In M. Hussey and J. D. Niles, eds, The Genesis of Books: Studies in the Interactions of Words, Text, and Print in Honor of A.N. Doane (Brepols: Turnhout, forthcoming). Richard K Emmerson and PJP Goldberg, ‘’ The Lord Geoffrey had me made’: Lordship and Labour in the Luttrell Psalter’ in JS Bothwell et al (eds), The Problem of Labour in Fourteenth-Century England, 2000. Four members of the family are important in the story of the Psalter in the fourteenth century – Sir Geoffrey and his wife Agnes, their eldest surviving son, Andrew and his first wife, Beatrice. Geoffrey was born in 1276 in Irnham, Lincolnshire, the village at the centre of his life where he was later married and buried. In terms of status the Luttrells have been described as ‘minor baronage’ though only Robert, Lord Luttrell (d.1297) was summoned individually to Parliament and was thus the only member of the family to rank as a peer. Sir Geoffrey Luttrell seems more suited to being described as a member of the gentry.

Gerald of Wales and the 'Marvels of the East': the role of the author in the development of marginal illustration' The Luttrell Psalter was created in England sometime between 1320 and 1345, having been commissioned by Sir Geoffrey Luttrell (1276-1345), lord of the manor of Irnham in Lincolnshire. [4] The date of its completion has not been established with certainty; different scholars have dated the manuscript to several different time periods. Eric Millar writes that the manuscript was made around 1335–40, before the death of Luttrell's wife, Agnes Sutton, because the illustrations show characteristics of the "late 'decadence' of the Late East Anglian style". Lucy Sandler [5] prefers to date the creation around 1325–30 because the styles are similar to the other manuscripts of that time. Michelle Brown believes it was made and planned much later, around 1330–45. [6]

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The Psalter is named after its original owner Geoffrey Luttrell(1276-1345), whose figure appears in the codex. Geoffrey Luttrell was lord of Irnham, in Lincolnshire and his lands extended across England. Geoffrey Luttrell inherited the lands of his ancestors who worked at the court of King Johnand received properties for their services. In addition to bequests to his children Sir Geoffrey also made numerous bequests to his servants including household items for which they’d been responsible: The role of the book as a cultural medium. The palaeography, codicology, art history and socio-historical context of medieval manuscripts. Late antique and early medieval history, archaeology and the material culture of Europe and the Levant. Art and spirituality, historic and contemporary. Publication Details Related publications/articles: Date The Eastwardness of Things: Relationships between the Christian Cultures of the Middle East and the Insular World '

The Latin text includes a calendar, psalter, and additional devotional texts. Penned by a single scribe but with the hand of at least four artists, the Luttrell Psalter contain images from all aspects of life from the toil of agriculture to fantastic expressions of the medieval imagination making it the most remarkable of manuscripts. Detailed Depictions of Everyday Life co-edited the commemorative book / exhibition catalogue and planned exhibition, both of which were highly successful The Scribe as Evangelist: Illuminated images of biblical transmission, from the Lindisfarne Gospels to the York Gospels', for a festschrift for Jennifer O'Reilly, ed. E. Mullin (2009). The Insular Contribution to the Transmission of Biblical Texts', a chapter in the Vatican's History of the Bible, La Bibbia, Formi e Modeli , ed. P. Cherubini (Vatican Publications: Vatican City, 2005). worship’– what we would call having the respect of other people. Geoffrey was clearly proud of his military career and his service to Edward I and the crown in general.

It was planned by Geoffrey and by at least one cleric, perhaps one of his chaplains or his confessor. Their planning of the details was highly intricate, the illustrations being carefully chosen to link to the text and bring out the meaning of the text. The words were written by a single scribe but six artists contributed the illustrations over time, one of whom knew the family well or came to stay at Irnham (suggested by the quality of the likenesses of individuals). The artists may have come from the local monastic houses of Stamford and Bourne but historians have also suggested the involvement of artists from religious houses at Lincoln, Norwich or York. Why was it created? Sidelong Glances and Silent Screams: the Emotional World of the Luttrell Psalter', in M. Hofmann & C. Zöhl, eds, Quand La Peinture était dans les Manuscrits: Melanges Francois Avril (Bibl. Nat. de France & Brepols: Paris , 2007), pp. 45-56. Manuscripts from the Anglo-Saxon Age ( British Library & Toronto University Press: London & Toronto , 2008) Discussion of the evidence in the Psalter for rural life, linking text to the detail in the many illustrations. The other major document associated with Sir Geoffrey is his will which has been described as one of the most generous religious bequests of the period. I can’t find an easily-accessible version of the will but years ago I did take notes from the one place I have found it – a 1932 edition of the Psalter edited by E.G. Miller.

