Royal 16 F. ii
Royal 16 F. ii is a manuscript in the British Library . The manuscript, written in Bruges in the 15th century , contains 166 poems by Charles de Valois, duc d'Orléans in the original French. It is the only surviving illustrated medieval manuscript of Charles' poems.
Royal 16 F. ii is best known for the illustration that accompanies the poem Des Nouvelles d'Albyon ( News from England ). The poem itself is formulated as a letter to Philip the Good . Among other things, it contains the oldest known topographically correct map of London . The picture shows the Tower of London with White Tower and St Thomas's Tower as seen from the south bank of the Thames. In the background, Custom House, London Bridge and the City of London skyline frame the picture. In the tower you sit Charles who is writing something while guards in English uniforms watch him. Next to the tower you can see Charles delivering the letter to a messenger who rides to the ports on the English Channel. At the same time Charles looks out of the window after the messenger.
The poems were written between 1415 and 1440. Charles was captured at the Battle of Agincourt and spent the following 25 years in English custody. For part of that time he was one of the prisoners in the Tower . The manuscript was written in Bruges at the end of the 15th century, but before 1483 .
The manuscript itself has a format of 37 × 26 centimeters and consists of 248 sheets of parchment. About half of the page is taken up by Charles' poems. Six pages are filled with miniatures. Other texts in the manuscript are fictional letters from Abbess Heloise about love and a treatise on the upbringing of a prince. The binding dates from after 1600 and the binding is dated 1757. The drawings are probably made by two artists. Most of the miniatures are believed to have been made by a Dutch artist who works in London. Four miniatures come from the master of the prayer books around 1500 , who worked in Quentin Poulet's workshop .
The manuscript was probably intended for Edward IV , who was also its first owner. As additions for Edward's successor show, the work was not yet completed on Edward's date of death in 1483. While the first half of the manuscript with the poems of Charles comes from a workshop in one style, the miniatures and writing in the back are from different hands and of lower quality than the first half of the manuscript. The work stood in the Old Royal Library for centuries before George II handed it over to the British Library along with other works in the library .
Remarks
Facsimile
- Charles d'Orleans, John Fox (ed.): Choix de Poesies MS Royal 16 F II., Exeter University Press 1990 ISBN 090077147X
literature
- Janet Backhouse: Charles of Orleans Illuminated in: Mary-Jo Arn: Charles d'Orléans in England, 1415-1440 DS Brewer, 2000 ISBN 0859915808 pp. 157-165
Web links
- Catalog entry in the British Library
- British Library: The First View of London , Medieval and Earlier Manuscripts Blog, December 30, 2011.