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69-648: They painted the miniatures and decorated page margins for the best-known late medieval illuminated manuscript , the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry , the Belles Heures of Jean de France, Duc de Berry , in both of which their work survives largely complete although, like many grand manuscript projects, the Très Riches Heures was not finished. A Johannes de Lymborgh appears in mid-14th century archives. He may have come from Limbourg on

138-440: A reed pen . In the case of manuscripts that were sold commercially, the writing would "undoubtedly have been discussed initially between the patron and the scribe (or the scribe's agent, but by the time the written gathering were sent off to the illuminator, there was no longer any scope for innovation.) The sturdy Roman letters of the early Middle Ages gradually gave way to scripts such as Uncial and half-Uncial, especially in

207-684: A Northern European tradition, but display influences from Italian models. Among their own sources of artistic inspiration was the work of the Master of the Brussels Initials . Illuminated manuscript An illuminated manuscript is a formally prepared document where the text is decorated with flourishes such as borders and miniature illustrations . Often used in the Roman Catholic Church for prayers and liturgical books such as psalters and courtly literature ,

276-412: A barometer of status with the manuscript was degraded". During this time period the price of gold had become so cheap that its inclusion in an illuminated manuscript accounted for only a tenth of the cost of production. By adding richness and depth to the manuscript, the use of gold in illuminations created pieces of art that are still valued today. The application of gold leaf or dust to an illumination

345-592: A bible (a très belle et notable Bible ). It is their first documented commission and the work seems to have been executed in Paris. Art historians are divided as to whether the Bible Moralisée ( Ms. fr. 166 in the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris is the same manuscript as Philip's commission; although there is consensus that manuscript was executed by Jean and Pol Limbourg. A bible moralisée

414-519: A commission. However, commercial scriptoria grew up in large cities, especially Paris , and in Italy and the Netherlands, and by the late 14th century there was a significant industry producing manuscripts, including agents who would take long-distance commissions, with details of the heraldry of the buyer and the saints of personal interest to him (for the calendar of a book of hours). By the end of

483-634: A conflict between Brabant and Guelders, with their ransom set at 55 écus plus prison expenses. The boys' father had died that year leaving their mother destitute, unable to secure their release. Local guild members in Brussels tried to raise the funds, but six months passed, the boys were still in captives, when Philip the Bold paid the ransom in May of 1400. In February 1402 Paul and Jean were contracted by Philip to work for four years exclusively on illuminating

552-600: A few examples from later periods. Books that are heavily and richly illuminated are sometimes known as "display books" in church contexts, or "luxury manuscripts", especially if secular works. In the first millennium, these were most likely to be Gospel Books , such as the Lindisfarne Gospels and the Book of Kells . The Book of Kells is the most widely recognized illuminated manuscript in the Anglosphere , and

621-422: A format dominated by huge ornamented capitals that descended from uncial forms or by illustrations". To prevent such poorly made manuscripts and illuminations from occurring, a script was typically supplied first, "and blank spaces were left for the decoration. This presupposes very careful planning by the scribe even before he put pen to parchment." The following steps outline the detailed labor involved to create

690-520: A good appreciation for their predecessors' distillation of knowledge. In recent years, the marginalia left behind by university students as they engage with library textbooks has also been a topic of interest to sociologists looking to understand the experience of being a university student. The former Moscow correspondent of The Financial Times , John Lloyd, has stated that he was shown Stalin 's copy of Machiavelli 's The Prince , with marginal comments. American poet Billy Collins has explored

759-457: A house. Books, therefore, were long-term investments expected to be handed down to succeeding generations. Readers commonly wrote notes in the margins of books in order to enhance the understanding of later readers. Of the 52 extant manuscript copies of Lucretius ' "De rerum natura" (On the Nature of Things) available to scholars, all but three contain marginal notes. The practice of writing in

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828-426: A miniature in a frame, a historiated initial beginning a passage of text, and a border with drolleries. Often different artists worked on the different parts of the decoration. While the use of gold is by far one of the most captivating features of illuminated manuscripts, the bold use of varying colors provided multiple layers of dimension to the illumination. From a religious perspective, "the diverse colors wherewith

