Praying, Threading, and Adorning. Sewn-in Prints in a Rosary Prayer Book (London, British Library, Add. MS 14042)

Hanneke van Asperen

This publication explores the materials, illustrations, and special features of five remarkable silk Prayer Books. Modeled on medieval manuscripts yet woven in the late nineteenth century on Jacquard looms, the woven Prayer Book is a triumph of the ingenuity and industry of Lyon – the historic silk weaving capital of France. It is the only illustrated woven book ever created, and it is estimated that just fifty to sixty examples were made, yet no census exists. The five examples here are explored with a copy-specific view (or more accurately weaving-specific view) to note the physical characteristics of each. All previous studies have treated the woven Prayer Book as a uniform series or edition. Instead, my approach takes a closer look at how these books were made and reveals subtle but surprising differences between each surviving book. As a group, the five examples here reveal intriguing new discoveries about their materials and manufacture.

Books of hours in the fifteenth century occupied several social and devotional roles. People used them to store small objects, including metal badges. Although the cultural practice of sewing in badges was widespread in the late Middle Ages, nearly all of the badges have been removed (by later collectors). This article examines the practice by considering needle holes and offsets in the soft parchment, which indicate the shape of the badges and where they were attached. Noting that the vast majority of metal offsets in books of hours are round, the author posits that these were not impressed by pilgrims’ badges, as is often repeated in the scholarly literature, but rather by tokens that commemorate having taken the Eucharist. These round badges were the same size and shape and bore the same imagery as host wafers. Owners stitched such badges into their books’ margins at locations relevant to Eucharistic piety. When they were sewn into books, Eucharist badges reconfigured the book as a shrine that recorded a votary’s pursuit of Communion Journal of Historians of Netherlandish Art, 8, 1 (Winter 2016), Article 1 (48 pages). DOI: 10.5092/jhna.2016.8.1.1

In the dark and mediaeval ages, time was of no account. Skilled labor, such as was needed for … illuminations and embroideries, was freely given as the duty of a life. The cloistered men and women worked for no wages; neither to benefit themselves nor their descendants; hardly for fame – that was given to the convent which had the credit of patronizing and producing art, while the very name of the artist was forgotten...[based on a paper given at St. Louis University in 2015]

WEAVING, VEILING,AND DRESSING Textiles and their Metaphors in the Late Middle Ages Edited by Kathryn M. Rudy and Barbara Baert BKEPOLS British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Weaving, veiling, and dressing : textiles and their metaphors in the late Middl-e Ages. - (Medieval church studies ; 12) 1. Textile fabrics - Religious aspects 2. Textile fabrics - Europe- History 3. Christian an andsymbolism - M&dieval, 500-1500 I. Rudy, Kathryn M. II. Baert, Barbara 246.2 ISBN-13: 9782503515274 © zoo7> Brepols Publishers n.v., Turnhout, Belgium All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. D/2007/0095/i ISBN: 978-2-503-51527-4 Printed in the E. U. on acid-free paper CONTENTS List of Figures Vll List of Plates XIX Introduction: Miraculous Textiles in Exempla and Images . from the Low Countries KATHRYN M. RUDY Part One: Weaving Weaving 39 BARBARA BAERT Weaving Mary s Chaplet: The Representation of the Rosary in Late Medieval Flemish Manuscript Illumination 4i ANNE MARGREET W. AS-VIJVERS Praying, Threading, and Adorning: Sewn-in Prints in a Rosary Prayer Book (London, British Library, Add. MS 14042) 8i HANNEKE VAN ASPEREN The Representation and Meaning ofLuxurious Textiles in Franco-Flemish Manuscript Illumination MARGARET L. GOEHRING 121 Part Two: Veiling Veiling ^9 BARBARA BAERT Raising the Curtain on the Use ofTextiles in Manuscripts i6i CHRISTINESCIACCA Curtains, Revelatio, and Pictorial Reality in Late Medieval i9i Renaissance Italy VICTORM. SCHMIDT Mantle, Fur, Pallium: Veiling and Unveiling in the Martyrdom ofAgnes of Rome 21$ BARBARA BAERT Part Three: Dressing Dressing 241 BARBARA BAERT The Clothing ofPoverty and Sanctity in Legends, and 245 their Representations in Trecento and Quattrocento Italy PHILINEHELAS Clothing, Exposure, and the Depiction ofSin in Passion 289 Iconography MARTHA BAYLESS .^ Swaddled or Shrouded? The Interpretation of 'Chrysom' Effigies on Late Medieval Tomb Monuments 307 SOPHIE OOSTERWIJK List of Contributors 349 Index 353 PRAYING, THREADING, AND ADORNING: SEWN-IN PRINTS IN A ROSARY PRAYER BOOK (LONDON, BRITISH LIBRARY, ADD. MS 14042) Hanneke van Asperen ^^he medieval votary most often prayed with the help of a written text. Manuscript prayer books provided the devotee with instructions for devotion. Most of these books contain ample instructions on how to pray, when, and where (often in the form of rubrics), as well as what to pray, that is, the prayer texts themselves. In this article, I would like to single out a manuscript that was such an aid for personal devotion: a small sixteenth-century prayer bookin the British Libraryin London (Additional MS 14042)/ Thesewn- London, British Library, Add. MS 14042: paper, 140 x loo mm, 407 + I ff. Literature on the manuscript includes: KareJ De Flou and Edward Gailliard, Beschrijving van M. iddelnederla. ndsche en andere Handschriften die in Engeland bewaard warden (Ghenr: Siffer, 1895-96), pp. 229-33, no. 42; Albert Ampe, 'Kritisch onderzoek van enkele aan Ruusbroec toegeschreven teksten', in Dr. L. Reypens-Album, ed. by Albert Ampe (Anrwerp; RuusbroecGenootschap, 1964), pp. 1-36 (pp. 15-16); Mieke L. de Kreek, 'Geprent te Marienwater. Onderzoek naar - en voorlopige inventarisatie van - mogelijke Marienwater-prentjes', in Birgitta van Ziveden i^o3-1373. 600 jaar kunst en cultuur van haar kloosterorde, cd. by Lean C. B. M. van Liebergen (Uden: Museum voor Religieuze Kunst, 1986), pp. 17-30; Ulla Sander Olsen, 'Handschriften uit het Birgittinessenklooster Marienwarer te Rosmalen bij 'sHertogenbosch, in Serta Devota, cd. by Werner Verbeke and others (Leuven: Leuven University Press, 1995), pp. 225-54 (p. 232); Karl Stooker and Theo Verbeij, Collecties op Orde, Miscellanea Neerlandica XV-XVI, 2 vols (Leuven: Peeters, 1997), II, p. .358, no. 1068; Ursula Early Engr avers and their Public: The Master ofthe Berlin Passion and Manuscript s from Convents in the Rhine-Maas Region (London : Harvey Miller, 2004), p. 178, and the Online Weekes, Manuscripts Catalogue ofthe British Library. At this point, I would like to thankKathryn Rudy for bringing this manuscript to my attention and for giving me a chance to present an essay 82 Hanneke van Asperen in prints are the most striking aspect ofthis manuscript. Focusing on this prayer book, I examine the role of images in worship, and the relationship between prayer, image, and thread. The London prayer book contains many ro&ary prayers. The rosary in its most basic form is a repetition of the Ave Maria, usually followed by a Pater Noster at even intervals. While there were several main rosaty traditions in the lateMiddleAges, manyother 'rosaries' blossomed, whichencompassed different aspects ofMary's life and character, aswell as those of Christ and the saints. The compiler of the London prayer book brought several versions of the rosary together and provided them with illustrations. Except for a few coloured drawings and a miniature, the illustrations are single-leaf woodcuts and engravings. A fewofthesewoodcuts bearxylographic text (that is, letters printed from the wood block) that either provides a short prayer or names the convent from which the picture derived: Marienwater. Most of the images are glued to the background; others are sewn in with needle and bright silk thread. Stitches surround the prints on all four sides ofthe page. In this way, the compiler added a layer ofborder decoration. Like precious stones in the frame ofa painting, the silk threads animate the periphery around the image. The stitches add colour to the mass-produced images/ Although the use ofneedle and thread to attach objects (for example, prints, miniatures, silk pieces of cloth for the protection of the miniatures, Veronicas, or pilgrims' badges) to books was not uncommon in .the fifteenth and the beginning of the sixteenth century, the highly visible red and green silk floss in the British Library codex begs some questions regarding function and metaphor, attachment anddecoration. Rarelyisthemethod ofattachment transformed into a decorative element; instead, stitches usually remain silent andhardlyvisible. In this respect, the London prayer book stands out. In this article, I first examine the genesis of the London manuscript and the choice of images in order to contextualize the sewn-in prints. Then I consider the meaning of objects stitched into books, both functionally and on the subject in this setting. Moreover, I would like to express my gratitude for iier valuable comments and meticulo us editing. I would also like to thank Anne Margreet As-Vijvers, Ursula Weekes, and Jos Koldeweij for their useful suggestions. Jan Van der Stock analyses the inexpensive prices of printed images in Printing Images in Antwerp: The Introduction ofPrintmakingin a City: Fifteenth Century to 1585 (Rotterdam: Sound and Vision Interactive, 1998), pp. 113-24. At the time the Marienwater images were printed, however, they were still fairly expensive. PRAYING, THREADING, AND ADORNING 83 metaphorically. The use of thread to attach objects refers to the practice of praying, especially in convents where textile work was an important part ofthe daily practice. In the case of the London prayer book, this was a convent of Tertiaries, whichmaybeidentifiedastlie convent ofMarienburgorBarbaradal in s-Hertogenbosch. Finally, I submit that the stitched borders elaborate on the underlying concept of the rosary prayer book, making them essential to the understanding ofthe London codex. The Production of the London Prayer Book The rosary prayer book provides some clues about the time and place of its creation. On several occasions, the text attributes indulgences to Pope Leo X (1^13-21), providing a terminus post quem for the book's production. 3 The book was written entirely in Middle Dutch with female pronouns indicating the genderofthereader.Nounsincludetermssuchasdochter('daughter'), dieneresse ('female servant'), and sondaresse ('female sinner') when referring to the person who recites the prayers. The pronouns suggest that the scribe was a nun who wrote for her'own use or that of her sisters. 