htm> accessed 24/02/2010

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Alice White – HI5042: Gothic Art: Image and Imagination in Europe, c.1140-1500 – Seminar
Leader: Dr Laura Cleaver

weighing his soul in judgement, outbalancing the evil side being pulled down by
a devil.

The more elaborate examples have somewhat shaped the popular image of
Books of Hours as possessions only of the very elite,7 but Books of Hours were
produced to cater for different economic statuses, particularly following the
advent of the printing press in the mid-fifteenth century. For many, the ‘Book of
Hours was often the first and only book an individual owned in his or her
lifetime.’8 This enormous popularity was due not only to the attractive designs of
images within the books, but also because they made religion accessible to the
layperson.

The text of the Book of Hours is based upon the ‘Little Office of Our Lady’
(Officium parvum beate Marie Virginis). Some scholars of religion have
suggested that the emphasis placed upon sin by theology resulted in the turn to
the Virgin, someone ‘more powerful than the saints and less awful than God’.9
Through the Incarnation, the Virgin linked God to mankind, thus offering hope,
and the existence of the Cult of the Virgin testifies to her perceived significance
during the Middle Ages. The Little Hours are ‘principally seen as episodes in the
life if the Virgin’,10 thus she presents a route to piety, her life bringing God to the
physical world but also to the individual reader. In interpreting the Hours as
episodes in the life of the Virgin, the reader is guided from birth to death and the
afterlife with each reading.

Furthermore, whilst Christ was a figure associated with the Last Judgement and
often depicted coldly judging souls in Apocalypse scenes, Mary offered hope of
intervention on behalf of the repentant sinner. For instance, in the De Brailes
Hours a series of miniatures tell the story of Theophilus, on whose behalf the
Virgin is depicted fighting the devil for his soul.

7 Books of Hours, John Harthan, (Book Club Associtates, 1982) p.32

8 Leaves of Gold: Treasures of Manuscript Illumination from Philadelphia Collections

(Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2001)
<http://www.leavesofgold.org/gallery/boh/index.html> accessed 24/02/2010

9 ‘Introduction’, Miracles of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Eileen Power (Kessinger Publishing,
2004) p.xiii

10 Books of Hours, John Harthan, (Book Club Associtates, 1982) p. 14

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Alice White – HI5042: Gothic Art: Image and Imagination in Europe, c.1140-1500 – Seminar
Leader: Dr Laura Cleaver

The Virgin Mary acts as intercessor for the reader of the Book of Hours,
particularly in the special prayers ‘Obsecro te’ and ‘O intemerata’ which appear
in nearly all examples. These prayers are a direct address from the reader to the
Virgin requesting her to intervene on their behalf with God. They end with the
plea: ‘At the end of my life show me your face, and reveal to me the day and
hour of my death.’11 This plea was granted to Theophilus in the illuminations of
the de Brailes Hours, where she is shown bearing his soul to heaven upon his
death, a visual representation of pleas to the Virgin gaining one access to
heaven. This would have offered hope to the reader that they too may be
granted clemency for their sins through their prayers to the Virgin.

Books of Hours also include Suffrages or invocations of the saints. These shorter
devotions are in accordance with Catholic theology, whereby the Virgin was
accorded hyperdulia, a higher form of worship than the other saints who instead
warrant dulia. Although less important than the Virgin, one’s patron saint was a
very important figure in medieval life and death. The prayer to one’s guardian
angel demonstrates that once again the focus is upon redemption after death
rather than a more pleasant life, requesting that ‘by the protection of thy actions
mayest thou make me at last a dweller with thee and with those on high.’12 The
saints had secured their places in heaven and were in a position to intercede for
the individual.

Maximus, the first bishop of Turin in the early fifth century advised that praying
to the martyrs served a twofold purpose both in life and death: ‘Here they keep
us from falling into sin: there they protect us from the horrors of hell.’13 Not only
does the reader of a Book of Hours desire an advocate, but furthermore a guide
in the fearful unknown existence after death. The example of Medieval Mappa
Mundi demonstrates the insidious fear of the unknown through representations
of monsters on the outskirts. This can likewise be seen in the following plea from
the Suffrage:

11 X. “Obsecro Te” and “O Intemerara”,

<http://utu.morganlibrary.org/Checklists/Checklist1.cfm?exhib=1> accessed 24/02/2010

12 ‘Suffrages’, A Hypertext Book of Hours, Glenn Gunhouse

<http://www.medievalist.net/hourstxt/suffrage.htm#guardian> accessed 24/02/2010

13 ‘Art and Death in the Middle Ages’, Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History, Ed. Philomena
Mariani (The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000)
<http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/deth/hd_deth.htm> accessed 24/02/2010

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Alice White – HI5042: Gothic Art: Image and Imagination in Europe, c.1140-1500 – Seminar
Leader: Dr Laura Cleaver

And when I shall be drawn forth from this body at the command of God, do
not allow evil spirits to frighten me or make sport of me, nor allow me to
fall into the pit of desperation. And do not abandon me at all until thou
hast led me to the sight of almighty God.14

Just like a journey to a physical place unknown, the journey to a spiritual place
unknown was a scary concept to the reader, and the Book of Hours offers hope
of protection on this journey through the daily prayers contained within it.