897-401: A number of his friends and relations had several dozen. Wealthy patrons, however, could have personal prayer books made especially for them, usually in the form of richly illuminated " books of hours ", which set down prayers appropriate for various times in the liturgical day . One of the best known examples is the extravagant Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry for a French prince. Up to

966-474: A tiny figure in the corner." The calendar was also personalized, recording the feast days of local or family saints. By the end of the Middle Ages many manuscripts were produced for distribution through a network of agents, and blank spaces might be reserved for the appropriate heraldry to be added locally by the buyer. Related articles Marginalia Marginalia (or apostils ) are marks made in

1035-465: Is a type of condensed and heavily illustrated bible that emerged in the 13th century. It followed a specific format in which bible passages were paired with commentary or moralizations and an image, with each page containing four pairs of images meant to dominate the page. Typically such a bible contained more than 5000 painted miniatures; the cost and labor involved in such a production was so great that only royalty commissioned them. Manuscript 166 in Paris

1104-489: Is a very detailed process that only the most skilled illuminators can undertake and successfully achieve. The first detail an illuminator considered when dealing with gold was whether to use gold leaf or specks of gold that could be applied with a brush. When working with gold leaf, the pieces would be hammered and thinned. The use of this type of leaf allowed for numerous areas of the text to be outlined in gold. There were several ways of applying gold to an illumination. One of

1173-410: Is an almost verbatim copy of the bible moralisée commissioned by Philip's father John II of France , known as Ms. fr. 167, which contains 5122 miniatures. The contract Philip executed with the brothers was quite specific: they were to provide miniatures ( ystoires ) as quickly as possible irrespective of holidays, to be paid a daily rate of 6 sous . Philip's physician, Jean Durant, was to supervise

1242-856: Is famous for its insular designs. The Romanesque and Gothic periods saw the creation of many large illuminated complete bibles . The largest surviving example of these is The Codex Gigas in Sweden; it is so massive that it takes three librarians to lift it. Other illuminated liturgical books appeared during and after the Romanesque period. These included psalters , which usually contained all 150 canonical psalms, and small, personal devotional books made for lay people known as books of hours that would separate one's day into eight hours of devotion. These were often richly illuminated with miniatures, decorated initials and floral borders. They were costly and therefore only owned by wealthy patrons, often women. As

1311-480: Is from Spain, near to Muslim paper manufacturing centres in Al-Andalus . Textual manuscripts on paper become increasingly common, but the more expensive parchment was mostly used for illuminated manuscripts until the end of the period. Very early printed books left spaces for red text, known as rubrics , miniature illustrations and illuminated initials , all of which would have been added later by hand. Drawings in

1380-690: The Maqāmāt al-Ḥarīrī , pointing to a common pictorial tradition that existed since circa 1180 in Syria and Iraq which was highly influenced by Byzantine art . Some of the illustrations of these manuscript have been characterized as "illustration byzantine traitée à la manière arabe" ("Byzantine illustration treated in the Arab style"). The Persian miniature tradition mostly began in whole books, rather than single pages for muraqqas or albums, as later became more common. The Great Mongol Shahnameh , probably from

1449-597: The Artuqids . An explosion of artistic production in Arabic manuscripts occurred in the 12th and especially the 13th century. Thus various Syriac manuscripts of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, such as Syriac Gospels, Vatican Library, Syr. 559 or Syriac Gospels, British Library, Add. 7170 , were derived from the Byzantine tradition, yet stylistically have a lot in common with Islamic illustrated manuscripts such as

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1518-470: The British Isles , where distinctive scripts such as insular majuscule and insular minuscule developed. Stocky, richly textured blackletter was first seen around the 13th century and was particularly popular in the later Middle Ages. Prior to the days of such careful planning, "A typical black-letter page of these Gothic years would show a page in which the lettering was cramped and crowded into

1587-551: The Early Modern period. Especially after the book of hours became popular, wealthy individuals commissioned works as a sign of status within the community, sometimes including donor portraits or heraldry : "In a scene from the New Testament, Christ would be shown larger than an apostle, who would be bigger than a mere bystander in the picture, while the humble donor of the painting or the artist himself might appear as