4 Furthermore, introductions to prayers relate stories of nuns and young women, and images ofpraying nuns populate the prints. After its production, the book remained within the walls of a convent, as indicated by a smeenth-century owner's inscription on the flyleaves, 'sister Geertruijt van Oosterwijck'.5 The identity of the scribe remains a mystery. She is usually identified as a resident of the Birgittine convent of Marienwater in Rosmalen (near 's- Hertogenbosch), because several ofthewoodcut prints sewn andpasted into the Londonprayerbookapparentlycamefrom thatconvent, asxylographictextson the prints indicate (seeAppendix). 6 However, the prints thatMarienwater either Add. MS 14042, fols 156", i57", 187', and 261'. 4 The book with the biographies of the sisters from the convent of Saint Agnes in Emmerich relates a story about a woman who used to write 'wreaths of Our Dear Lady' for the othersisters. See Schwesternbuch und Statuten des StAgnes-Konvents in Emmerich, cd. by Anne Bollmann andNikolaus Staubadi (Emmerich: Emmericher Geschichtsverein, 1998),p. 170. 5 Add. MS 14042, fol. 3": 'Suster Geertruyt van Oosterwyck'. For the identification asBirgktine, see De Kreek, 'Geprent te Mariemuater; p. 2$; Olsen, Handschriften', p, 232; Stooker andVerbeij, Collecties op Orde, II, p. 358, andWeekes, Early Engravers, p. 178. The print with the inscription Maria water in the London prayer book has 84 Hanneke van Asferen produced or commissioned, whichcomprise but a fraction ofthe imagesin the book, probably circulated both inside andoutside the convent ofRosmalen. The nuns probably sold them or gave them awayto visitors and sisters from other convents. 7 The images, dateable to around i500, 8 circulated for quite some time before they were integrated in the rosary prayer book that waswritten after the accession of Pope Leo X. Was the compiler ofthe London prayer book a Birgittine? In my view, there are good indications that the book was not written or used in a Birgitune convent. While there is a pasted-in drawingdepicting St Bridget ofSweden, St Barbara, and StAmalberga with the sturgeon at her feet (fol. 383^, the extensive rosary accompanying it is dedicated to Barbara, not to Bridget. Another indication is theMarienwater woodcut depicting the Holy Family, which includes a kneeling nun (Plate 4). In a closely relatedversion ofthis single-leaf print (Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, inv. no. RP-P-I955-328; Plate 5), the nun kneelingatthebottom ofthescenewearsthegarboftheBirgittine order, which includes a white crown marked by the five red wounds of Christ. In the copy in the London prayer book, on the other hand, the distinctive headgear has been heavily painted over in order to obscure the typical characteristics of the Birgittine order.WhiletheBirgittineswereresponsibleforprintingmanysingleleafdevotional woodcuts in theNetherlands around1500, manypeople collected them over a long period oftime. The imagescould havechangedhandsseveral times before they were inserted in the prayer book. After all, early prints were circulated, used, and re-used. The images, while not made exclusively for the even been described as an ex-libris: De Kreek, 'Geprent te Marienwater, p. 25. This seems erroneous, however. The xylographic text may state the origin of the prints, but certainly not that of the book. The print of the Virgin in Sole serves primarily . as an illumination of the psalter that follows directly afterwards, and not so much as an ex-libris that stands apart from the contents of the book. 7 The carved blocks from which the prints were pulled probably comprised changeable components (main scene, margins, and text), which could be combined or altered depending on the wishes of the printer or commissioner. For more information on Marienwater as a centre of printmaking, see Maurits De I\4eyer,. Volksprenten in de Nederlanden 1400-1900 (Amsterdam: Scheltema and Holkema; Anrwerp: Standaard Wetenschappelijke Uitgeverij, 1970)1 P- 13; Adolf Spamer, Das kleine Andachtsb'ild vom XIV. bis zum. XX. Jahrhzi. ndert (Munich: Bruckmann, 1930), p. 33,and In Buscoducis 1450-162?. KunstuitdeBourgondische tijd te 's-Hertogenbosch,. cd. by Jos Koldeweij (Maarssen: Gary Schwarz-SDU, 1990), p. 159. For the dating ofthese prints-to around 1500, see In Buscoducis, cd. by Koldeweij, p. 159, and De Kreek, 'Geprent te Marienwater , p. 18. PRAYING,THREADING,ANDADORNING 8? nuns of Marienwater, could however, point to the region of origin of the London prayer book. Ratherthana Birgittine, thecompilerwasprobablya Tertiary, thatis,a sister who followed the rule of the Third Order of St Francis, presumably from a convent in s-Hertogenbosch. Clues supporting this hypothesis appear in several of the book's rubrics. For example, Francis, who has two prayers in the manuscript instead of only one, is called 'our holy humble father'. 9 Another prayerhasa rubricexplainingthat'ChristfaughtthefollowingTwenty-fivePater Nosters, a common prayer, 'to a nun from the grey order', in other words, to a Tertiary. 10 Elsewhere, the text mentions a certain father Sigilbertus who, according to the text, was 'the honourable father and general of the entire Tertiary order'. " After the intercession ofthis clergyman, Leo X granted 1, 200 years of indulgence to the accompanying prayer. Father Sigilbertus can be identified as Gilbertus Nicolai (d. 1532), who was commissioner general ofthe ThirdOrderduringthepapacyofLeoX.Afterhisappointment asvicargeneral {vicarius genemlis) of the Third Order to the north of the Alps in 1511-14 and 1516-17, Gilbertus becameminister general {commissariusgeneralis) oftheentire order in1517. " He wasre-elected for another three years in 1520. This means that the prayer book must have been written between 1517 and 1^23, or shortly thereafter. Moreover, therubric intheLondonprayerbookmentions brieflythat fatherSigllbertuswascalledAveMaria. In1517,LeoX actuallyallowedGilbertus Nicolaito change hisname to Gabriel deAve Maria, orAve Maria, to accentuate his devotion to the Virgin Mary. 13 Mary and Barbara, who receive particular attention in the London prayer book, werethe combined patron saints oftwo different convents ofTertiaries in 9 Add. MS 14042, fol. 398": 'Hier be/ ghint een/ seer deuoet / schoon ghe/ betVaa / den gloria / sen weerdi/ ghen teeken / dragherxpisti I onsen heili / ghen oetmoe / dighenvader/ Francisco'. Add. MS 14042, fol. 256'': 'Dese nauolgenrir<? xxv. yater nostei leerde onse here / Ihesus eend^r nonnen vander grouwen orden'. . Add. MS . 14042, fols i87I -v: 'Ende dits geschiet / ter beden des eerwerdigen vaders / Generaelder heelder minderbrue / ders orden Pater Sigilbertus diemen / naemde Aue Maria'. P. Peano, 'Gabriel-Maria Nicolas', m Dictionnaire d'Histoire et de Geographic Ecclesiastiques, ed. byAlfred Baudrillart and others, currently 29 vols (Paris:LetouzeyetAne, i5)i2-), XIX, cols 572-76, and HeiibenHoiza. pfe[, Manuale Historiae Ordinis FratrumMinorum (Freiburg: Herder, i909), pp. 625-26. 13 Peano, 'Gabriel-Maria Nicolas', col. 574. 86 Hanneke van Asperen 's-Hertogenbosch and its environs. The first was B.arbaradal op den Eikendonk, which was founded in 1475. 14There are several indications ofliterary production there. 15Moreover, the convent was situated near Marienwater, where the prints originated. The other Tertiary community dedicated to Mary and Barbarawas Marienburg op den Uilenborg. The former beguines accepted the rule of St Francisin 1469. 16A production ofprayerbooksfornuns' ownuseatMarienburg is demonstrable in the late sixteenth centmy. 17 The intended reader of the manuscript could have been a sister from either convent. The name of sister Geertruijt van Oosterwijck, written on one of the blank pages of the London prayer book (fol. 3V ), re-appears in a manuscript from Marienburg. 18The bookfrom Marienburg (Tilburg, University Library, KHS 6) is a Liber Obituum, a calendar with the names -of the sisters who had died and were to be commemorated on specific days during the liturgical year. According to a later addition in the obituary book, 'susier Gertmijt van Oistenvijck' died at the convent of Marienburg on the eighteenth of the 'slaughter month' (November) in 1622. 19 She is not mentioned in a register of the sisters at 14 L. van deMeerendonk, Het Klooster op de Eikendonk U Den Dungen (Tilburg: Stichtlng Brabants Historisch Contact, 1964), p. 15. 15Van de Meerendonk, HetKlooster, pp. $8-60; Piet Dorenbosch, 'De Dichteres van Sinte Barbara-Dael', Brabantia Nostra, 2 (1936), 90-96, 157-64. L. H. C. Schutjes, Geschiedenis van het Bisdom 's Hertogenbosch, 5 vols (Sint-MichielsGestel: Boekdrukkerij van hct Bisdom van 's Bosch, 1870-81), IV, p^492. 17 Jos Koldeweij, 'Lijfelijke en geestelijke pelgrimage: materiele souvenirs van spirituele pelgrimage', in Geen Povere Schoonheid. Laat-middeleeiiwse Kunst in Verbandmet de Moderne Devotie, ed. by Kees Veelenturf (Nijmegen: ValkhofPers, 2000>r-pp-22z-^2 (pp. 231-32); C. J. A. van den Oord, Tzuee eeznven Bosch' Boekbedrijf 1450-1656 {'Y'A^u's:^: Stichting Zuidelijk Historisch Contact, 1984), p. 406, no. A4. 18 Michael Schoengen, Monasticon Batavum, 3 vols (Amsterdam: Noord-HoUandsche Uitgevers Maatschappij, 1941-42), I, p. in, and Supplement by David de Kok, pp. 82-83; Analecta Gijsberti Coeverincx, ed. by G. van Elsen and W. Hoevenaars, 2 vols (sHertogenbosch: Provinciaal Genootschapvan Kunsten enWetenschappen in Noord-Brabant, Lutkie en Cranenburg, .1905-07), II, pp. 347-63; Schutjes, Geschiedenis, pp. 491-99. 