signed
1400
by Theology and Scripture|Medieval Art|All Medieval Historical Documents
1400. Books of Hours, private devotional books, intended to guide their reader through the various hours of daily prayer, emerged from the Psalter, a book used by monks and nuns to order their daily devotions. From the fourteenth century, wealthy lay-people began to increasingly want to take part in these regular acts of prayer, and so a demand was created for similar books aimed at the laity. These had twin aims – to aid the user in their prayers, for which a set system of prayers and aids to these was developed (though variable depending on location) - and to demonstrate the wealth and influence of the owner, leading to increasingly more decoration (truncated)