Psalters, Books of Hours, Missals and Breviaries

According to popular shows like Game of Thrones, and even a few documentaries, like in the Middle Ages was drab and colorless, with only the occasional flash of gold and jewels to liven things up.  Not quite.  The seriously wealthy, nobility and royalty had the means and the motive to beautify their surroundings, commemorate important events, and save their immortal souls at the same time.  One of the most treasured possessions of the time was books.  Prior to the printing press in the mid-15th century, books had to be produced by hand, using costly materials, usually vellum pages bound with leather.  Thus, books were scarce and affordable to the very wealthy.

The most prized books in any library were sacred books, not only portions of the Bible, but the writings of early Church fathers and books for personal devotion.  Foremost among these, both in purpose and in the beauty of its calligraphy and illuminated art miniatures was the Book of Hours.  In the Medieval world, almost every day was sacred to some saint or other and every hour had its devotional requirements, prayer, scriptural readings, and the like.  Books of hours helped keep track of these things.  In addition to basic prayers and portions of scripture, a Book of Hours contained a calendar of feast days and holy days of the Church, excerpts from the gospels, veneration of the Virgin Mary, psalms, a litany of saints, prayers for the dead, the stations of the cross, and other prayers that a devout person might find needful.  Many times, these books were given as wedding gifts, and contained pictures of the family commissioning the book, kneeling before the Virgin or saints in an attitude of perpetual prayer.  Several Books of Hours, some as large as a family Bible, and some almost pocket-sized, still survive in museums today.

Another handy book, just as expensive, richly bound and illuminated, was a psalter.  This would contain most or the entire cannon of Psalms along with prayers, portions of the gospels or devotional readings.  Some psalters in later centuries also contained musical notation, so that the Psalms could be song, to musical accompaniment if desired.  Like books of hours, these psalters were usually hand-painted on vellum leaves, bound with tooled leather, sometimes set with gems or precious medals, and were the possessions of the very wealthy.  They, too, could be used to commemorate the joining of two families or dynasties in marriage, as was the Alphonso psalter, or otherwise given as presents.

A sign of the highest rank and prestige was to be able to have a priest in one's own household, where he could hold mass daily and lead other devotions for the family.  Priests used missals known as altar missals which carried detailed instructions for various masses.  For the lay people who wished to follow along, smaller missals known as hand missals or missalettes were produced, so that people who could read would know where and what to respond or otherwise participate during the services.  Many people used these missals in their private devotions, as well.

Likewise, a breviary, a book containing prayers and schedules of prayers, known as the Office, portions of psalms and the gospels and other devotional material.  Certain orders of monks and nuns had their own breviaries, with emphasis placed on those saints they most venerated or on their special devotions, such as to preaching, care of the poor or sick, etc.  The breviary was the basic prayer book of priests, as well as lay people.  However, they, too, were expensive and even priests were lucky to own one and most often had to rely on rote memory for some of the prayers and sacraments.