19Tilburg, University Library, KHS 6 (Olim: 3380), fol. 3?". Seejeroen M. M. van deYen, Over Brabant Geschreven. Handschriften en Archivalische Bronnen in de Tilburgse Universiteitsbibliotheek, 2 vols (Leuven: Peeters, 1994), I, pp. 51-53, and Nieuwe Catalogus der Oorkonden en Handschriften berustende in de Boekerij van het Provinciaal G-enootschap van Kunsten en Wetenschdppen in Noord-Brabant, suppl. by A. F. 0. van Sasse van Ysselt ( s- Hertogenbosch: Lutkie en Cranenburg, 1915), p. 407. Ulla Sander Olsen identified Geertruijt van Oostenvijckas a resident oftheMarienwater convent. However, Olsen could not traceher PRAYING, THREADING, AND ADORNING 87 Marienburg from i575, which could mean that sheentered the convent after that date. 20Perhapsthesisterwhowrotehername in the Londonprayerbookis the same asthe sister who died at Marienburg m 1622. However, Geertruijt was a common name, and the townofOisterwijkis close to 's-Hertogenboscli. The possibility of there being another Geertmijt from Oisterwijk in one of the Tertiary convents cannot be excluded. Summarizing, the manuscript prayer book was written for the use of the sisters of the Third Order of St Francis between 1517 and 1523, or shortly thereafter. Theconvent wassituated inoraround's-Hertogenbosch, asindicated by the presence ofthe Marienwater prints. Because ofthe accent on theVirgin Mary and St Barbara, a provenance from Marienburg or Barbaradal, both communities of Tertiaries in 's-Hertogenbosch, seems most likely. The two convents took Mary and Barbara as their patron saints and produced manuscripts. The identity of the scribe remains obscure. She could have been a Birgitdne of Marienwater, writing for the use of a Tertiary sister of a nearby convent. Considering the prints (obscured Marienwater prints supplemented with many additional engravings), and the order-specific content ofthe prayer book, the most obvious conclusion seemsto bea production atMarienburg or Barbaradal. The Contents andthe Decorative Programme The London manuscript was intended for individual use, as indicated by its small size, aswell as the subjects and rubrics ofthe prayer texts. The pages are filledwith differentkinds ofprayers, mainlyrosaries, a devotional exercisewhich was widespread during the late Middle Ages (see Appendix). " The main in the obituary book ofMarienwater: Olsen, 'Handschriften', p. 248. Schutjes, Geschiedenis, pp. 494-95. A sister named Geertruijt Cornelis appears in the list ofnames, but it is not clearwhether she can be identified as Geertruijt van Oostenvijck. Fora briefhistoryoftherosarydevotion, seethe article ofAnne.MargreetW.As-Vijvers in this volume, aswell as Der Rosenkranz. Andacht, Geschichte, Kiinst, ed. by Urs-Beat Frei and FredyBuhler(Bern: Benteli, zoo^; Anne'Winston-AUen, Stonesofthej^ose:TheMakingofthe RosaryintheMiddleAges,(University Park,PA:PennsylvaniaStateUniversityPress,1997,repr. I998), pp. 13-30, and Sixten Ringbom, 'Maria in Sole and the Virgin of the Rosary, Journal of the Warbiirg and Courtauld Institutes, 25 (1962), 32. 6-30, and the literature cited there. Becausetheoriginsoftherosaryprayeraredealtwith fully elsewhere in thisvolume, I will only tackle the subject briefly. Hanneke van Asperen 88 characteristic of the rosary is the reiteration of prayer, an ancient form of devotion. From early Christian times onwards, the Pater Noster was used to create a repetitive prayer sequence of variable length. With the growing popularity oftheVirgin the Pater Noster wasreplaced with the angelic salutation Ave Maria, which became the backbone of the rosary prayer. The number of Aves varied from five to several hundred. The devotee could keep track of the number ofrecitations by using a knotted cord or a string of beads, which was also called a rosary or paternoster. 22 Even though the rosar^ began to take its definite shape during the late Middle Ages, different forms of the rosary prayer existed side by side, as illustrated by the London prayer book. The first rosa. ry prayer in the manuscript is a Psalter ofOur Lady, to be read throughout the year (fols 5r-6ir). z3This form oftherosary, consisting of150Avesin total, referred to the150psalms, andhence was called a psalter. For the sake ofsimplification, the texts ofthe psalms were replaced by the text of the Pater Noster or the Ave Maria. Presumably, in the fourteenth century, thepsaltergraduallycrystallized byfocusingontherecitation of 150 Aves interspersed with fifteen Pater Nosters. ^ Invocations, praises, and pleas were addedin order to vary the devodonal fare and construct an intricate spiritual exercise to contemplate the life of the Virgin. This form of the psalter ofthree groups offifty Aveswith the accompanying contem. pladons most closely resembles the present-day rosary. The next sequence in the London prayer book, consisting ofnine groups of fifty Aves, describes the events ofMary's life from the Immaculate Conception to theAssumption (fols 62r-i22r). After this follow several other prayers to JVIary, including rosary cycles concentrating on the Virgin's Sorrows and her Joys, all to be read at different moments ofthe day, week, or year. The latter part ofthe London prayer book (also comprising rosaries) focuses on Christ, the Eucharist, 22 On prayer strings and beads, see Ronald W. Lightbown, Mediaeval European Jewellery (London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1992), pp. 342-54; Manfred Brauneck, Religiose Volkskunst. Votivgaben, Andachtsbilder, Hmterglas, Rosenkranz, Amulette (Cologne: DuMont, 1979)) PP- 238-62; ^oo Jahre Rosenkranz, 1475 Koln ly/f: Kunst tind Fromm igkeit im Spdtmittelalter undihrWeiterleben [exhibition catalogue] (Cologne: Bachem, 1975),andGislind Ritz, 'Der Rosenkranz. Formen and Funktionen', in Bayerisches Jahrbzichfur Volkskunde 1^6.0 (Regensburg: Habbel, 1960), pp. 51-101 (pp. 57-69). z3 Add. MS 14042, fol. 7r: 'Hier begint den paradijsscen souter der / glorioser hemelscer coninginnen en<a/f? moedi?r / gods m ana . 24 This invention is usually attributed to Heinrich von Kalkar (1328-1408), but may be substantially older: 500 Jahre Rosenkranz, p. 55. PRAYING,THREADING,ANDADORNING 89 and saints, including Peter, Catherine, Barbara, Anne, and Francis. 25 Even though the saints occupy an important part of the manuscript, the London codexismainlya prayerbookforMariandevotion thatprovides thereaderwith a rosary for every possible Marian occasion. The sewn-in prints appearin the first part ofthe book, within tlie rosaries of the life ofMaty. Sixout ofthe eight prints that illustrate the joyful events still have a stitched border. 26 Two of the sewn-in pictures were taken out and replaced. Thestitcheswereremovedin theprocess. Oneofthesubstituteprints depicts the Virgin in the Rosary to precede the Psalter ofOur Lady (Figure 27). In the centre oftheengraving is animage ofthe Virgin in Sole (asthe print with the prologue). 27 Mary, holding Jesus in her arms, is depicted in the Sun and wears the crown oftwelve stars. This vision ofthe apocalyptic woman is taken from the Apocalypse (12. i). Here, the image is combined with different references to the rose, and Mary is enthroned in the rose's heart. This is the flowering vine that grew until it reached the highest heaven, and represents Marys bodily Assumption. An inscription runs along the edge ofthe print in which Mary, 'the heavenly flower and flowering rose', is hailed as Our Lady of perpetual help to sinners. 28A scroll with a text from Ecclesiasticus (24. 18) runs along the stalk ofthe flower: 'Egoquasipla^tatio rose in Iherico' ('I [was exalted] asa roseplant inJericho'). 29In the rosarystringframing theimageofMary, the small red beads represent the Aveprayers, while roses represent the PaterNosters. Theseredrosesconnote thewounds ofChrist. 30Thereissomespaceleftbetween 25 In the late Middle Ages, the rosary prayer was associated with the veneration of saints as well. See 500Jahre Rosenkranz, pp. 84-85. Six of the prints are sewn-in and not five, as Ursula Weekes states: Weekes, Early Engravers, p. 178. 7 The image ofthe Virgin in Soledeveloped into the Virgin in the Rosary, both ofthem connected with large indulgences. Seethe contribution ofAnne Margreet W.As-Vijvers in this volume, and Ringbom, 'Maria in Sole, p. 329. The text reads: '0 hemelsche bloeme een bloeende / rose in iherico gheplant deserwerelt wijt / met recht wij u noemewant godt / u vercose dei sonderen [sic: den sondaren] bistant te wesenaltijt'. Theword 'bloeend' meansboth 'Qowery'and 'bleeding', pointing to thePassion of Christ and the Sorrows of Mary. 19 The deuterocanonical book of the Bible, Ecclesias-ticus, not to be confounded with Ecclesiastes, is also known as the Wisdom ofJesus Son ofSirach, or simply Sirach.. 3 On fol. 17', the wounds of Christ are actually called the 'die gebloem / de wonder', or 'the flowery wounds'. Seealso ReindertL. Falkenburg, The Frait ofDevotion: Mysticism and the Imagery of Love in Flemish Paintings ofthe Virgin and Child, 1450-1^0, trans. by Sammy Hanneke van Asperen 90 the beads, so that theycan beshifted across the string asifthe rosary is in actual use. <f< i%?~-?-"^. ^\. <v yy* rf ^ 1'-* -«' SSS ^^\y .,,.^ jci'J^j^C^M^ *^ . w?%-< s^^.,>^'S^^-* ^,'^x= ^ ^^^ m,i.--^y . '''*.. '»' -. -. -^ .>.» ft' Figure 27. The Virgin in the Rosary, hand-coloured engraving pasted onto page of a prayer book, London, British Library, Add. MS 14042, fol. 6". Monogrammist LPX?, six.teenth century. Herman (Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 1994), pp. 39-40 PRAYING,THREADING,ANDADORNING 9i The print focuses thevotar/s attention whileshe recites the Psalrer ofOur Lady,whichisdividedinto threeparts. Everypart- nameda psalterinitself consistsoffiftyAves,asstatedbefore.TherosarystringthatframesMaryin theprintcomprisesexactlythesamenumber:fiftysmallbeadsrepresentingthe Aves and a rose after each ten to represent the Paters. God the Father and the HolySpiritarerepresentedintheuppercornersoftheprint.Togetherwiththe Christ child, depicted atthecentre, theycomplete theTrinity, citedin thefirst lines ofthe Psalter: 'Joyofjoys and delight ofdelights areyou, 0 honourable MotherofGod inthemiddleoftheTrinity'. 31Theimagetreatsthetextliterally byplacingtheVirginatthecentreoftheTrinity. Astheperforationsvisiblefrom thefolio'srectoindicate,theimageofMary intheRosaryreplacesonethatwas previously sewnin, but subsequently removed. Perhapsthe newonefitted the textbetter.Alternatively, theformerprintmighthavegrownshabbythroughuse or become damaged by accident, and the user felt the need to replace it. Whateverthereason, thestitcheswereremoved in theprocess. The next print in the London prayer book shows what the border of the rosaryengravingmusthavelookedlikewhenthestitcheswerestillinplace.The imageoftheHolyFamilyisfirmlyfixedtothepagewitha seriesofalternating red and green cross stitches (Plate 4). The print introduces the entire set of rosariesofthefeastsofMary.Theprologuereads:'Herebeginsa purearbourof rosesandallkindsofflowersofthelife,theloveandthevirtuesoftheHeavenly Queen Mary5. 32 Mary appears together with Anne, Joachim, and Christ in the foregroundofa gardenconfinedbya lowbrickwall.' Thisistheenclosedgarden {hortzisconchsus).Theimageoftheenclosedgarden,derivedfromtheCanricles (4.12),isoftencitedtoexpressMary'svirginity. 33Therefore,theimagefitsthe mainthemeofthefirstrosary. It addressestheImmaculate Conceptionofthe Virgin SheistheunspoiledgardenthatbroughtforththeroseofChrist.Mary herselfisa 'beautifulrose'aswell, produced bytheblackearthwithoutbeing Add. MS 14042, fol. 7r: 'Bliscap der blisca / ppen ends vroude / dervrouden si I v 0 eerwerdige / moeder gods int I middel der .h. / drieuoldicheit\ Add.MS14042 fol 67.':'Hierbeginteensuuerlicprieel/ vwroosenendememgerley bloemen / desleuensdeslifdensendeduechdender/ hemelscerconmgwnemarh'. On thesubject ofthe Holy Family andthe enclosed garden, seeHildegard Erlemann, Die Heilzge Familie. Ein Tugendvorbild der Gegenreformation im Wandel der Zeit, Kult und Ideologie(Munster: Ardey,1993),pp. ^0-56. HildegardErlemann depictsa verysimilarprint, withJosephshakingthefruit downoffthetreeinsteadofJoachIm. Anne isnotpresentin this muchyoungerversion oftheimage:Erlemann, DieHeiligeFamilie,fig.9. HannekevanAsperen 92 soiled byit' .34The text oftheprayerpraises thevirginity ofbothAnne andMary, symbolized bythe imageofthe enclosedgardenandaccentuatedbytheirplace under the canopy. The other elements in the print correspond closely to the contents of the rosary aswell, for example the tree in the background. It symbolizes the fertility ofMary and her mother. Mary is the 'blessed fruit' ofAnne's body, as Christ is that ofMar^. 