1656-626: The Graeco-Arabic translation movement and the creation of scientific and technical treatises often based on Greek scientific knowledge, such as the Arabic versions of The Book of Fixed Stars (965 CE), De materia medica or Book of the Ten Treatises of the Eye . The translators were most often Arab Syriac Christians , such as Hunayn ibn Ishaq or Yahya ibn Adi , and their work is known to have been sponsored by local rulers, such as

1725-811: The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Around this period they also painted some pages of the Très Belles Heures de Notre-Dame, a single page added to the Petites Heures de Jean de Berry (perhaps in 1412, now BnF , Paris), and other dispersed pages. Between the period of 1408 until their deaths in 1416, the brothers are referenced in 12 extant documents and inventories, recorded by Berry's valet de chambre . These describe payments and exchanges of valuable gifts. Paul received two diamond rings and an emerald ring in

1794-529: The Meuse to Nijmegen, then the capital of the duchy of Gelre , and appears to be the father of Arnold de Limbourch, a wood carver and sculptor whose name also appears in medieval archives. In 1385 Arnold married Mechteld Maelwael or Maloeul. She came from a family of craftsmen and painters. Her father and uncle were painters in the employ of the Duke of Guelders , as gilders and as painters of heraldic devices. It

1863-528: The Middle Ages , although many survive from the Renaissance . While Islamic manuscripts can also be called illuminated and use essentially the same techniques, comparable Far Eastern and Mesoamerican works are described as painted . Most manuscripts, illuminated or not, were written on parchment until the 2nd century BCE, when a more refined material called vellum , made from stretched calf skin,

1932-418: The margins of a book or other document. They may be scribbles, comments, glosses (annotations) , critiques , doodles , drolleries , or illuminations . Biblical manuscripts have notes in the margin, for liturgical use. Numbers of texts' divisions are given at the margin ( κεφάλαια , Ammonian Sections, Eusebian Canons ). There are some scholia , corrections and other notes usually made later by hand in

2001-465: The 12th century, most manuscripts were produced in monasteries in order to add to the library or after receiving a commission from a wealthy patron. Larger monasteries often contained separate areas for the monks who specialized in the production of manuscripts called a scriptorium . Within the walls of a scriptorium were individualized areas where a monk could sit and work on a manuscript without being disturbed by his fellow brethren. If no scriptorium

2070-525: The 1330s, is a very early manuscript of one of the most common works for grand illustrated books in Persian courts. Illumination was a complex and costly process, and was therefore usually reserved for special books such as altar bibles, or books for royalty. Heavily illuminated manuscripts are often called "luxury manuscripts" for this reason. In the early Middle Ages, most books were produced in monasteries, whether for their own use, for presentation, or for

2139-417: The 14th century there were secular workshops producing manuscripts, and by the beginning of the 15th century these were producing most of the best work, and were commissioned even by monasteries. When the text was complete, the illustrator set to work. Complex designs were planned out beforehand, probably on wax tablets, the sketch pad of the era. The design was then traced or drawn onto the vellum (possibly with

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2208-628: The 1800s. Fermat's claim, written around 1637, of a proof of Fermat's last theorem too big to fit in the margin is the most famous mathematical marginal note. Voltaire, in the 1700s, annotated books in his library so extensively that his annotations have been collected and published. The first recorded use of the word marginalia is in 1819 in Blackwood's Magazine . From 1845 to 1849 Edgar Allan Poe titled some of his reflections and fragmentary material "Marginalia". Five volumes of Samuel T. Coleridge 's marginalia have been published. Beginning in

2277-404: The 1990s, attempts have been made to design and market e-book devices permitting a limited form of marginalia. Some famous marginalia were serious works, or drafts thereof, written in margins due to scarcity of paper. Voltaire composed in book margins while in prison, and Sir Walter Raleigh wrote a personal statement in margins just before his execution. Marginalia can add to or detract from

