The Taymouth Hours, Use of Sarum


Virgin Mary and the devil from BL YT 13, f. 155v

Bas-de-page scene of the Virgin Mary pulling on the horns of a vanquished devil, while on the left, an angel holds a rescued soul, with a caption reading, ‘Cy n[ost]re dame tout le deable un alme.’ Image taken from f. 155v of Book of Hours, Use of Sarum ('The Taymouth Hours'). Written in Latin and French.


Description from The Taymouth Hours | British Library

Books of Hours were popular books of devotion during the late Middle Ages and Renaissance. Luxurious copies with rich decorations were highly appreciated by royal and aristocratic patrons.

Four apparent owner portraits of a crowned woman indicate that this Book of Hours was most likely made for a royal woman (ff. 7r, 18r, 139r, 188v; digitised images 1, 2, 12, 28). Suggestions for her identity have included: Isabella of France (1295–1358), wife of Edward II; one of Isabella and Edward’s daughters, Eleanor (1318–1355) or Joan (1321–1362); or Philippa of Hainault (c. 1310/15–1369), wife of Edward III.

The manuscript features an unusually rich scheme of decoration, including cycles of images in the lower margin of nearly every page, with 384 scenes in total. These depict episodes from chivalric romance, saints’ lives, Holy Scripture, morality tales and hunting scenes.

f.7r

f.112v

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PSALM 37

Keep innocency, and take heed unto the thing that is right : for that shall bring a man peace at the last.

POPE LEO XIV

The right to freedom of expression, freedom of conscience, religious freedom, and even the right to life are being restricted in the name of other so-called new rights, with the result that the very framework of human rights is losing its vitality and creating space for force and oppression. This occurs when each right becomes self-referential, and especially when it becomes disconnected from reality, nature, and truth.

ST AUGUSTINE

The truth is like a lion; you don’t have to defend it. Let it loose; it will defend itself.

SAINT PHILIP NERI

The greatness of our love of God must be tested by the desire we have of suffering for His love.

MARCUS AURELIUS

There is but one thing of real value - to cultivate truth and justice, and to live without anger in the midst of lying and unjust men.

MARK TWAIN

If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything.

ARTHUR SCHOPENHAUER

All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.