Hours of the Virgin

The New York State Library and the Toledo Museum of Art have contributed leaves from Matins of the Hours the Virgin, each with details that support FOL 47’s adherence to the Use of Troyes.

As discussed elsewhere on this site, the saints honored in FOL 47’s Litany and the details of its Office of the Dead both point to the Troyes liturgical tradition. The presence of Psalm 117 on the leaf held by the University of Minnesota suggested that FOL 47’s Hours of the Virgin might follow the Use of Troyes as well, since Troyes features this text as the third psalm of Matins. However, this evidence was not definitive, since many French versions of the liturgy use Psalm 117 in this way (Drigsdahl, 2002).

Courtesy of the New York State Library,

Manuscripts and Special Collections

(Albany, New York)

By contrast, the presence of the hymn “O quam glorifica luce coruscas” following Psalm 94 at the beginning of Matins (shown at left on the New York State Library’s leaf) narrows the field of possibilities enormously. Only the uses of Paris, St. Pol-de-Léon, Sens, and Troyes use this hymn at this point rather than the far more common “Quem terra ponthus” (Drigsdahl, 2002; Searle, 1876, p. xxxiv). Of these, only Troyes sometimes makes use of Psalm 117 (Drigsdahl, 2002; see also Bibliothèque nationale de France Latin 924, 82r-84v and Bibliothèque de l’Arsenal Ms-651 réserve, 48v-51r).

Netherlands, Illuminated Leaf from a Book of Hours, late 15th century, 7 x 5 3/16 in., The Toledo Museum of Art (Toledo, Ohio), Purchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey, 1953.129UU*

Meanwhile, the leaf contributed by the Toledo Museum of Art (see left) displays the text “Caecos cordium oculos terge,” which is also in keeping with the Use of Troyes.

This reading commonly appears as the second lesson of Matins in manuscripts following the Use of Paris (Bibliothèque nationale de France Latin 919, 10v; Houghton Library MS Lat 159, 36v; Drigsdahl, 1999; Fassler and Baltzer, 2000, p. 475). However, it also consistently appears in manuscripts for the Use of Troyes (BnF Latin 924, 50r; Bibliothèque de l’Arsenal Ms-647 réserve, 26r; Bibliothèque de l’Arsenal Ms-651 réserve, 33v-34r; University of Iowa xMMs.Bo6, 38r).

As can be seen at left, "Caecos cordium . . ." is followed in FOL 47 by the responsory “Beata es, virgo Maria . . .”. While this response can appear after either the first or second reading of Matins (Drigsdahl, 1997), most Troyes versions of the liturgy seem to place it here (Drigsdahl, 2000; BnF Latin 924, f.50v; Bibliothèque de l’Arsenal Ms-651 réserve, f.34r; University of Iowa xMMs.Bo6, f. 38v). Manuscripts for the Use of Paris typically use the reverse order, in which "Beata es . . . would follow the first reading of Matins while "Caecos cordium . . . " would be followed by the responsory "Sancta et immaculata virginitas . . ." (BnF Latin 919, 10v; Houghton Library MS Lat 159, 37r; Drigsdahl, 1999; Fassler and Baltzer, 2000, p. 475)

All in all, then, these new additions indicate that FOL 47 follows the Use of Troyes quite consistently throughout the manuscript.

Katherine Bonamo Philbin

February 2017

*Note: With respect to FOL 47's geographic origin, the credit line requested by the Toledo Museum of Art reflects the label that Otto Ege provided for FOL 47 in his Fifty Original Leaves from Medieval Manuscripts porfolios. It remains unclear precisely where the manuscript was written, although its liturgical use and French language rubrics obviously suggest the possibility of northern France.