2346-588: The Middle Ages, the Muslim world , especially on the Iberian Peninsula, was instrumental in delivering ancient classic works to the growing intellectual circles and universities of Western Europe throughout the 12th century. Books were produced there in large numbers and on paper for the first time in Europe, and with them full treatises on the sciences, especially astrology and medicine where illumination

2415-596: The Romanesque period many more manuscripts had decorated or historiated initials , and manuscripts essentially for study often contained some images, often not in color. This trend intensified in the Gothic period, when most manuscripts had at least decorative flourishes in places, and a much larger proportion had images of some sort. Display books of the Gothic period in particular had very elaborate decorated borders of foliate patterns, often with small drolleries . A Gothic page might contain several areas and types of decoration:

2484-478: The action of burnishing it is vigorous and runs the risk of smudging any painting already around it." Monasteries produced manuscripts for their own use; heavily illuminated ones tended to be reserved for liturgical use in the early period, while the monastery library held plainer texts. In the early period manuscripts were often commissioned by rulers for their own personal use or as diplomatic gifts, and many old manuscripts continued to be given in this way, even into

2553-425: The aid of pinpricks or other markings, as in the case of the Lindisfarne Gospels ). Many incomplete manuscripts survive from most periods, giving us a good idea of working methods. At all times, most manuscripts did not have images in them. In the early Middle Ages, manuscripts tend to either be display books with very full illumination, or manuscripts for study with at most a few decorated initials and flourishes. By

2622-422: The background in gold, was taken from Byzantine mosaics and icons . Aside from adding rich decoration to the text, scribes during the time considered themselves to be praising God with their use of gold. Furthermore, gold was used if a patron who had commissioned a book to be written wished to display the vastness of their riches. Eventually, the addition of gold to manuscripts became so frequent "that its value as

2691-404: The best surviving specimens of medieval painting, and the best preserved. Indeed, for many areas and time periods, they are the only surviving examples of painting. Art historians classify illuminated manuscripts into their historic periods and types, including (but not limited to) Late Antique , Insular , Carolingian , Ottonian , Romanesque , Gothic , and Renaissance manuscripts . There are

2760-421: The book is illustrated, not unworthily represent the multiple grace of heavenly wisdom." The medieval artist's palette was broad: Chemical- and mineral-based colors, including: The color red was often associated with imagery like blood, fire, and godly power. It was the most common and inexpensive color and as such was frequently used for initials, lettering, and borders and well as general imagery. Pink

2829-516: The calendar miniatures in the 1440s when the book apparently was in the possession of René d'Anjou , and in 1485 Jean Colombe finished the work for the House of Savoy . The work of the Limbourg brothers, being mostly inaccessible, became forgotten until the 19th century. Nevertheless, they set an example for the next generations of painters, which extended beyond miniature painting. They worked in

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2898-411: The early 1390s and a daughter in the mid-1390s. In the late 1390s (probably around 1398) Herman and Jean were sent to Paris, where records from 1399 document them as apprentices to a Parisian goldsmith, a position possibly organized by their uncle. That year the goldsmith sent the boys home to Guelders during an outbreak of disease in Paris. They were captured and imprisoned in Brussels, probably because of

2967-402: The effort, for which he received 600 francs and periodic repayments for lapis lazuli used to produce Illuminated manuscripts . In 1404 the brothers are referred to as peintres et historieurs , whereas they were earlier referred to as painters ( peintres ) and illuminators ( enlumineurs ). They almost certainly painted the miniatures as well as the borders . They completed folios 1-24 and

3036-586: The illuminations of one page of a manuscript: The illumination and decoration was normally planned at the inception of the work, and space reserved for it. However, the text was usually written before illumination began. In the Early Medieval period the text and illumination were often done by the same people, normally monks, but by the High Middle Ages the roles were typically separated, except for routine initials and flourishes, and by at least

3105-520: The margin. Marginalia may also be of relevance because many ancient or medieval writers of marginalia may have had access to other relevant texts that, although they may have been widely copied at the time, have since then been lost due to wars, prosecution, or censorship. As such, they might give clues to an earlier, more widely known context of the extant form of the underlying text than is currently appreciated. For this reason, scholars of ancient texts usually try to find as many still existing manuscripts of

