Place of OriginNorth England

Date1190-1200

DescriptionThis Latin psalter opens with a series of magnificent full page miniatures and is of English origin. It was probably produced for Geoffrey Plantagenet, archbishop of York. Nevertheless, the manuscript soon crossed the Channel and came into the possession of King Philip II of France. The book from which King Louis IX, commonly known as Saint Louis (1214-1270), learned to read in his childhood, was cherished as a relic in the French royal family. Through Duke Philip the Bold (1342-1404), it entered the Burgundian library and the Low Countries. How the book eventually came into the hands of Jan van den Bergh, Leiden burgomaster and curator of the University, is unknown. He donated it to Leiden University Library in 1741.

TagsPsalters, illuminated manuscripts

Dimensions245 x 175

Material/MediumManuscript on parchment