Medieval Books of Hours in the Public Library of Bruges

[@araucariapasquale1]

What a wonderful production. Thank you.

[@MonsieurChapeau]

11:39 what a beautiful song at the, the video does it good job of conveying the worldview of the time through books of hours

[@salomemalherbe677]

Wonderful !!! Modern society knows little or next to nothing about life during the Middle Ages. Thank you for a lovely bit of historical reality seen through the eyes of this extraordinary Book !! ❤

[@marthaperdew]

I would love to see these books and read them

[@tessat338]

Many Roman Catholics, especially older ones, still use a printed breviary. They're not usually as beautifully illuminated as these but my mother still uses one.

[@JelMain]

I've worked with Till Holger Borchert resetting the context of van Eyck's Mystic Lamb / Levensbron against Dufay's L'Homme Arme as the quadrivium facets of Jan van Ruusbroec's van het geetelijken tabernakel. The context is in Professor Bernard Guenee's biography of Cardinal Pierre d'Ailly, where Ruusbroec's posthumous collection lands on Jean Gerson's desk for posthumous imprimatur - he notifies his mentor d'Ailly, and they realise that inverting the power structure of the Papal Concilium to restore Supremacy is needful. This fits HRE needs, so they convene the Council of Constance, and the HRE Burgundian Vassals team up with England to destroy Valois at Agincourt. Everything's on hold during Martin V's papacy, but when he's passed, the Windesheim graduate Eugenius IV takes up the ball, which is why there's a 50 year gap.

[@Laurentio313]

The first sentence is probably the most extraordinary sentence I've ever read.

[@JelMain]

​@@Laurentio313 Fine. I came upon it working on the rationale for the RC Eucharistic Renewal of the late 19th Century, when the last asset of the body behind it imploded on our neighbourhood. The foundress' hiistory, signed, came into my hands, and pointed straight back at Pope Eugenius IV, which invoked Dufay's Papal Coronation Anthem Ecclesie Militate, Church Take Arms!, putting a crusade against the Ottoman threat to the HRE Austro-Hungarian vassals on the table. He followed it up with L'Homme Arme, the greatest hit of all time, with around 80 remixes - Sir Karl Jenkins' Armed Man is currently #3 on ClassicFM's all-time Top 300. I then had a firm pointer towards the Levensbron in the Prado, which clearly spoke the same language, and the recent revalidation of the work based on the dendrochronology, putting it in the Parral at the same time van Eyck was on mission. We may have a lost original here, as it's visually about the same size as Eugenius' Eucharistic Chapel on Rue des Sols in Brussels. This was demolished in 1955, but not before an exact copy was built on Rue van Maerlant in Brussels: it's now the European Commission's chapel. There's probably a Doctorate on offer on the subject of van Eyck the Diplomat, if anyone's interested, go talk to Till. Both opuses are contemporary and matched Ruusbroec's Spiritual Tabernacle, leaving the author open: Professor Laura Smoller pointed me towards d'Ailly and Professor Bernard Scouller's biography in Beyond Church and State. Ruusbroec passed the ball in two directions, Gerardus Groot, Windesheim, Eugenius, Devotio Moderna, Enlightenment, and in his writings, Jean Gerson for theological placet. Gerson alerted d'Ailly, and he found common cause with the HRE. I'm currently researching the family, as Joan of Arc, who sinks the entire project, is from the same lineage. Till's counterpart for Dufay is Yale's Professor Craig Wright, in his The Maze and the Warrior. In 2020, he shifted from History of Music to head their new Genius School, and searching for the truth of my own persona led me to read his The Hidden Habits of Genius, and tick most of the boxes: as I played fair and demonstrated how his own work was part of a far wider vision, and considering I've a decent share of the 2012 Nobel Peace Prize, it's likely I qualify.

[@ayaygabriel]

@@JelMain I'll try understanding the depth of your comments when sobered up.