This journey is depicted in many Books of Hours through the images of funeral
processions commonly found in the Office of the Dead. Such images instructed
the reader that the journey of the soul to the afterlife is mirrored by the journey
of the body to the grave, stressing the importance of a well prepared death. On
folio 61r. of the De Brailes Hours parallel is demonstrated through the example
of the death of the Virgin. Her soul ascends to heaven travelling up the right
margin as the funeral procession makes its way to the valley of Josaphat
travelling from right to left along the bas-de-page.

The most obvious representation of attitudes to death was presented in an

essential part of any Book of Hours, the Office of the Dead - the prayers said over
a coffin during the vigils or wake before burial. Indicative of the seriousness
accorded to the correct prayers for the dead in order for them to suffer less in
purgatory, the Office also reflected the importance that the reader themselves
make constant preparation and penitence before their own death. The Office of
the Dead was often illustrated with images of death and dying to act as a visual
reminder to the reader of their mortality which should be prepared for through
reading the hours.

Many images of death can be seen in historiated initials near the beginning of
the two parts of the service for the Office of the Dead (Placebo Domino in
regione vivorum and Dirige, Domine Deus meus, in conspectus tuo viam
meam).15 This interaction between text and image demonstrated the inextricable
link between death and religion, and acted as a reminder that the reason the
reader was engaging with the text was because of their inherent mortality, with
one historiated “D” showing the skeleton sitting up in a coffin. The bas-de-page

14 ‘Suffrages’, A Hypertext Book of Hours, Glenn Gunhouse

<http://www.medievalist.net/hourstxt/suffrage.htm#guardian2> accessed 24/02/2010

15 For examples see attached sheet of images pp. 2, 4 and 11

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Alice White – HI5042: Gothic Art: Image and Imagination in Europe, c.1140-1500 – Seminar
Leader: Dr Laura Cleaver

below one historiated initial indicates the proper preparation for death in the
kneeling saint below.16

Several examples depict skeletons in conjunction with the Vigil of the Dead, a
common miniature with which to begin the Office of the Dead.17 Images of
funerals with mourners surrounding a bier encourage mourning and prayer.
Mourning is depicted in the form of the public event, which relatives would have
been obliged to enact, as a reminder of their continuing obligation to the dead
person in the form of praying for their soul.

It is unsurprising, since the Book of Hours so emphasises remembrance of the

dead, that many wills made provision for them to be inherited by suitable
persons. The book, although a gift, also carried with it the obligation to pray for
the dead and thus ensured them less suffering in purgatory. Queen Blanche of
Navarre carefully divided hers amongst her family, including the Duke of Berry
and her sister, Jeanne de Narvarre.18 This obliged them all to pray on her behalf.
Humbler examples of wills leaving Books of Hours also exist, for instance a lady
in 1498 ‘left her god-daughter a prayerbook ‘clasped with silver and gilte for a
Remembrance to pray for me’’.19 Both have bequeathed their inheritances in the
same way that the burgess in the De Brailes Hours gives the chalice, to tip the
scales in their favour come the resurrection. The image of the funeral is
especially useful as a reminder of the person who gave the book, perhaps one of
the reasons for its popularity.

Often, images of funerals contain pictures of books, which remind the reader that
the Book of Hours is a crucial element assisting them in a good death. This again
demonstrates the advertising the producers of the manuscripts subtly employed
to reinforce the importance of their trade to their patrons. Such images also
associated the book with redemption and the act of mourning the dead. Not
praying was not only a danger for the souls of lost relatives, but also to the
reader because it left them unprepared for their own death.