3174-452: The margins (known as marginalia ) would also allow scribes to add their own notes, diagrams, translations, and even comic flourishes. The introduction of printing rapidly led to the decline of illumination. Illuminated manuscripts continued to be produced in the early 16th century but in much smaller numbers, mostly for the very wealthy. They are among the most common items to survive from the Middle Ages; many thousands survive. They are also

3243-434: The margins of books gradually declined over several centuries after the invention of the printing press. Printed books gradually became much less expensive, so they were no longer regarded as long-term assets to be improved for succeeding generations. The first Gutenberg Bible was printed in the 1450s. Hand annotations occur in most surviving books through the end of the 1500s. Marginalia did not become unusual until sometime in

3312-406: The most popular included mixing the gold with stag's glue and then "pour it into water and dissolve it with your finger." Once the gold was soft and malleable in the water, it was ready to be applied to the page. Illuminators had to be very careful when applying gold leaf to the manuscript because gold leaf is able to "adhere to any pigment which had already been laid, ruining the design, and secondly

3381-422: The most popular secular texts of the time were bestiaries . These books contained illuminated depictions of various animals, both real and fictional, and often focused on their religious symbolism and significance, as it was a widespread belief in post-classical Europe that animals, and all other organisms on Earth, were manifestations of God. These manuscripts served as both devotional guidance and entertainment for

3450-640: The move from monasteries to commercial settings was a radical step. Demand for manuscripts grew to an extent that monastic libraries began to employ secular scribes and illuminators. These individuals often lived close to the monastery and, in instances, dressed as monks whenever they entered the monastery, but were allowed to leave at the end of the day. Illuminators were often well known and acclaimed and many of their identities have survived. The Byzantine world produced manuscripts in its own style, versions of which spread to other Orthodox and Eastern Christian areas. With their traditions of literacy uninterrupted by

3519-433: The noble blood". Paul was attracted to a young girl, Gillette la Mercière, but her parents disapproved. The duke had the girl confined, and released her only on the king's command. In 1411 Paul and Gillette married anyway, but the marriage remained childless (the girl was 12, her husband 24 at the time). The Belles Heures was finished in 1409 which was followed by Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry , widely regarded as

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3588-527: The peak of late medieval book illumination, and possibly the most valuable book in the world. It is kept as Ms. 65 in the Musée Condé in Chantilly , France. In the first half of 1416, Jean de Berry and the three Limbourg brothers – all not yet 30 years old – died, possibly of the plague , leaving the Très Riches Heures unfinished. An unidentified artist (possibly Barthélemy van Eyck ) completed

3657-476: The period, many of the painters were women, especially painting the elaborate border, and perhaps especially in Paris. The type of script depended on local customs and tastes. In England, for example, Textura was widely used from the 12th to 16th centuries, while a cursive hand known as Anglicana emerged around 1260 for business documents. In the Frankish Empire, Carolingian minuscule emerged under

3726-569: The practice continued into secular texts from the 13th century onward and typically include proclamations , enrolled bills , laws , charters , inventories, and deeds . The earliest surviving illuminated manuscripts are a small number from late antiquity , and date from between 400 and 600. Examples include the Vergilius Romanus , Vergilius Vaticanus , and the Rossano Gospels . The majority of extant manuscripts are from

3795-424: The production of manuscripts shifted from monasteries to the public sector during the High Middle Ages , illuminated books began to reflect secular interests. These included short stories, legends of the saints, tales of chivalry, mythological stories, and even accounts of criminal, social or miraculous occurrences. Some of these were also freely used by storytellers and itinerant actors to support their plays. One of

3864-487: The shape of a bear from the duke as New Year's day gifts between 1408 and 1413; 100 ecus "so he could clothe himself and be more honorable in the duke's employ"; and all the brothers received rings in 1414 and 1415. In return the brothers reciprocated with lavish gifts. By that time all three brothers had achieved the position of varlet de chambre . The duke gifted Paul with a large house in Bourges suitable to "a nobleman of