[@JelMain]

@@ayaygabriel For ref, peer revied by Charles Burnett at the Warburg Institute. I came on it from the heritage of the modern Eucharist which had collapsed around my ears, Anna de Meeus' vocation having come from Eugenius. He's invoking Konrad von Urach's Terarken in Brussels, the culmination of his cousin Simon IV de Montfort's Templars' famous raid on Solomon's Stables.

[@tammyleeder1176]

I am always pulled to the Book of Hours from Bruges at the Museum of Art in Columbia, SC. I really am enjoying getting some History on this Book. Not just sitting behind a case trying to figure it out. I do love walking thru their 27 galleries

[@spackretired]

Was hat dieses hervorragende Erzeugnis europäischer Kultur in den USA zu suchen? Wer hat es gestohlen und dorthin gebracht? Warum wird es nicht zurückgegeben?

[@TheSunship777]

the music is beautiful. What was the last piece?

[@evelienhauwaerts4750]

Thank you! The last piece is 'Wel up elc sin die vruecht begaert', performed by Pandora² and Ultreya (www.duo-ultreya.be/nederlands/muziek/cd's.html). It is an adaptation of one of the poems or songs in the Middle Dutch Gruuthuse manuscript.

[@JelMain]

@@evelienhauwaerts4750 Guaranteed to get Ruusbroec narked! Hadewijk's circle...

[@ladyarwynn]

Very informative and wonderful, thank you for this production.

[@lynnblack6493]

Wonderful to learn about something, the book of hours, that i have seen referenced, but not known the meaning. Thank you.

[@nerys723]

Beautiful! Are there reprints copies for sale at a museum online shop?

[@legofanguyvid]

whats the first piece of music?

[@petermullaert3015]

Prachtig in beeld gebracht, sfeervol geacteerd en muzikaal begeleid. Laten we hopen dat deze montage de interesse van velen kan wekken. Proficiat.

[@WildberryAB]

What beautiful books.

[@MH-ms1dg]

beautiful! small question: is a noblewoman's hair supposed to be visible when wearing a hennin? i thought no...

[@evelienhauwaerts4750]

Thank you! You are probably right... We were lucky to be able to borrow the dress and head gear from the BBC, who were shooting a production in Bruges, but we didn't borrow their stylist :-) And shaving my forehead was not an option for me :-D

[@MH-ms1dg]

@@evelienhauwaerts4750 wonderful nevertheless! lovely work!

[@peterdavy6110]

Simply wonderful.

[@hugovranckx4970]

Ik heb weer iets interessants bijgeleerd, dankjewel

[@filmlover542]

Very informative, nicely presented video. However, I wanted to have some information about the style the floral illuminations, initials, technique, materials used, and also to know about the binding process, not ONLY, exclusively about miniatures.! Unfortunately this part was completely ignored by the creators of this video.

[@JelMain]

The British Library runs a basic bookbinding day course, based around their restoration workshop. You can see from the spine it's conventionally bound, which may be anachronistic. Also The Archaeology of Medieval Bookbinding by J. A. Szirmai

[@BrakeJiggs]

What about the a b c d e f g instead of Monday Tuesday Wednesday, and what about the letters before that

[@Navili502]

These were known as dominical letters, and they could be used to calculate which day was Sunday. If the first day of the month was a Tuesday, the calendar’s user would have to remember that A = Tuesday, B = Wednesday, C = Thursday, and so on for the rest of the month.

[@sandnerdaniel]

Very nice production and great presentation! I would like to know more about the authors of those books. Was the text in those books always the same and codified for the purposes?

[@evelienhauwaerts4750]

Thank you! The authors: most of these texts are anonymous. There was a set structure, but it allowed for variations (depending on period, region, commissioner...). If you want to learn more about the texts in books of hours, I can recommend reading Time Sanctified: The Book of Hours in Medieval Art and Life (Roger Wieck e.a.), Marking the Hours: English People and their Prayers 1240 - 1570 (Eamon Duffy), and this website: www.medievalist.net/hourstxt/home.htm.