35In a broader sense, the blossoming tree is evidence ofAnnes devoutness. After all, she was endowed with a child because ofher piety. The text relates that Anne 'was twenty years without the blessing offertility, but she served God ardently. At every feast, she went to the temple to make her offerings'. 36Mary, the fruit ofprayer, was created because ofAnne's devotions. The rosaries in the London prayer book give the devotee an opportunity to follow the virtuous example ofAnne, because by reading the rosar^ prayers, the devotee offers 'roses', which are both flowers and prayers. In combination with the text of the prayers, the red blossoms ofthe tree can be identified as roses. Some of the fallen flowers lie at the feet of the praying nun (once a Birgittine) in the lower right comer. She is the devout soul. 37Like Mary andAnne, she is depictedwithin the confines ofthe enclosedgarden, possibly a reference to the 34Add. MS 14042, fol. 66': 'Ghelijc die schoone roose voort / coemt wtter swarter eerden Onbesmet / vander eerdeyz Alsoe sijt ghi 0 marh in v / ontfanckenis bewaertt sonder smette dcrerfsondera/Aue/En gelijcdierooseond^rdie / dornenAlsoe sidi0 mari-dgodsvriendinne / onder die dochteren / Vatef n. oster maria / 0 Maria moeder ende maget gebcndijt si v aldcr heilicste oratfanckenis / ende gebmdijt moet sijn die vruchtbarhek uwer I §moeder / Aue mana. . " On thesubject ofAnne, seeTon Brandenbarg, 'SaintAnne:A Holy Grandmother and Her Children', in Sanctity and Motherhood, ed. by Anneke B. Mulder-Bakker (New York: Garland, 1995), pp. 31-65; Heilige Anna, Grote M. oeder. De Cultus van de Heilige MoederAnna en haar Familie in de Nederlanden en Aangrenzende Streken, ed. by Ton Brandenbarg and others (Nijmegen: SUN, 1992); Ton Brandenbarg, Heilig Familieleven. Verspreid. ing en Waardering van de Historie van Sint-Anna in de Stedelijke Cultuur in de Nederlanden en het RijnlandaanhetBeginvan deModerne 7y'^(Nijmegen: SUN,1990),andInterpretingCultural Symbols: Saint Anne in Late Medieval Society, ed. by Kathleen Ashley and Pamela Sheingorn (Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press, 1991). 36Add. MS 14042, fol. 63': 'Siwan xxjaren sonder bmdictie / dervruchtbarhri?. nochtans godveirich/ liedienen^En^egingentotalienhoochtij / denindentempelowhaerofferhande te doen . 37 Falkenburg, The Fruit of Devotion, pp. 43-44- PRAYING,THREADING,ANDADORNING 93 private community ofthe convent or to the garden ofher soul. 38The flowers in front ofthe nun are tlie results ofherprayers; they are her offerings. Her piety reflects that ofAnne. From the examples mentioned above, it becomes clear that the compiler carefullyselected theillustrations toenhancethetext'sdevotional message. 39Like a miniature cycle, they illustrate and amplify the text, but unlike the usual miniature cycles, that is, those accompanying a book of hours, they do not systematicallyprovideillustrations ofnarrativemoments; rather, theyaresingleleaf devotional images to be used in combination with the prayer texts. Sometimes, the combination with the text or other images even adds new meaning to the pictures. The result is a unique book ofprayers with a strong personal bias. The personal slant of the London prayer book also manifests itself in the stitches.Thecomposer combinedtextualandtextural techniques. Thisaddsan entirely new element to the manuscript. Before examining the role of the stitches, it isimportant to considerwhenandwhythestitcheswereapplied. Not all theprints were attached with needle and thread, only the ones that still have a blankframe. Whenthisblankframewascutoff(andtheedgeoftheimagewas the edge ofthe print), stitches would have interfered with the image. In these cases,thecompilerpastedtheprint to thepaper. Thereasonwhysomepictures havea stitched border andothers do not seems to haveoriginated out ofsheer necessity. It hasto dowith the state oftheprint atthe time the compiler decided to usethe imagefor the prayer book. This doesnot mean the threadisjust an alternate wayofattachment. Whenever shecould, the composer ofthe London prayerbookusedstitches. In doingso, sheaddedto themeaningoftheprints. The sister added a layer of recept ion that gives useful information on the way the 3 Hooglied. De beeldwereldvan religieiize vrouwen in de Zuidelijke Nederlanden, vanafde dertiende eeuw, ed. by Paul Vandenbroeck and others (Brussels: Vereniging voor Tentoonstellingen Paleisvoor SchoneKunsten, 1994), pp. 91-99, andFalkenburg, The Fruit of Devotion, esp. pp. 2. 2-37. Forthesame reasons, miniatures and drawings could beadded to books. On thesubject ofsingle-leafprints (andother single-leafpictures) inmanuscripts, seePeterSchmidt, The Use ofPrintsin German Convents oftheFifteenth Century: TheExample ofNuremberg , Studies in Iconography, 24 (2003), 43-69 (pp. 47-48), and Peter Schmidt, Gedruckte Bilder in handgescbriebenen Buchern. Zum Gebrauch van Druckgraphik im 15. Jahrhundert (Cologne: Bohlau, 2003). In the Rhine-Maas region, nuns regularly added engravings to manuscripts. The earlyprints were in factproduced with the intention to incorporate them into devotional books, see"Weekes, Early Engraven, pp. 81-97. Hanneke van Asperen 94 prints were used and understood in a period that was highly influenced by religious reforms. The Thread of Prayer The stitches have several functions. First, they add relief to the page, and therefore could serve as bookmarks. The stitched borders mark the folios of the prayers that had to be recovered quickly. Like the knotted strips or tabs of parchment attached to the fore-edge ofthe book, they make it easy for the user to find the inception pages, or incipks. Furthermore, the stitched borders serve asa simple kind ofborder decoration, because they add colour andanimate the periphery of the page and, like marginal illuminations, they organise the text. They enhance the coherence of the manuscript book by constructing a recurrent motif throughout the codex. The stitched borders literally tie the prayers together. Although the individual rosaries treat different events, they form a closely-knit unit. As the thread ofa story, the sewing threads give the manuscript its coherence. Significantly, the words text-textile are etymologically related. 40 The Latin textus, the perfect participle ofthe infmidve texere, means 'something woven or platted'. Texts, which derivefrom textiles, arewoven metaphorically from words, and likewise, a storyteller must weave a y^rn carefully or else the narrative will fail to hang together well. A text is a compilation ofwords, woven together to create a tight structure. The words are the composing threads that ensure the coherence ofthe text, and their meaning and appearance determine what the text will look like. The notion of text as fabric - or text transformed into fabric - was widespread, as fourteenth- and fifteenth-centiuy sources demonstrate. In a miracle story, Mary appears to the faithful worshipper dressed in a beautiful mantle ofgolden Aveprayers. 41Apparently, thewordsofthesalutation create che fabric that dresses Mary. A coloured drawing in a late fifteenth-cenmry gospel book, in another example, shows that text and fabric are closely related (The 40 Eithne Wilkins emphasizes the relationship between text and textile in The Rose-Garden Game: The Symbolic Background to the European Prayer-Beads (London: Golkncz, 1969), p. 207. 41 Cornelis G. N. de 'Voojs, Middelnederlandse Marialegenden, 2 vols (Leiden: Brill, 1903), I, pp. 118-23; see also: pp. 220-23, pp. 227-29, and the articles by Rudy andAs-Vijvers in this volume. PRAYING,THREADING,ANDADORNING 95 Hague,KoninklijkeBibliotheek,75E 9;Figure28). 42Thedrawing,depictingthe Five Wounds and the ^4w2^ Christi, was inserted as an opening page at the beginning ofthe manuscript. The Christ child sits in the centre ofthe page in . <%^ <m K. '?:-s-^?^^^^as?w~'::' ' ~TO^:wi ^i^Wi^ ^^.^ ^-''-^' ^' . ^ ?-s>-^~ ^^4^ WJ^. ,/< ^. t^'S^l t.. J-46Pi . ^ 3-'^ Figure 28. Christ-child, the Arma Christi, and the names ofChrist and Mary, hand-coloured drawing in a gospel book. The Hague, Koninklijke Bibliotheek, MS 75 E 9, fol. iv. Utrecht, 1472. 42 The Hague, Koninklijke Bibliorheek, MS 75 E 9, fol. i"; vellum, 277 x 207 mm, 128 ff. Ghysbert Beynop, a Canon Regular of the Windesheim congregation at the monastery Vredendaal in Utrecht, wrote the book for his brother Aelbert in 1472, according to the rext on fol. 127". 96 HannekevanAsperen the wounded heart. The branches ofthe crown ofthorns arewoven through the words Ihesus and Maria. Like warp and weft threads in a fabric, the letters and the branches form a tight structure. Text is textile. The objects are attached to a background of textus, in both senses of the term. The sword and the lance, situated crosswise, pierce the letters and connect the five wounds - the side wound in the middle and the wounds of the hands and feet in the corners with the names ofChrist and his mother. The words and objects in tLe drawing arefirmly tiedtogether asproportional parts in the whole. Together, theycreate a fabric in which evety element is interconnected. Like a cloth of honour, the letters and objects form an appropriate setting for the Christ child. Like the depicted objects in the gospel book, actual images and objects can be tied to a text. Often, devotional books contain traces ofpilgrims' badgesonce stitched to theirpages, asin theD'Oiselet Hours in the Koninklijke Bibliotheek in The Hague (77 L 60, fol. 98r). 43The method ofattachment elaborates on the text-textile metaphor. By stitching prints and badges onto the pages of the manuscript, the owner has threaded them through the text, making them an integral part ofthe woven structure. The stitches in the London codex have more extensive connotations, especially in the context ofthe convent. The appearance ofsewn-in prints in a prayer bookconnects the related activities ofprayer andtextilework. 44There are 43 For an illustration, see H. J. E. van Beuningen and Jos Koldeweij, Heilig en profaan, Rotterdam Papers, 8, 2 vols (Cothen: Srichting Middeleeuwse Religieuze en Profane Ensignes, I993-2ooi), I, pp. 46-48. The link with pilgrims' badges was noted before: Friz Oskar Schupisser, 'Copper Engravings of the Mass Production: Illustrating Netherlandish Prayer Manuscripts', in Masters and Miniatures: Proceedings of the Congress on Medieval Manuscript Illzimination in the Northern Netherlands, ed. by Koert van der Horst and Johann Christian Klamt (Doornspijk: Davaco, 1990), pp. 389-400 (p. 392), and Weekes, Early Engraven, pp. 167, 182-83. 