French & Latin text in lettre bâtarde script.
Pope Boniface promises "2000 years of true forgiveness"
Recto: 22 lines of text in French and Latin written in a clear lettre bâtarde hand on vellum. Ruled in red and rubrics in French underlined in red. Two two-line illuminated initials ‘S’ and ‘D’ in liquid gold with gold penwork on alternating blue and red grounds. Two similar pilcrows.
Verso: As Recto, with two illuminated initials and three pilcrows.
Origin: Northern France.
Date: c.1500.
Content: The prayers on this leaf are very rarely found in a Book of Hours.
The rubrics include prayers for:
Quant on prent la paix ~ When we take peace.
Quant on veult recepvoix le corps iesu christ ~ When we want to receive the body of our Lord. (The sacrament).
An intriguing further rubric reads:
Pape boniface a donne a tous ceulx qui diront devotement ceste oraison qui sensuit entre le levation du corpus domini et le dernier agnus dei deux mille ans de vray pardon.
~ Pope Boniface* gave to those who will devoutly say this prayer which follows between the elevation of the corpus domini and the last agnus dei: two thousand years of true forgiveness.
Condition: The leaf is in very good/excellent condition. There is one wormhole, minor surface dirt and light toning to the edges of the vellum. The leaf is unconditionally guaranteed genuine.
Notes: * Almost certainly Boniface VIII on the occasion of the First Jubilee in 1300.
A rubric is a word or section of text that is traditionally written in red ink for emphasis. The word derives from the Latin: rubrica, meaning red ochre or red chalk. It is an instruction or indication to the reader or priest officiating of the passage that follows.
Books of Hours were prayer books designed for the laity who wished to emulate the cycle of daily devotions followed by the clergy but without taking actual vows. The contents grew out of the psalter but included a mixed variety of other types of material - hymns, lessons, biblical readings, calendars etc. Its central text is the Hours of the Virgin. There are eight Hours (times for prayer): Matins, Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, None, Vespers and Compline.
Size: Leaf: approx. 180x120 mm.
Item No: MBH196
