Illuminated around 1500 by the artist
Jean Poyer, The Hours of Henry VIII
receives its name from the possible but
unproven eighteenth-century tradition
that holds King Henry of England once
owned this splendid manuscript. By
following the simple instructions, you
can explore every painting of this
Renaissance masterpiece and learn
how Books of Hours helped their readers
to pray.
Books of Hours contain more or less
standard texts—Calendar, Gospel
Lessons, Hours of the Virgin, Hours
of the Cross, Hours of the Holy Spirit,
Penitential Psalms with Litany, Office
of the Dead, and Suffrages—as well as
a number of common accessory
prayers. Based on the frequency and
variety of added devotions, it appears
that scribes included these for owners
who wished to personalize their prayer
books.
November: Thrashing for Acorns
(fol. 6)
In November the labor is to take
the pigs to the forest and rattle
the branches of the oak trees so
they shed their acorns, thus
fattening up the animals.
In the left margin are a large
group of saints (for the Feast of
All Saints, November 1), Death
as a skeleton (for the feast of
All Souls, November 2), and
Sts. Martin (bishop of Tours,
November 11) and Brictius
(archbishop of Tours, November
13).
At the right are Sts. Catherine,
with a palm of martyrdom and
the sword of her decapitation
(November 25), Andrew the
Apostle, holding his X-shaped
cross (November 30), Clement,
in papal tiara (November 23),
and Cecilia (November 22).
The zodiacal sign is Sagittarius,
the Archer.
