The Stowe Breviary (

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the Briti ...

, Stowe MS 12) is an early-fourteenth-century

illuminated manuscript An illuminated manuscript is a formally prepared document where the text is often supplemented with flourishes such as borders and miniature illustrations. Often used in the Roman Catholic Church for prayers, liturgical services and psalms, th ...

Breviary A breviary (Latin: ''breviarium'') is a liturgical book used in Christianity for praying the canonical hours, usually recited at seven fixed prayer times. Historically, different breviaries were used in the various parts of Christendom, such ...

from England, providing the divine office according to the Sarum ordinal and calendar (with Norwich additions). It is thought to be by the same scribe as the

Macclesfield Psalter The Macclesfield Psalter is a lavishly illuminated manuscript probably produced c. 1320–30 in East Anglia. The psalter, or book of Psalms, contains 252 beautifully illustrated pages and is named after its most recent owner, the Earl of Mac ...

and the

Douai Psalter The Douai Psalter is an East Anglian illuminated manuscript, severely damaged during World War I. The psalter, or Book of Psalms, was produced in the 1330s. The artwork was produced by the same scribe who illuminated the Macclesfield and Gorleston ...

. The manuscript forms part of the

Stowe manuscripts The Stowe manuscripts are a collection of about two thousand Irish, Anglo-Saxon and later medieval manuscripts, nearly all now in the British Library. The manuscripts date from 1154 to the end of the 14th century. The manuscripts were originally ...

in the

Sources

*Sherry Reames, "Origins and Affiliations of the Pre-Sarum Office for Anne in the Stowe Breviary", in ''Music and Medieval Manuscripts: Paleography and Performance, Essays Dedicated to Andrew Hughes'', ed. John Haines and Randall Rosenfeld (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2004), pp. 349–68.

External links

British Library catalogue record
14th-century illuminated manuscripts

Illuminated breviaries {{British-Library-stub