The Medieval Calendar: Locating Time in the Middle Ages

The intricacies of the medieval calendar are examined in this sumptuously illustrated volume, featuring many of the finest examples from the unparalleled collection of the Morgan Library & Museum. The lucid and concise text explains the complexities of Vigils, octaves, Egyptian Days, Golden Numbers, Dominical Letters, movable feasts, and the key role played by the saints' days. It includes the colors in which they are written as well as their rankings and gradings. A royal thirteenth-century Breviary made for a French queen to use in the Sainte-Chapelle in Paris is fully reproduced, transcribed, and analyzed to reveal its true meaning. The author also shares his step-by-step method to localize a medieval calendar and discover its use. Readers learn how to assess a calendar's roster of liturgical feasts as a key to revealing the place where it was intended to be used. Published to accompany a major exhibition, this volume provides a fascinating view into the mysteries of the Middle Ages.