44 In his analyses of the prints of the 'mass production', Schupisser mentions a book of hours in Vienna with sewn-in prints: Schupisser, Copper Engravings , p. 392 (Vienna, Osterreichische Nationalbibliothek, MS Series nova 12715). In the sixth chapter ('Sewing in Meaning') of her book on the Master of the Berlin Passion, UrsulaWeekes elaborates on the Vienna hours, considering the decorative quality and semiotic meaning ofthe stitches: Weekes, Early Engravers, pp. 167-85. Sherightly points out that thestitches in theViennahours can be connected with devout labour at convents. Regrettably, she refers almost exclusively TO German sources in her attempt to contexrualize the manuscript from Brabanr. The intended readers of the Vienna hours still deserve closer attention. Weekes argues that the presence of the stitches indicates the involvement ofwomen in the production of the book, even though the book was made for a man who was probably sensitive to the devotional meaning of the stitches. See PRAYING,THREADING,ANDADORNING 97 manysimilarities between praying and sewing: both require repetitive actions (either ofthe tiands, the mouth, or the thoughts) and subsequently produce a tranquiUizmg effect. Because ofthese characteristics, manual labour could have devout dimensions. Most suitable for women were light, monotonous activities, which created opportunities for pious thoughts. Needlework, a daily routine in mostnunneries from times immemorial, wasIdeal: embroidery helped nuns avert idleness and gossip, especially when they coupled their handiwork with pious meditations to turn labour into a devodonal exercise. 4? Various medieval sources, especially from convents of the Devotio M. oder^, reveal the connotations oftextile work in religious communities. For exarp^ple, the Sisters of the Common Life at the Meester Geertshuis in Deveflter, a foundation of Geert Grote (who also founded the Devotio Moderna], wrote SisterBooks', biographies ofthesisterswho haddied. 46These lives chronicle the exceptional devodonal activities of exemplary sisters. The texts reveal that, besides praying, reading, andwriting, sisters devoted themselves to spinning and weaving. They combined this work with devout meditations, as the earliest manuscript Sister Book indicates. The women used to comport themselves 'in Weekes, Early Engravers, pp. 168-69, and pp. 177-80. The text is actually interspersed with male nouns such as knecht ('male servant') and sone ('son'); see MS Series nova 1271$, fols 74", 79\ and. 83". Sisters, however, are included, for example on fol. 121": 'Collecte / voer susteren ende bruederen', suggesting a wide audience of men andwomen. 4?See, for example LinaEckenstein, Womenunder Monasticism: Chapters on Saint-Lore and Convent Life between A. D. yoo andA. D. i^oo (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1896), pp. 222-38, and Jeffrey F. Hamburger, Nuns as Artists: The Visual Culture of a Medieval Convent (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1997), p. 207. 46 On the subject ofthe Meester Geertshuis, see, for example J. De Hullu, 'De Statuten van het Meester-Geertshuis te Deventer', mArchiefvoor Nederlandsche Kerkgeschiedenis, ed. by J. G. R. Acquoy and H. C. Rogge, 7 vols (The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1885-99), VI, pp. 63-76, and Wybren Scheepsma, Deemoeden Devotie. De Koorvrouwen van Windesheim en hun Geschriften (Amsterdam: Prometheus, 1997), pp. 16-18, and the literature mentioned there, esp. in n. 17. On Sister Books, see the introduction ofKathryn M. Rudyin this volume, as well as Wybren Scheepsma, 'For hereby I hope to roase some piety: Books of Sisters from Convents and Sister-houses associatedwith the Devotio Moderna in the Low Countries', in Women, the Book and the Godly (Selected Proceedings ofthe St Hilda's Conference), ed by L. Smith and}. H. M. Taylor, 2 vols (Cambridge: Brewer, 199^), I, pp. 27-40, and Ludo Jongen and 'Wybren Scheepsma, Wachten op de Hemelse Bruidegom. De Diepenveense Nonnenviten m Literairhistorisch Perspectief, in Boeken voor de Eeuwigheid, ed. by Th. Mertens and otliers (Amsterdam: Prometheus, 15)93), pp. 295-317. 98 Hanneke van Asperen the agony and the sufferings of Christ', so that they could incorporate the spiritual in their daily activities, wherever they were. 47 The interconnectedness ofpraying and textile work emerges in the content ofthe stories themselves. For example, sister Gertrut van Hiessel (d. 1434) wove at her loom so devoutly that it felt as if she had attended Mass, 'where God is present'. 48 Spinning work could also have devout dimensions, since the text of the Sister Book interchanges the words 'spijnhuys' ('house for the spinning work') and 'bedehuys' ('house ofprayer'). 49Thesisters evidently didnot perform their spinning in the 'werckhuys' ('the working house', where the weaving was done). Instead, they would gather in a room that was dedicated to prayer. The sisters of the convent of St Agnes in Emmerich, a community of Sisters of the Common Life who took up the Rule ofAugustine in 1463, would retreat to the church with a spool to combine their work with prayers. 50 Because of its spiritual implications, textile work could yield indulgences. When the bishop of 'Yslant' came to Deventer, he visited the Lamme van Diezehuis, another community of the Sisters of the Common Life where the residents wrote Sister Books. 51During his visit, the bishop saw the young sister Andries Yserens (d. 1502) busily spooling her threads on reed pipes, an activity that was especially appropriate for young girls who could not yet perform heavy labours. 52He accosted the girl and conversed withher 'in a kind andconfidential way', during which sister Andries probably explained the content ofthe spiritual exercises that accompanied herspinning activities. Impressed with herdevotion, 47 Arnhem, Rijksarchief te Gelderland, MS 2435: Dirk de Man, Hier Beginnen Sommige Sti,1C,-htige Punten van Onsen Oelden Ziisteren (The Hague: Mardnus Nijhoff, 1919), p. 64. . De Man, Hier Beginnen Sommige, p. 122. 49 De Man, Hier Beginnen Sommige, pp. 55, 65, 114, and 211. In Diepenveen, a convent of the Windesheim chapter, the spinning was done in the house of prayer as well. See D. A. Brinkerink, 'De 'Vita venerabilis loannis Brinckerinck', Nederlandsch Archief voor Kerkgeschiedenis, n. s. i (1900), 314-54 (p. 333), and'Van den Doechden der Vurzger ende Stichtiger Siisteren van Diepen Veen ('Handschrifr D '}, ed. by D. A. Brinkerink (Leiden: A. W. Sijthoffs "Uitgevenj-M. aatschappij, 1904), p. 10. In the working house of the Meester Geertshuis, there was actually a small altar with saints: De Man, Hier Beginnen Sommige, p. 71. Schwesternbuch und Statuten, ed. by Bollmann and Staubach, pp. 174 and 230. 51 0. A. Spitzen, 'Het leven der eenvaardige moeder Andries Yserens, overste van het Lammenhuis te Deventer, overleden in den jare 1502', Archief' voor de Geschiedenis van het Aartsbisdom Utrecht, 2 (1875), 178-216 (pp. 193-94). 52 Young girls and elderly sisters occupied themselves with spooling: Schwesternbuch und Statuten, cd. by Bollmann and Staubach, pp. 143, 177, and 219. PRAYING,THREADING,ANDADORNING 99 theprelate grantedher three daysofindulgence for everypipethat sheshould finish duringherlifetime. Undoubtedly, theindulgences werecoupledwithher spiritual exercises, not just with the bodily work. Sister Andries apparently developed a preference for spinning, and years later, when she had become prioress ofthe Lamme van Diezehuis, she even abolished weaving in favour of spinning 'for devotion's sake'. 53 Thelivesinadvertentlyrelatethecontentsofthedevotions thataccompanied thetextile work. SisterLubbevan Swolle (that is,Zwolle, d. 1418), for example, took responsibility for the instruction of the young sisters at the Meester Geertshuis. ?4Shetaught them liow to do their spinningwork in a pious way. While working, the young sisters should: 'spin the thread through thewounds ofChrist'.Inotherwords,whilethesisterswerespinninganactualthread,they also created a spiritual string interladng the wounds. Likewise, they should address Mary and the saints. Tlie instructions ofsister Lubbe evoke the image ofa rosary stringwith the Pater Nosterbeadsin the shape ofthe disembodied wounds ofChrist (Figure27). This evocation isjustified, asbecomes apparent from the Sister Book of the convent ofSt Agnes in Emmerich. According to sister Bed de Mushoel (d. 1481), who also helped the young sisters with their spinning work, Christ, Mary, and the saints would prefer the spun yarn to a recited Pater Noster or Ave Maria.^ The spinning of words through the wounds of Christ is visualized in miniatures. IntheLondonprayerbook,a pasted-inminiature depictingthe Five WoundsofChristprecedesa devodonalexercisethatshoulddriveawaysleepand boredom while the reader is attending Mass (Figure 25>). 56The lozenges in the comers represent the wounds of the hands and feet, while the side wound occupies the central part ofthe miniature.The almond-shaped opening offers a viewofthewoundedheartofChrist.A scrollpenetrates theheartseveraltimes, like the weft threads in a fabric that move in and out of the warp. Here, the thread has been expanded into a scroll so that it can carry words upon it.57 De Man, Hier Beginnen Sommige, p xluc, and Spitzen, 'Het leven der eerwaardige moeder', p. zoi. De Man, Hier Beginnen Sommige, pp 52-^3 " Schwesternbuch und Statuten, ed. by Bollmann and Staubach, p. 246. 56Add. MSi4042, fol. 337v.' The text on the scroll reads: 'domimis amo / rewind-/ rarus / est', meaning: 'the Lord iswounded out oflove'. The second part of the inscription is turned upside down following the movement of the scroll. (Ajniu33 tpu33:ixTsjo jsu-enb isjy '^^soqusSoi-o^ -s^ /{qi ssoj \Z££ jgX-EjJ T JO 3§T3d -joj 01UO 'z-t^o^i ^]A^ -ppv '^JBjqi q [snT jg 'uopuoq '>[ooq i. p3 1ST3d gjnj-EruTui (ism-(^) jo spuno^ SAIJ sqj^ . 6z 3jn§ij 'TJ^^- f^.-^yyi 5^ :.5^ y >J^ ^ J ' i.^. a. ^ -. ". '" i. ^'"t ,. <<'w-7 ?y??'' :''?t .. titl tSf '^&'^^^~-tv.\''-'i I 3£§^NII 7*.~ '.. '- ,[{^ 'yi'-. '' \ w "^ A ^w . %tt<>?s^ sii v'^fv^ . ua^dsy um asfsuuvj-f <1. !<-». t^f-t f r^^'' J'"^ A. ' !* 4 .' _^ ^;, " .-< i. ^*'\ 001 PRAYING,THREADING,ANDADORNING 101 Illustrations in otherprayer books depictthesamesubject, including a miniature in the Hours of Margriet Uutenham. 