16 Images, p.4

17 Images, pp.9-16

18 Books of Hours, John Harthan, (Book Club Associtates, 1982) p.33

19 Books of Hours, John Harthan, (Book Club Associtates, 1982) p. 34

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Alice White – HI5042: Gothic Art: Image and Imagination in Europe, c.1140-1500 – Seminar
Leader: Dr Laura Cleaver

In other miniatures, an image of a skeleton haunts the margins and miniatures

as a reminder of the hovering presence of death at all times of the reader’s life.20
In some examples, the figure of death is actually striking out at a figure.21 Many
of these are going about their daily lives, but other biblical imagery has been
introduced. One example shows a young man being addressed by an angel and a
demon, a snake representing sin and temptation.22 Christ sits in majesty above
and below the hellmouth is ominously gaping, binding up the idea of death with
the concept of the final judgement, and acting as a pictorial gloss suggestive of
why the reader should lead a pious life and avoid temptation.

Another depicts Job on his dunghill behind the image of the man struck down by
death, again carrying connotations of temptation and sin, as Job was tempted by
Satan, and suffered many hardships but was unwavering in his loyalty to God.
Job therefore acts as an example for the reader to follow, which is especially
pertinent as passages from the Book of Job are contained in the Office of the
Dead, and the reader is literally imitating Job by reciting his words.

In one example, the anthropomorphism of death stands in a field bearing a

scythe and wearing a turban-style hat, almost a parody of the rural image of a
mower seen in many calendar illustrations.23 A scene normally associated with
abundance and life is instead turned into a reminder of death. Images where
death can be seen on the edges of life, for instance in the margin on the same
page as scenes of mourners suggest that while life goes on, and mourners return
to their daily lives, this might end at any moment.

Medieval Christians were often reminded that at judgement day the meek would
inherit the earth, and that God was blind to class or wealth. Similarly, many
miniatures in Books of Hours demonstrate how death is blind to class or wealth,
and depict images of death with figures from different social standings. In one,
death greets a pope, cardinal, bishop and king and in another he attacks a holy
man emerging from a church.24 This may have acted as a warning to wealthy

20 Images, pp.3, 5-10

21 Images, pp.17, 20-23

22 Images, p.21

23 Images, p.3

24 Images pp.19-20

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Alice White – HI5042: Gothic Art: Image and Imagination in Europe, c.1140-1500 – Seminar
Leader: Dr Laura Cleaver

patrons that their standing could not protect them spiritually, reminding the
reader of the importance of prayer and also of the invaluable service that the
manuscript makers provided.

Allegories and fables were also extremely important to the medieval reader in
achieving an understanding of the text, and offered a visual gloss; ‘they operate
differently from the text but can reinforce or inflect its meaning for the reader.’25
An example of this is the Three Living and Three Dead, reproduced in many
Books of Hours to begin the Office of the Dead. This allegory on the vanity of
earthly rank depicts three men in the prime of life who encounter three skeletons
as an abrupt reminder of mortality.26 The medieval concept of vanity was not
merely associated with conceitedness but also the idea of actions ‘devoid of real
value, idle, unprofitable’27: focussing on the worldly over spiritual was devoid of
real value, because come the resurrection men would be assigned places in
heaven based on merit. The skeletons were depicted in varying degrees of
decomposition as a demonstration of how the vigour and riches of the living are
meaningless and stripped away after death.

The Three Living and Three Dead anticipated the Dance of Death image which
also frequently appears in the borders of Books of Hours. The example in the
border surrounding and image of the Raising of Lazarus shows death reaching
out to all different members of society (rank recognisable by headwear),
reminiscent of images of death approaching different ranks as discussed above.
Some are actually fleeing into the foliage. This is appropriate for the miniature it
accompanies, as the name Lazarus can be used in two biblical contexts, as the
man raised from the dead but also in the parable of Lazarus and Dives, where a
poor man is carried to heaven and the rich man in hell begs for Lazarus to be
sent as a warning against hell to his brothers. The relationship of the two sets of
images combines to act as a reminder that a warning has already been issued in
the form of the words of the prophets: worldly status is no guarantee of
redemption.

25 ‘Reading and meditation in the Middle Ages: Lectio divina and books of hours’, Laura
Sterponi, Text & Talk 28–5 (Mouton de Gruyter, 2008), p.378

26 Images pp.24-29

27 Etymology of “vain”, <http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?

search=vain&searchmode=none>

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Alice White – HI5042: Gothic Art: Image and Imagination in Europe, c.1140-1500 – Seminar
Leader: Dr Laura Cleaver

Text and image combine throughout Books of Hours as reminders of mortality to

reiterate to the reader why the book is so significant in their lives. It reinforces
the concept of a life after death being more important than life on earth.
Adhering to the word of God, written in Books of Hours, and following its prayers
for intercession and forgiveness were the route to heaven: a matter of life and
death.

