Illumino

A History of Medieval Britain in Twelve Illuminated Manuscripts

Michelle P. Brown

• Publisher: Reaktion Books
• Year: 2025
• Print ISBN: 9781836390374
• eBook ISBN: 9781836390367
• Edition: 0
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: British History
• Index: History

Illumino explores the history of medieval Britain through the biographies of twelve remarkable illuminated manuscripts and of their creators and owners. The manuscripts each serve as portals into these lives and as springboards into the era of their production. For illuminated manuscripts are among the most intricate and fascinating forms of evidence for the Middle Ages, blending the fruits of human intellect – the arts, the sciences, politics, philosophy and faith – with the materiality of their production. By undertaking the detective work needed to determine the nature of each project and the underlying human-interest stories, this book reveals their manifold social, economic and cultural contexts and charts the exchange of ideas, techniques and materials over time and space. Featuring more than a hundred beautiful illustrations, this is a unique and accessible introduction to Britain's history, art history and book history across a thousand years.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-title Page
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Preface
• 1 The Eighth Century: Bishop Eadfrith’s Desert of the Book
• 2 The Ninth Century: Bishop Æthelwald’s Prayerbook
• 3 The Tenth Century: King Ætelstan’s Offering to a Shrine
• 4 The Eleventh Century: Queen Emma’s ‘Apologia’
• 5 The Twelfth Century I: Christina of Markyate’s Gift
• 6 The Twelfth Century II: Gerald of Wales and the Topography of Ireland
• 7 The Thirteenth Century: Matthew Paris’s Chronicle
• 8 The Fourteenth Century I: John Fifhide’s ‘Poor Man’s Bible’ Picture Book
• 9 The Fourteenth Century II: Sir Geoffrey Luttrell’s Pyramid
• 10 The Fifteenth Century I: Abbot Bruyning’s Mega-Missal
• 11 The Fifteenth Century II: Anthony Woodville’s Present for Doomed Royals
• 12 The Sixteenth Century: Musician, Monarch, Womanizer
• Bibliography
• Acknowledgements
• Photo Acknowledgements
• Index