58The scroll is longer and bears another text, but it is woven through the almond-shaped opening ofthewound in die same way as the scroll in the London prayer book. Also appearing In cheap, mass-produced pewter badges, this iconography occurs regularly, indicatingits wide audience. Such a badge, now in a private collection, was found in s- Hertogenbosch (Collection H. J. E. van Beuningen, inv. no. 3230; Figure 30). ?9 '-1 Figure 30. Words woven through the wounded heart, pewter badge, Cothen, Collection H. J. E. van Beuningen, inv. no. 3230 s-Hertogenbosch,1400-50 London, Sotheby's, 3 December 2002, lot 79. For an illustration, see The Golden Age of Dutch Manuscript Pointing [exhibition catalogue], ed. by Henri L. M. Defoer, Anne S. Korteweg, and Wilhelmina C. M. Wustefeld, with intro. by James H. Marrow (Stuttgart: Belser, 1989), fig. X. 89. 59 For this and other badges with the same iconography, see Van Beuningen and Koldeweij, Heiligenprofaan, I, no. 902,andII,nos1900-02. Elevenlatemedieval badgeswith this imagery were recently found in Valenciennes. SeeArnaud Tixador, Enseignes Sacrees et Profanes Medievales Decozwertes a Valenciennes. Un Peu Plus d'un Kilogmmme d'Histoire (Valenciennes: Service Archeologique de Valenciennes, 2004), p. 90, nos 163-73. HannekevanAsperen 102 A scroll bearing the text 'Amour' is woven through the centre of the heart, harking back to the wound of Christ. The notion ofspinning and weaving as a devodonal practice was certainly not limited to the convent. As sister Lubbe van Swolle instructed her pupils, the devotee pulls a-spiritual thread of prayer through the wounded heart. The exemplary lives ofthe nuns at the Meester Geertshuis, the Lamme van Diezehuis, and the convent ofStAgnes reveal that spinning- creating a thread - and praying were united metaphorically. Even though the London prayer book was not written in a convent of the Sisters of the Common Life, the manuscript indicates the influence of the Devotio Moderna, which strongly emphasized personal meditation and physical labour. The importance of the Devotio Moderna to the London codex is hardly surprising. This religious movement did not just set the tone for the spiritual life of the Brothers and Sisters of the Common Life and the Windesheim congregation that were the direct results ofGeert Grate's reforms, but also for convents of the Third Order of St Francis. 60 Many houses of the Sisters of the Common Life adopted the Third Rule ofSt Francis, as did the convent ofMarienburg in 's-Hertogenbosch where the London prayer book possibly originated and circulated. At Franciscan convents, spinning, sewing, and weaving took up an equally important part ofthe dailypractice. 62For example, archival sources indicate the weaving activities of the women of the Agnietenhuis in Kampen, who accepted the Rule of the Third Order of St Francis before 1423. 3 The convent possessed various looms for weaving wool and linen fabrics. Furthermore, the processing of the crude wool was among the activities of the Tertiary sisters. During the excavations offifteenth- and early sixteenth-century cesspools at the former site R. Th. M. van Dijk, 'Devotio Moderna', in Lexikon fur Theologie und Kirche, ecl. by Michael Buchberger and others, li vols (Freiburg: Herder, 1993-2001), III, cols 173-74. Schoengen, M. onasticon Batavum, I, p. ill, and Schutjes, Geschiedenis, p. 491. On the subject of convents adopting the Third Rule of Saint Francis, see R. R. Post, Kerkgeschiedenis van Nederland in de Middeleeuiuen, z vols (Utrecht: Het Spectrum, 1957), I, pp. 350-51 and II, p. 160. 62 Dalmadus van Heel, 'De Tertiarissen van het Utrechtse Kapittel', Archief' voor de Geschiedenis van het Aartsbisdom Utrecht, 63 (1939), 1-382 (p. 57), and W^illem Moll, Kerkgeschiedenisva. nNederla. nd. v66r deHervorming, zvols (Arnhem: Nijhoff; Utrecht: Kemink, 1864-71). "- P- 97. De Susteren van Sanct-Agnetenhiius. De Geschiedenis, Materiele Cultuur en Spiritualiteit van hetKampenseAgnietenconvent, ed. by F.van der Pol andM. Smit (Kampen: IJsselacademie, 1997). PP- i2-16- PRAYING,THREADING,ANDADORNING 103 oftheconvent, several objects related to spinningandsewingwereretrieved, suchasthespools andsticksofwoodenspindles andcopperpins forsewing. 64 Rosary beads of bone and agatewere also found. In the Tertiary convent of Marienburg thesisters passed the time with spinning, as becomes clearfrom a contemporary description of the iconoclastic outbreak in 's-Hertogenbosch: when an anonymous resident of Marienburg chronicled the horrors that fell upon herconvent between1566and1575,shementioned thespinningactivities ofthesisters on several occasions. 65A late sixteenth-century prayer bookfrom Marienburg (Leiden, Gemeentearchief, MS 72045) mentions a weaving house at the convent. 66Also in Barbaradal, all kinds of handiwork, like sewing, knitting, spinning, andweaving, were part ofthe dailyroutine. 67 Textile work andprayer, physical andspiritual labour,went together. The metaphor ofprayer asa threadshapeddepictions offemalesaintswhospent (part of) their lives in a cloistered community. St Gertrude was abbess at the Benedictine conventinNivAs until, attheageofthirty, sheresignedheroffice inordertodevotehertimetoprayerandreading. 68AlthoughGertrudewasnever formally canonized, her cult spread quickly from the Low Countries to the surrounding lands. Late medieval depictions showthe saint absorbed in books or in handiwork. In a late fifteenth-century woodcut in the German printed editionofThe GoldenLegend, Gertrude, wearingthehabit,isseatedona bench in a chapel interior (Munchen, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, 2°Inc. c. a. 1073-2; Figure 31). Presumably, the scene is situated in a convent. Sister Gertrude holds a distaff between her knees, while the yarn is passing tlirough her hands. Meanwhile,hereyesarefocusedonanaltarpiece depleting theVirgininSole,in front ofwhich she busily constructs her thread. Gertrude's spinning illustrates her diligence andherhumility before God. Afterall, Gertrudeledanexemplarylifeasa nun. Theprintmaydepicta real 64DeSusterenvanSanct-Agnetenhuus,ed.byVanderPolandSmit,pp. 69,8i,and89. Kroniek eener Klposterzuster van het Voormalig Bossche Klooster 'Marienburg' over de Troebelente^-Hertogenbosche. e.in de-jaren1566-1575,ed.byH. vanAlfen ('s-Hertogenbosch: ProvinciaaiGenootschapvanKunstenenWetenschappeninNoord-Brabant, 1931),pp.3,27, and 59. ' Leiden,Gemeentearchief,MS7204$.SeeKoldeweij,'Lijfelijkeengeestelijkepelgrimage', p. 232. / Van de Meerendonk, Het Klooster, p. 37. 'MireilleMadou, DeHeiligeGertrudisvanNijvel,i vols(Brussels:KoninxlijkeAkademie voor Wetenschappen, Letteren en Schone Kunsren van Belgie, 1975). HannekevanAsperen 104 situation, since -che working houses in female convents are known to have included altarpieces. More importantly, however, the spinning has a metaphorical meaning:whileperforming herdevotions, sheispulling a thread throughherprayers andmeditations. PerhapsGertrude isconstructing a rosary, for after all, the image depicting the Virgin in Sole was closely related to the ross^ry. The image suggests that,while praying to Mary and meditating on the life ofthe Virgin, Gertrude is spinning a thread ofprayers and meditations. ^t. ^-^^t-y1~'Si . i^m^ssiF Figure 31. Gertrude ofNivelles, woodcut book illustfadon in Jacobus de Voragine, Der Heiligen Leben, Winterteil (Urach: Conrad Fyner, 1481), Munchen, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, 2°Inc. c. a. 1073-2, fol. 237". Germany, 1481. PRAYING, THREADING, AND ADORNING io5 With the thread that the worshipper creates, she interconnects the elements ofherprayer Shealsoconnectsherselfwiththesacred,negotiatingbetweenthe earthly and the heavenly realms. In the visual arts, a look towards the saint. written words, or a scroll connecting the mouth ofthe devotee with the mouth oftheother-visualising thenon-material wordsoftheprayer- expressesthis connecdon. 69AminiaturedepletingtheVirginandChildattheincipitofthe HoursoftheVirginintheHoursofMargaretofClevesillustratesthispoint. 70 In themargin, thepatron ofthemanuscriptkneelsbefore^prie-dieu.Around herneck Margaretwears a rosarystring, andherhandsarefoldedin prayer. Christgripstheendofthescroll thatrunsfrom thehandsofthedevotee (in the margin) tothesacredimage(inthecentralminiature). Thewordsofherprayer haveformed a tangible thread that connects thesuppliant with thesacred. Theimageofa rosarystringcanrepresentintangibleprayeraswell. Ona late fifteenth-century painting by the Master of St Gudule in the Musee d'Art Religieux et d'Art Mosan in Liege, an unidentified donor kneels in front ofthe VirginandChild. 71Herprayerbookliesopenbeforeheron^prie-dieu,buther eyes are directed at the sacred image in front ofher. In her folded hands, she holds oneendofa rosarystring, while Christ holds the other end. Like the scroll in the Cleves Hours, the rosary string connotes prayer materialized. The Ave prayers ofthe anonymous commissioner havetransformed into red beads, and thePaterNostersintogoldenpendants.Prayerisnotrepresentedmetaphorically, buttangibly.Bothimages,theminiaturedepictingMargaretofGlevesandthe painting in Liege, make plain the same concept: the prayer creates a thread, a vital link to the sacred. While praying, the devotee threaded the meditations of the prayer, the spiritualexercises andthephysicallabour; theworshipper andtheworshipped. Theconnectingthreadisrealisedthroughtheactofprayer.Likeprayeritself,the meditations of the London prayer book comprise both textual and pictorial elements. The actualthreadservesthesamepurposeasthespiritual thread. It joins theprayertextsandtheimagesthatconstitute thespiritual exercise.Like 69MeyerSchapiro,Words,ScriptandPictures:SemioticsofVisualLanguage(NewYork: Braziller, 1996). Lisbon,Museu Calouste Gulbenkian,MS LA148,fol. 19".For aniUustraiion, seeThe GoldenAge, ed. byDefoer, Koneweg, andWustefeld, fig. I.ia. 71Foran illustration, seeThe Burgundian Netherlands, ed. byWalter Prevenier andWim Blockmans (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986), fig. 2. Hannekevan Asperen io6 thespunyarninthedevotionsofGertrudeofNivellesandtheexemplarysisters in the Sister Books, the thread interweaves the essential elements ofthe prayer. Adorning the Virgin Thestitches in the Londonprayer bookarenotjust a wayofattachment. The shape and the colours of the stitches are elaborated for the purpose of the decorative effect. Because ofthe zigzag and cross patterns, the stitches become anornamental element akinto embroider^ a textile technique usedspecifically for embellishment (Plate 4 and Figure 32). InthecaseoftheLondonprayerbook, theembroideryharmonizeswiththe text. The coloured stitches alternate, asdo the blue and red initials. Furthermore, theyechotherepetitive pattern oftherosaryprayers. There arealsosimilarities between thestitchedwreathsandactual rosatystrings. The decorative border is madeofsimplematerials,asweremostofthemedievalrosaries.Often,devotees counted their prayers on modest, knotted strings, not threaded beads. 72Nuns who were urged to cultivate humility used simple rosaries. The Rule of the Convent of St Agnes explicitly warns the sisters to avoid curiousness, sumptuousness and copiousness' in their paternosters. 