[@user-wk1mw9nj3i76]

Very interesting! Thank you! I hope those precious books in the public library are protected by security.

[@livyintheskywithdragons]

Perfect vid ❤❤❤❤

[@rntablette9388]

at that time, the language was named " flamish " , not dutch

[@natalieyoder686]

That is correct! That is why this is the Flemish Heritage Library.

[@rntablette9388]

​@@natalieyoder686 at 11.58, the speaker says " contain texts in dutch or flemish " ... at the time’ the word " dutch " was not used for the language, only " flamish " Also, i think the name of the library refers to the current Flanders province. Also, i’am surprised the users can handle these books without cooton white gloves ...

[@Pugggle]

​@@rntablette9388you keep writing Flemish and Flamish. Which one do you mean ?? Also, please do research or simply see the educated replies to the many other ignorant people saying the same thing about the white gloves...

[@rntablette9388]

@@Pugggle i would write " Vlaams " .... for the gloves, search " archives nationales rouleau templiers ” you will see actual professionals using gloves.

[@JB-yq9iw]

❤️

[@tookclosely5480]

thank you

[@alisonbrowning9620]

like the family bible

[@Mr.SLovesTheSacredHeartofJesus]

No, These books were made to help their owners pray at set times during the day.

[@DrMcFacekick]

They put it on a pillow but aren't using gloves?

[@kungfuman1655]

DrMcFacekick They use clean and dry hands to carefully hold each manuscript

[@fakiirification]

gloves are incorrect for fragile old paper and parchment. you need to be able to feel the material to know how much pressure you are applying. gloves take away the tactile feedback which makes the human fingertip the most sensitive detecting device.

[@GrumpyOldTroll]

@@fakiirification Wait, really? It's long made me cringe when seeing people on TV shows manipulate old manuscripts with ungloved hands. Sometimes one sees them using white gloves, which I had come to assume was the right thing to do.

[@michaelvaughn2091]

Wearing gloves was accepted practice until several years ago when research revealed that gloves could actually lead to damage to the most fragile of manuscripts, and that little to no harm was posed by handling these materials with clean bare hands. (Most libraries and repositories of rare books stipulate that hands should be washed at regular intervals when interacting with them.)

[@GrumpyOldTroll]

@@michaelvaughn2091 Interesting, thank you.

[@bluntobjct]

belgian people are very clean

[@pabloalvez915]

True and discreet.

[@reymicroc]

gibs me dat book

[@LouisAlfieri-n2l]

Well made video! Decade old & still low views.

[@mathieuvart]

And nowadays, people treat books like shit because it is made cheap and not too costy.

[@outoftheforest7652]

I always wondered what Book of Hours were... While very interesting... It is highly disturbing how much of a hold the Church and Christianity had on people.. how much effort was put into this practice to keep folks in line.. and how much it has failed. Esoteric Christian practices and teachings.. the deeper teachings of course were not told.. just the exoteric .. in these books of Hours.

[@georgeeliot2012]

Yes, highly disturbing indeed. To this day.

[@Mr.SLovesTheSacredHeartofJesus]

Disturbing?! What a ridiculous thing to write. These books were made to help their owners pray at set times during the day. You have an extremely warped mind.

[@Mr.SLovesTheSacredHeartofJesus]

@@georgeeliot2012 Ok, weirdo. Get some help.

[@espevillasenor4060]

That's what kept families together and the Catholic Church had thousands and thousands of saints in those days. Today we live in an upside down world where Evil is Good and Good is Evil and where COMMUNISM has 'a hold on people.

[@SteveRiddler]

@@georgeeliot2012and because of hair dyed apostates like you and the other heretic above, society and the world is at rock bottom and leading both of you currently to hell… the reality hasn’t changed, just the perspective. You are just the product of a vile media, wicked government, and Masonic education. May you find God

[@TomG-f4r]

I used to get 6 candy bars fir a quarter ,osco drugs...