The Luttrell Psalter is illuminated throughout, although the final eighty folios are sparsely decorated especially in comparison to the rest. The major text divisions are demarcated with ten historiated initials and another thirty-nine smaller versions make further subdivisions. Over 230 additional marginalia occupy the first 180 folios. A range of subjects from biblical to fantastical are represented. The most valuable for the understanding of medieval life are the dozens of scenes of farming, hunting, entertainment and music-making. The illuminations may have been left unfinished due to Geoffrey’s death in 1345. A Book of Personal Devotion and Eternal Prayer In S. Turner, and D. Petts, eds, Early Medieval Northumbria: Kingdoms and Communities, Studies in the Early Middle Ages 24 (Turnhout: Brepols) Gerald of Wales and the 'Marvels of the East': the role of the author in the development of marginal illustration', in English Manuscript Studies Vol X: Decoration and Illustration in Medieval English Manuscripts, ed. A. S. G. Edwards (British Library: London, 2002); reptd in the Journal of the International Association for the Study of the Irish Language, Japan, 2005. Colm Cille's Spiral Project, a series of arts commissions across Ireland and the UK to celebrate Londonderry, City of Culture 2013, in association with King's College London and Difference Exchange Mercian Manuscripts: the implications of the Staffordshire Hoard, other recent discoveries, and the “new materiality”’Bearded Sages and Beautiful Boys: Insular and Anglo-Saxon Attitudes to the Iconography of the Beard’ What lead the patron of the manuscript to have a psalter made with such a magnificent picture of the Middle Ages remains a mystery. Sir Geoffrey Luttrell (1276–1345), who leant the manuscript his name as its patron, was a high-ranking English nobleman, Baron, knight, and a large landowner. Shortly before the middle of the 14th century, Luttrell commission and unknown master with the work. The Luttrell Master, so named after his primary work, created this impressive manuscript in Lincolnshire, England ca. 1325–1340. One of the Most Significant Medieval Manuscripts Altogether Geoffrey and Agnes had six children, of whom Andrew, born in 1313, was their heir. Andrew married Beatrice le Scrope, a very advantageous marriage as Beatrice’s father was a wealthy lawyer, one of the leading judges in the country and ultimately Lord Chief Justice of the King’s Bench. Luttrell pride in its connections by marriage is reflected in the inclusion in the Psalter of the coats of arms of the Luttrells, Suttons and le Scropes. Manuscript Sir Geoffrey Luttrell, mounted, being assisted by his wife and daughter-in-law. Folio 202v.

The lively, vibrant and sometimes humorous illustrations also include, rather bizarrely, a number of ‘grotesques’, curious figures combining animal and human parts. Soon after the main image of Sir Geoffrey the illustrations end. Folios 215-298 contain only text, very plain after what’s gone before. Finally, folios 298-309 contain staves of music used in services. Luttrell, a wealthy land owner, felt his death was coming and wanted to account for all his actions, as is stated in the colophon of the psalter. [4] The purpose of the manuscript was to help with the provisions for his will, in which Luttrell requested twenty chaplains to recite masses for a five-year period after his death (believed to speed the soul's passage through Purgatory) and clerks to recite the Psalms, and other activities for stated levels of monetary remuneration. [7]This produced 2-4 monographs or electronic publications per annum which set the book in its broader historical and social context (from late Antiquity to the Renaissance; northern Europe, the Mediterranean and near East). Hagiography or History? Early Medieval Approaches to Establishing Origin and Provenance for Insular Copies of Scripture An Early Outbreak of 'Influenza'? Aspects of Influence, Medieval and Modern', in A. Bovey and J. Lowden, eds, Under the Influence: The Concept of Influence and the Study of Illuminated Manuscripts (Brepols: Turnhout, 2008), pp. 1-10. public Wi-Fi - this extends to the majority of our public spaces including the Reading Rooms, as well as our study desks and galleries at St Pancras (you won't require a login)