Winchester College Publication Treausry: Collections Bulletin 2019-2020 | Page 5

OBJECTS IN FOCUS
Original ownership
When approaching a medieval book of
hours, it is usually assumed that such a
volume is a lay person’s devotional manual.
However, priests and monastics also used
books of hours, and at times the contents of
these books provide clues as to their
ownership and use. Several aspects of this
manuscript—the liturgical detail, the
selection and content of the prayers, and the
presence of music—suggest very strongly
that this particular manuscript was written
for use by a priest.
WC 48 contains rich liturgical distinctions,
beyond those usually found in a book of
hours. The calendar itself indicates
gradations of feast days—red-letter feast
days, duplex, nine lessons or three lessons—
in far more detail than the calendar found
in a typical medieval book of hours. The
presentation of the Hours of the Virgin
offers distinctions for Advent, Christmas and
‘other times’ as well as offering distinctions
for the day of the week for Matins. Such
variations are a likely indicator that the
Figure 2: WC 48, fol. 60r
volume was appropriate for a monastic
house or a priest. The litany, instead of
remaining unchanging for each day of the
week, offers a segment that varies for each
day of the week (folios 51r–55v).
Another fascinating aspect of the volume is
the collection of prayers beginning on fol.
116r. Starting with the opening rubric,
‘Oracio sancti ambrosii dicenda ante
missam’ (Prayer of St. Ambrose to be said
before mass), the first five prayers are from
the traditional repertoire of prayers said by
priests before mass. The presence of these
prayers in the manuscript is a strong
indicator that the volume was compiled for
a priest.
While the Office of the Dead is present in
virtually all books of hours, its particular
presentation in WC 48 also supports the
argument that the manuscript was made for
a priest. The Office of the Dead included
vespers, matins, and lauds and was said daily
by priests as well as in monasteries and
nunneries. Many books of hours include
few rubrics, but WC 48 is full of rubrics that
are quite similar to those found in priests’
manuals of the period. So, for example, on
fol. 74v we find this rubric:
Deinde dicat sacerdos in audiencia. Et
ne nos. Chorus Sed libera nos similiter
in audiencia. Quod per totum annum
observetur in obsequiis mortuorum.
Quiscumque nocturnus dicitur ante
leccionem etiam in die animarum.
(Then the priest should say aloud: Et
ne nos. Likewise the choir [should say]
aloud: Sed libera nos. This practice
should be observed throughout the
whole year in the observances of the
dead. The [corresponding] night office
is said before the lesson even on the
day of all souls.)
This detail and specifically the indication of
the priest and the choir is useful for a priest
but not as necessary for a lay person.
Similarly, the detail in the musical notation
explicitly giving a cue to move from the
reading into the responsory chant is found
frequently in priests’ manuals but is unusual
in a book of hours.
One final hint regarding the first owner of
this volume is found in the last item in the
manuscript, a poem written in honor of St.
Frideswide that is written from a cleric’s
perspective. The opening lines claim
Frideswide as the mother of clerics:
Salve sancta femina salus infirmorum
Salve lux oxonie mater clericorum. 4
(Hail holy woman, health of the
infirm
Hail light of Oxford, mother of
clerics.)
In sum, the liturgical detail, the selection of
prayers, the presentation of the Office of the
Dead, and the contents of this poem all
point to a priest as the likely owner of WC
48. Among the unusual, even possibly
unique, items for the priest’s private
devotional life is the abecedarian Marian
litany found on folios 60r–62r. The image
of fol. 60r (fig. 2) shows that the litany
begins with the standard Kyrie eleison and
two initial petitions to Mary. What follows
is a list of petitions grouped, in alphabetical
order, by letter of the alphabet with each
letter highlighted. There are five attributes
for each letter of the alphabet, except for the
‘unusual’ letters k, q, y and z which each
have one. This division and the presentation
in the manuscript clearly function as a
mnemonic device for the orant. 5
Winchester College Collections 2019 – 20 5