73 Humble rosaries comprisedhumblematerials.Forexample,StCatherineofSiena,a memberof the Dominican Third Order, hada prayer string ofa knotted cord, becauseits simplicity and modesty showed her humility before God. 74The sisters ofthe Windesheim congregation at Diepenveen provide another example: as an exercise in meekness, some ofthe sisters at the convent made rosaries out ofthe buttons of old nightdresses. 75 72 soojahre Rosenkranz, p. 61;Wilkins, The Rose-Garden Game, p. 33, andWinston-Allen, Stones ofthe Rose, p. 14. 73 Nikolaus Staubauch and Anne. Bollmann were unsure how to translate the word 'nosteren', which clearly means 'paternosters': Schwesternbuch und Statuten, ed. by Bollmann and Stauhach, p. 313. The manuscript in which the rules were handed down, was written in 1676, but the regulations probably stem from an older tradition, because they do not seem to have been influenced by reforms: ibid., pp. 24-25. 74Lightbown, MediaevalEuropeanJewellery,pp. 345and352.SisterMechteltvanKalker [sic: Kalkar] ofthe convent ofSaintAgnes in Emmerich alsopossesseda rosaryofa knotted cord; see Schwesternbuch und Statuten, ed. by Bollmann and Staubach, p. 255. 75 Van den Doechden, ed. by Brinkerink, p. 14. PRAYING, THREADING, AND ADORNING '- ^'^-^ ^''-^VT'^' '^ 107 ^F^^^ ^'' %J/^ ' &^3t. ^ . '^' . . <? i- IW i^\ 1'K ^^^y^^^w^. ^ ^ * f^-V^^^~^.^iy ^< - - x --x-- x-x-;:x";:x'":^:r: v^, /".,/-./'. /- ^-. ^ ^/ .. /...,<<-; '4 Figure 32. The Nativity, hand-coloured effgraving sewn into a prayer book, London, British Library, Add. MS 14042, fol. 98".Possibly 's-Hertogenbosch, first quarter of sixteenth century? Hannekevan Asperen io8 Devotees also used silk threads, such as those in the London prayer book, to create rosary strings. The SanktKatharinentalerSchwesternbzich, a German Sister Bookin the samegenre asthe bookfrom Deventer, describes thevirtues ofthe Dominican sisters in a convent near Diefienhofen, including a certain sister Dlemut von Lindau.76 Like the other biographies in the Sister Book, the text explains her exemplary virtue, already revealed byher first name, whichmeans humility. The story relates that sister Diemut wondered how sheshould spend the Advent, because she was unsure how to pray. In a vision, Christ appeared and gave her a rosary ofred and green silk threads. When sister Diemut asked him what it meant, Christ told her that che green colour symbolized his human nature and the red his divmity. The two natures ofChrist were united in Mary, expressed by the joining of the two threads. With this consideration in mind, Diemut should braid and unbraid the cord. Like the wreaths around the prints, her rosary string comprised simple but significant red and green silk threads. 77 The simplicity ofthe rosary expressed her humility before God, like the rosary strings of Catherine ofSiena and the sisters at Diepenveen. Besidesformal similarities between thestitches andactualrosarystrings, there is also a resemblance regarding the purpose of the stitches and rosary prayers. Thestitched borderswreathetheimages ofMary, liketherosaries in theLondon prayer bookareintended to do. The readeroftheLondonmanuscript - when reading devoutly andpatiently - is making ornaments for theVirgin through prayer. 78In this type ofdevotion, the prayer is transformed into an object'that 76 Das Katharinentaler Schwesternbuch. Untersuchung, Edition, Kommentar, ed. by Ruth Meyer (Tiibingen: Max Niemeyer, 1995), p. 117. On \lhe Katharinenthaler Schwesternbuch,^ also Hamburger, Nuns as Artists, p. 185, and Weekes, Early Engravers, pp. 180-81. For the differences between Dutch and German Sister Books, see Jongen and Scheepsma, 'Wachten op deHemelseBruidegom', ^y. y6-'ij, w(\. Schwe5ternbuch undStatiiten, ed. byBollmannand Staubach, p. 20. 77 Weekes, Early Engravers, pp. 180-81, points out the striking similarities between the colours and materials. A connection between the colours of the rosary and the stitches, the first from a convent near Diefienhofen and the second from the vicinity of Brussels, is difficult to demonstrate. More meaningful istheanalogybetween austere materials. After all, the religious communities shared ideals of humility and simplicity. 78 Much has been said and written about the transformation of prayer into objects (flowers, stones). See, for example Thomas Lentes, 'Die Gewander der Heiligen: Bin Diskussionsbeitrag zum Verhaltnis vpn Gebet, Bild und Imagination', in Hagiographie und Kunst: Der Heiligenkult in Schrift, Bild und Architektur, ed. by Gottfried Kerscher (Berlin: Dietrich Reimer, 1993), pp. 120-51;Eugene Honee, 'Beeld en verbeelding in de middeleeuwse gebedsculcuur. Een kerkhistorische beschouwing', m Gebedin Schoonheid. Schatten van prive- PRAYING,THREADING,ANDADORNING IQC) is presented to Christ, the Virgin,or a saint. The object could be a piece of clothing or headgear for the Virgin, an attribute for a saint, even a house or a crib for Christ, to namejust a fewpossibilities. The offerings hadanimportant purpose: to bring delight to the addressed person. The gifts were also a trading device to be deployed for more selfish reasons. The decorations that the devotee offered to the Virgin would be noted and remembered, so that when the time came, the devotee could expect a favour in return. 79At the same time on a more practical level, the object sensed as a mental picture, a mnemonic device. The visual image could be stored in the mind and recalled to remember the number of prayers. 80 In the London prayer book, the majority of prayers concentrate on the creation of a wreath or a crowning of Mary. The set of rosaries of the feasts of the Virgin is called a 'pristine arbour ofroses and many flowers'. 81The devotee can read flowers' from the text 'to make the Virgin a small chaplet'. Even the rosariesofthe Sorrows of Mary are called 'chaplets of roses3. 82 The reading of the prayer makes the flower present. Together, the prayers form a string or wreath that can be offered to (an image of) Maty. This was a familiar concept, illustrated in thelegendofthemanwhousedto adorna statueofMarywithreal devotie in Europa, ed. by Henk van Os (Zwolle: Waanders, 15)94), pp. 157-74 (pp. 170-72); Jeffrey F. Hamburger, The Visual and the Visionary: Art and Female Spirituality in Late Medieval Germany (New York: Zone Books, 1998), p. 78. In Hier beginnen sommige stichtige punten, the story ofa nun is told who usedto build a wooden house 'ofvarious devout prayers and exercises' for the Christ child on the day ofhis birth: De Man, Hier Beginnen Sommige, p. 218. 79 Add. MS 14042, fols 230"-23ir. Following a rosary of the five wounds and the Solve Regina, the nun writes: Ende ic bid v nerstelic dat hi ontfanckelic / moet si]n dijnre hooger maijesteijt Op dat/ eick van desen bloemkens van v / gescreuen moeten worden in dat boec / des leuens Op dat wi dan weder / loen van v mijn lieue wtuercoren / vrouwe ontfangen mogen . For a comparable rosary prayer, see Anne Margreet W. As-Vijvers, 'More than Marginal Meaning? The Interpretation of Ghent-Bruges Border Decoration', Oud Holland, 116(2003), 3-33 (pp. 29-30, n. 38), asw.ell asAs-Vijvers's article in this volume. Seealso Honee, Beeld en verbeelding', p. 171, and Hamburger, The Visual, pp. 234 arid 301. Mary J. Carruthers, The Book of Memory: A. Study of Memory in Medieval Culture (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990). Qn the rosary as mnemonic, see Carruthers, The Book ofMemory, p. 80. 81 Add. MS 14042, fol. 6z'. 82 Add. MS 14042, fol. i23r. Hanneke van Asperen 110 wreaths offlowers. 83After he became a lay brother, he had to perform so many tasks that he was not able to payher this service anymore. Sensitive to the needs ofthe lay brother, a priest advised him to recite fifty Aves each day. Maty would prefer this to all the chaplets he ever made. One day, while he was praying, Mary appeared to him. With every Ave, she picked a beautiful rose from his mouth and braided her own wreath of flowers. Stories of pious nuns tell the same: on leaving their mouths, their prayers transformed into roses. 4 The metaphor ofthe rose is befitting for hymns ofpraise, especially for the Virgin and for Christ, the roses that the enclosed garden brought forth. Because of this association, a collection ofwritten prayers could be called a garden or, as in the words of the London prayer book, an arbour. The notion ofprayer transforming into a tangible offering returns time and time again in the London prayer book. Roses were a popular image, but prayers are notjust flowers. They can be all sorts ofconstructing elements. In reciting a prayer called a 'crown', the believer makes Mary a diadem. In adding prayers, the reader can addprecious stones to the crown: a diamond in the front, a carbuncle to the right, a ruby to the left and a pearl on the back. 85 The prayer that concludes the set ofrosaries of the Sorrows (fols i23r-i39r) is a crown of thorns (fols i38r-i39r). Besides the wreath of roses and the wreath of precious stones appropriate ornaments ofMary, so it seems - the devotee can also make her a wreath of thorns. 86 In celebrating the Sorrows of the Virgin - the reason why she intercedes for mankind - the devotee makes Mary a wreath of thorns to resemble the one Christ wore on the cross. After all, every branch and every thorn that hurt Christ wounded Mary as well. The combinations of Aves and Pater Nosters transform into flowers and precious stones, even thorns. Evety 3 'Winston-Allen, Stories ofthe Rose, pp. 100-01; Lentes, 'Die Gewander', p. 123; yooJahre Rosenkranz, pp. $8-59, and Wilkins, The Rose-Garden Game, p. 16$. 84 Dos Katharinentaler Schwesternbiich, ed. by Meyer, pp. 101-02. 5 Add. MS 14042, fols i97"-i98r. Of course, this was no new concept. In a miniature in the Vie de Sainte Benoite from 1318 (Staa. tliche Museen zu Berlin, Kupferstichkabinett, MS 78 B 16, fol. 56"), the commissioner kneels in front of an image of Mary. At the same time, an angel places a crown on top of the statue. For an illustration, see Hamburger, The Visual, fig. 1. 30. For prayers ofthe crown ofthorns of Mary, seeMaria Meertens, De Godsvritcht in de Nederlanden naar Handschriften van Gebedenboeken derXVe eeiiw, ^ vols (Mechelen: Tessens, l930-34)> Iv> P- ^' and J. A. F. Kronenburg, Maria's Heerlijkheid. Geschiedkimdige schets van de vereering der H. Maagd in ons va. clerla. nd, van de eerste tijden tot op onze dagen, 9 vols (Amsterdam: Bekker, 1904-31), II, p. 231. PRAYING, THREADING, AND ADORNING Ill time, they are a different kind of composing element, another sort of stitch in the wreath. The decorations of the London prayer book visualize the intention of the prayer texts. The ornamental programme gives expression to the same desire to wreathe the Virgin. To -mspire the devotee to create a tangible ofFering, sometimes a tangible Image ofthe saintwas needed. A rubric ofa rosary prayer in the London prayer book insists that the devotee reads the prayer in front of an image ofMary: This prayer wassentfrom heaven andwhenyou readit, you should stand in front ofan image ofOur DearLadyMary. Stand on your feet asyou arereciting ten[Ave\ Mariasandkneel duringtheprayer[Pater Noster}\87 To make surethe instructions were followed, the compiler oftheprayer book addeda woodcut print ofMary (Figure 33). Maryis holding the Christ child, who is already carrying the cross. A rosary string, like the one that the reader is aboutto create, framesthetwofigures. 