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Alice White – HI5042: Gothic Art: Image and Imagination in Europe, c.1140-1500 – Seminar
Leader: Dr Laura Cleaver

Bibliography
The Hours of Jeanne d’Evreux, Metropolitan Museum of Art.
<http://www.metmuseum.org/explore/Jde/jde6.htm>

Late Medieval and Renaissance Illuminated Manuscripts - Books of Hours 1400-

1530, Institute for Studies of Illuminated Manuscripts in Denmark
<http://www.chd.dk/index.html>

Leaves of Gold: Treasures of Manuscript Illumination from Philadelphia

Collections (Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2001)
<http://www.leavesofgold.org/gallery/boh/index.html>

Medieval Bestseller: The Book of Hours, Morgan Library Exhibition (1997-8)

<http://utu.morganlibrary.org/Checklists/ExhibIntro.cfm?exhib=1>

New Advent Catholic Encyclopaedia, <http://www.newadvent.org/>

Areford, David S., Excavating the medieval image: manuscripts, artists,

audiences : essays in honor of Sandra Hindman (Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2004)

Camille, Michael, Image on the Edge: The Margins of Medieval Art, Cambridge:
Harvard University Press, 1992

Gunhouse, Glenn, A Hypertext Book of Hours

<http://www.medievalist.net/hourstxt/>

Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, (2001)

<http://www.etymonline.com/index.php>

Harthan, John, Books of Hours, (Book Club Associtates, 1982)

Kamerick, Kathleen, Popular piety and art in the late Middle Ages: image worship
and idolatry in England, 1350-1500 (Palgrave Macmillan, 2002)

à Kempis, Thomas, Of The Imitation of Christ: In Three Books, translated by John

Payne (William Storer, 1822)

Mariani, Philomena (Ed.), ‘Art and Death in the Middle Ages’, Heilbrunn Timeline
of Art History, (The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000)
<http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/deth/hd_deth.htm>

Power, Eileen, Miracles of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Kessinger Publishing, 2004)

Smith, Kathryn A., ‘The Neville of Hornby Hours and the Design of Literate
Devotion’, The Art Bulletin, Vol. 81, No. 1 (Mar., 1999, College Art Association)

Sterponi, Laura, ‘Reading and meditation in the Middle Ages: Lectio divina and
books of hours’, Text & Talk 28–5 (Mouton de Gruyter, 2008)

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Alice White – HI5042: Gothic Art: Image and Imagination in Europe, c.1140-1500 – Seminar
Leader: Dr Laura Cleaver

Manuscripts

Houghton Library, MS Lat 161

New York, Columbia University, Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Incunable H-
405

Davis, University of California, Davis, Shields Library, Special Collections, UCD

BX2080 A2 1497

The Pierpont Morgan Library, MS G.14

New York, New York Public Library, Spencer Collection, NYPL Spencer 006

New York, Grolier Club, MS 11

Oberlin College Library, The Artz Hours

Philadelphia, Free Library of Philadelphia, Rare Book Department, Lewis E 086

Philadelphia, Free Library of Philadelphia, Rare Book Department, Lewis E 092

Philadelphia, Free Library of Philadelphia, Rare Book Department, Lewis E 108

Philadelphia, Free Library of Philadelphia, Rare Book Department, Lewis E 113

Philadelphia, Free Library of Philadelphia, Rare Book Department, Lewis E 118

Philadelphia, Free Library of Philadelphia, Rare Book Department, Lewis E 121

Philadelphia, Free Library of Philadelphia, Rare Book Department, Lewis E 128

Philadelphia, Free Library of Philadelphia, Rare Book Department, Lewis E 183

Philadelphia, Free Library of Philadelphia, Rare Book Department, Lewis E 212

Philadelphia, Free Library of Philadelphia, Rare Book Department, Lewis E M

009:12

Sacramento, State of California, California State Library, Sacramento, CSL v096

C3631

Koninklijke Bibliotheek National Library of the Netherlands, The Hague, KB, 74 G

3

Koninklijke Bibliotheek National Library of the Netherlands, The Hague, KB, 76 F

14

Koninklijke Bibliotheek National Library of the Netherlands, The Hague, KB, 76 G

9

Koninklijke Bibliotheek National Library of the Netherlands, The Hague, KB, 76 G

14

Koninklijke Bibliotheek National Library of the Netherlands, The Hague, KB, 130 E
4

Koninklijke Bibliotheek National Library of the Netherlands, The Hague, KB, 131 H
8

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Alice White – HI5042: Gothic Art: Image and Imagination in Europe, c.1140-1500 – Seminar
Leader: Dr Laura Cleaver

Koninklijke Bibliotheek National Library of the Netherlands, The Hague, KB, 133 D
15

The Walters Art Museum, W.430

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