88Thedepicted rosarywreathes a tangible imageofMary, like theprayerswreathethespiritualimagesoftheVirgin. The stitched borders fulfil the same function. The sister- possibly a Btrgittine, butmore likely a Tertiary - who created the London codex, added the stitches to the pages to adorn the subject ofher prayers andto interweave theelements ofherspiritual exercises. Through prayer, shecreated a spiritual thread onwhichshecould string hertextual andpictorial meditations. The material threads in the London prayer book serve the same purpose; they tie the prayer text andits images together. Moreover, the thread takes the shape of a wreath that adorns the prints. Undoubtedly, the stitches reminded the sisters oftheirhumble rosarystrings consisting ofknotted cords and simple threads. The red and green-yellow stitches, maybe reminiscent of Christ's dual nature like the rosarystring ofDiemutvon Lmdau, form a visual counterpart to the spiritual wreaths of words and meditations that the devotee created to pleaseMary. By addingthe stitched borders to the images ofMary, thesisterwhowrote andcompiled the Londonprayerbookvisualized theideas Add. MS 14042, fol. i6zr: Want / dit gebet is v&nden hemel comen ende wa.nneer I du dit gebet leset so suldie sta.en voer onsei I lieuen vrouwen ma. na beelde. Sprect x mariii I alstaende En^e gebet al knijeende'. Perhaps an even better illustration ofthispoint is the image ofthe Virgin andChild in a manuscript in the Vatican Library, MS vat. lat. 3770, fol. zoor. The small miniature is represented asa panelpaintingwith a broadframe.A rosarystringin front ofthepicture frame wreathesthefiguresofmother andchild.Foranillustration, seeRingbom, 'MariainSole ,fig: 45C. Hannekevan Asperen 112 that lie behind the rosary prayers. She illustrated one of the main goals of the rosary prayer book: the wreathing of the Virgffi. ; al ^rf/ - Jf^f.gs jll -1-1 //j '^i ?1 ^ W-'^Si^ <. P.+ ^ ... 31 ^T%^ . s^-w^s -..y WRME*i.*fiE£? .AWrfW^ ^i^-^*"^"^' f. yt^f -<-'* I -^ 'j^:W2 ^ i^&K ^s ».5.i^ <;-r.'. i^^^^ " IT .. ^ ? /. ^ '? /? ^ yr^E^i^te^^. ^ <:i^^u>'^ Figure 33. The Virgin in the Rosary, hand-coloured woodcut pasted onto page of a prayer book, London, British Library, Add. MS 14042, fol. i6i". Marienwater?, c. 1500 PRAYING, THREADING, AND ADORNING ii3 In conclusion, the London codex combines several aspects that played an important part in the spiritual life of nuns at the beginning of the sixteenth century: individual meditation, textile work, and the rosary devotion. The different activities at convents, whetherphysical or spiritual, wereinextricably connected. Textile work and prayer laced together the physical and spiritual reflection of one devotional act. Even though every act of labour could be coupled with spiritual meditations, light monotonous activities werepreferable. Spinning especially, was a popular activity because it was not bound to one place: the yarn of prayer could be spun anywhere. The metaphor of thread-threading, the basis of the devotional exercises that accompanied the spinning work, especially the rosary, is essential to the understanding of the London codex. The rosary devotion actually translates the manual act of stringinginto a spiritual exercise.Thethreadtiesthebooktogether. In usingthe stitches to compose and embellish the rosary prayer book, the sister joined several elements that are united metaphorically: text and textile, thread and prayer, rosary and wreath. Appendix The Contents andDecorative Programme ofLondon, British Library, Add. MS 140-42. The sewn-in prints (or formerly) appear in bold type. Folios Text Woodcuts and Engravings ?r-6ir Psalter of Our Lady: 4Y Pasted-in woodcut with the Prologue Our Lady $ -6f to the Psalter of 7r-24r First part of the Psalter 24 -4I Second part of the Psalter 4ir-57v Third part of the Psalter $7v-6ir Prayer to Mary 62r-i22r Rosaries of the Life of Mary: 62-67" Immaculate Conception 67r-73r Birth of Mary Virgin in Sole (Marienwater) 6 Pasted-in engraving with the Virgin in the Rosary (Monogrammist LPX?), replacing a sewn-in print 61 Sewn-in woodcut of the Holy Family in an enclosed garden (Marienwater) 74r-8ir Presentation of Mary in the Temple 73V Sewn-in woodcut 82-90 Annunciation 8iv Sewn-in woodcut of the of the Presentation (Marienwater?) Annunciation 9ir-98rVisitation 90V Sewn-in woodcut of the Visitation (Marienwater?) 5>9f-i05V Nativity 98 Sewn-in engraving of the Nativity io6r-ii2r Childbed of Mary io6 Pasted-in woodcut of the Narivity (Marienwater?) U3r-ii7r Candlemas ii8r-j22r Assumpt ion ii2v Sewn-in engraving of the Holy Family ii7v Pasred-in woodcut of the Assumpt iQn (Marienwater?) HannekevanAsperen u6 Folios Text Woodcuts and Engravings l23r-i39r Rosaries of the Sorrows of Mary: i22v Pasted-in engraving of the i23r-i27r Bearing of the Cross Bearing of the Cross i27v Pasted-in engraving of the Crucifixion, replacing a i28I -i32r Cruciflxion sewn-in print I33f-I37rMourning I37v-I38r Prayer to Mary i3Sr-i39r Prayer on the crown of thorns of Mary i39v-i50r Rosaries of the Sorrows of Mary: 132" Pasted-in engraving with Mourning over the Dead Christ I39V Pasted-in woodcut ofIVlater Dolorosa (Marienwater?) i40r-i4l' Circumcision (Sunday) l40r Pasted-in woodcut of the Circumcision l4iv-i42v Flight into Egypt (Monday) i43r-i44r Christ in the Temple (Tuesday) i44r-i45r Bearing of the Cross (Wednesday) l45v-l46v Crucifixion (Thursday) i4iv Pasted-in woodcut of the Flight into Egypt i43r Pasted-in woodcut of Christ in the Temple l44r Pasted-in woodcut of the Bearing of the Cross i45" Pasted-in woodcut of the Crucifixion i46v-i47" Mourning (Friday) i4<?v Pasted-in woodcut of the Mourning i47v-i49r Entombment (Saturday) i47v Pasted-in woodcut of the Entombment i49r-i50r Prayer to Mary i50v-i57v Several prayers of the Seven Sorrows i57v-I6or Prayers to Mary i6ov-i6ir Rosary of the Joys of Mary i6ir-i67r Rosary of 100 Aves i6iv Pasted-in woodcut of the Virgin in the Rosary (Marienwater?) APPENDDC 117 Folios Text i67r-F72. v Seven Psalms i73r-i75v Obsecro Te in Middle Dutch i75v-i77r Prayer to Mary i77r-i78r Five Aves 178-185" Rosaries of the Seven Joys called a . Woodcuts and Engravings i78v Pasted-in woodcut of Mary Crown of the 72 Names of and Jesus with Catherine and Mary: Barbara (Marienwater) i79r Prologue i79r-I79v Annunciation i79v-I8ov Visitation i8ov-i8ir Nativity i8ir-i8iv Three Kings i8iv-i82r Finding of Christ in the Temple i82r-i82VAscension i82v-i83v Pentecost 183 -i85v Prayer on the Seven Joys i86r-i88r Two prayers of the Twelve Honours of Mary i88v-i98T Little Psalter: i88v-i9ir First rosary 191 -i92v Second rosary i92. v-i94v Third rosary 194 -19 6V First crown ic)6 -197'' Second crown I97r-i97v Third crown I97 -198 Prayers for precious stones 198-203 203 -20 6V Two prayers to Mary Litany of Mary i88v Pasted-in engraving of Mary and Jesus on crescent crowned by angels Hanneke van Asperen u8 Woodcuts and Engravings Folios Text 2o6v-2i8r Several prayers to Mary 2i8r-22iv Psalter of the Name of Mary 2. 2iv-2. 3if Short rosary of the Five Wounds 23lr-235v Rosary to Mary 235V -2. 37F Ten Virtues of Mary 237r-2. 38r Prayer to Mary of 700 Aves 239r-2. 45v Crown of Thorns (rosary) for the 238V Pasted-ln engraving of the Mocking of Christ days of the week: 239r Prologue 2. 39v-240r Sunday 2.40r-2.4Ir Monday 24ir-2-4IVTuesday 24iv-242. v Wednesday 242."-243r Thursday 243r-2.44' Friday 244I -245" Saturday 246r-z6or Golden Litany of the Life and Passion of Christ 2^ov-2. 74r Mass of Gregory 26ov Pasted-in engraving of the Mass of Gregory 274v-2-82r Two rosaries of the Sacrament 2. 74V Pasted-in engraving with the Manna and the Last Supper 2. 82V-2. 86V Rosary of the Name of Christ 282V Pasted-in woodcut of the IHS monogram (Mlarienwater?) 2. 86v-2. 9ir Rosary to the guardian angel 287 Pasted-in illumination of the guardian angel 29lv-2-99r Rosary to Peter 2. 9iv Pasted-in engraving of Peter APPENDK ii9 Folios Text Woodcuts and Engravings 299v-3o8v Rosary to Catherine 299 Pasted-in engraving of Catherine 3o8v-3i2r Prayer to the crucified Christ 3i2r-3i5r Prayer to the Agnus Dei 312 Pasted-in woodcut of the Agnus Dei in a rose wreath (Marienwater?) 31? -337r Several prayers to Christ 338-374 Devout exercises during Mass 337 Pasted-in miniature of the Five Wounds of Christ 374r-375r . Prayer to the Cross 37?V-376V Prayer to Michael 376V-377V Prayer to Gabriel 378r-38or Prayer to Catherine 38or-382r Prayer to Agnes 382r-383r Prayer to Barbara 3§4r-384v Rosary to Barbara 383" Pasted-in illumination with Bridget of Sweden between Sts. Barbara and Amalberga of Munsterbilzen 384v-38?r Prayer to Bridget of Sweden 38?r-386r Prayer to Petronella 386r Prayer to God 386-387r Prayer to Apollonia 38yr Prayer to Mary Magdalene Hannekevan Asperen 120 Folios Text Woodcuts and Engravings 387v-393r Several prayers to Anne 387V Pasted-in woodcut or engraving ofAnne, Mary and Jesus and the Trinity (Mono gram mist IA) 393r-394v Prayer to all saints 395r-396r Prayer to all angels 3c;6r-398r Prayer to John the Baptist 398v-400r Two prayers to Francis 39§v Pastecl-in illumination with the Stigmadzadon of Francis 400r-400v Prayer to Jerome 40ov-40lr Prayer to an apostle 40iv-402. r Prayer to all apostles 402r-402. v Prayer to all patriarchs and prophets all martyrs 402"-403V Prayer 403v-4°4r Prayer to all confessors 404I-4°4V Prayer 404-405 Prayer 405v-4°7r Confession to to a saint w ?/?t\ . ?f ''' 1' il Jyl II I r^ llj IL^i -'^^.^ n ' t'/.. A, " ^'., 1. -C:^. fc.<; y^-i^ %R~S,, 4®^ . v;^'1;.,'<t>l .> Plate4.TheHolyFamilyinanenclosedgardenwitha Tertiary,hand-coloured woodcutsewnintoa prayerbook,London,BritishLibrary,Add.MSi404z,"fol. 61'. Marienwater, c. 1500. 0 Plate 5. The Holy Familyin an enclosedgardenwith a Birgittine, hand-coloured woodcut, Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, inv. no. RP-P-I955-328.Marienwater, c. 1500.

RELATED PAPERS

RELATED TOPICS

Log In

Praying, Threading, and Adorning. Sewn-in Prints in a Rosary Prayer Book (London, British Library, Add. MS 14042)

Praying, Threading, and Adorning. Sewn-in Prints in a Rosary Prayer Book (London, British Library, Add. MS 14042)

Related Papers

RELATED PAPERS

RELATED TOPICS