3933-443: The texts they are researching, because the notes scribbled in the margin might contain additional clues to the interpretation of these texts. The scholia on classical manuscripts are the earliest known form of marginalia. In Europe, before the invention of the printing press, books were copied by hand, originally onto vellum and later onto paper . Paper was expensive and vellum was much more expensive. A single book cost as much as

4002-519: The underdrawings to folio 32. The recorded documentation regarding specific commissions ends with Philip's death in April 1404. After Philip died the brothers were employed by his brother John, Duke of Berry – an extravagant collector of the arts and books. Their first assignment was to illuminate a book of hours , now known as the Belles Heures du Duc de Berry , now held in The Cloisters of

4071-414: The value of an association copy of a book, depending on the author of the marginalia and on the book. Catherine C. Marshall, doing research on the future of user interface design, has studied the phenomenon of user annotation of texts. She discovered that in several university departments, students would scour the piles of textbooks at used book dealers for consistently annotated copies. The students had

4140-412: The vast educational program of Charlemagne . The first step was to send the manuscript to a rubricator , "who added (in red or other colors) the titles, headlines , the initials of chapters and sections, the notes and so on; and then – if the book was to be illustrated – it was sent to the illuminator". These letters and notes would be applied using an ink-pot and either a sharpened quill feather or

4209-435: The working class of the Middle Ages. The Gothic period, which generally saw an increase in the production of illuminated books, also saw more secular works such as chronicles and works of literature illuminated. Wealthy people began to build up personal libraries; Philip the Bold probably had the largest personal library of his time in the mid-15th century, is estimated to have had about 600 illuminated manuscripts, whilst

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4278-560: Was as a heraldic painter that Mechteld's brother Jean Malouel received a commission in Paris by Isabeau of Bavaria in 1396, regent regent to her husband Charles VI of France . Within the year Maloul accepted the position as valet de chambre and court painter to Charles's uncle Philip the Bold, the Duke of Burgundy . Arnold and Mechteld had six children over the next decade: the three boys, Herman, Paul, and Jean were born between c.  1385 and c.  1388 ; two more boys in

4347-430: Was available, then "separate little rooms were assigned to book copying; they were situated in such a way that each scribe had to himself a window open to the cloister walk." By the 14th century, the cloisters of monks writing in the scriptorium had almost fully given way to commercial urban scriptoria, especially in Paris, Rome and the Netherlands. While the process of creating an illuminated manuscript did not change,

4416-427: Was brushed with gold specks. Gold leaf was from the 12th century usually polished, a process known as burnishing . The inclusion of gold alludes to many different possibilities for the text. If the text is of religious nature, lettering in gold is a sign of exalting the text. In the early centuries of Christianity, Gospel manuscripts were sometimes written entirely in gold. The gold ground style, with all or most of

4485-483: Was considered a fashionable color and was often found in clothing depictions of aristocrats and in filigree detail work. It also was used to color illuminated manuscript depictions of walls and lakes. Mineral-based colors, including: Green was often associated with visuals related to the Garden of Eden and symbolized rebirth. Verdigris Green was a specific shade almost exclusively used in cross imagery, and Green Earth

4554-399: Was required to have profuse and accurate representations with the text. The origins of the pictorial tradition of Arabic illustrated manuscripts are uncertain. The first known decorated manuscripts are some Qur'ans from the 9th century. They were not illustrated, but were "illuminated" with decorations of the frontispieces or headings. The tradition of illustrated manuscripts started with

4623-424: Was supposedly introduced by King Eumenes II of Pergamum . This gradually became the standard for luxury illuminated manuscripts, although modern scholars are often reluctant to distinguish between parchment and vellum, and the skins of various animals might be used. The pages were then normally bound into codices (singular: codex ), that is the usual modern book format, although sometimes the older scroll format

4692-557: Was used under other pigments in order to create depth to skin tones. Chemical- and mineral-based colors, including: Blue, especially the pigment ultramarine, was a valuable and rare color and was commonly used in depictions of the Virgin Mary. It was also commonly used for initials, lettering, and borders. On the strictest definition, a manuscript is not considered "illuminated" unless one or many illuminations contained metal, normally gold leaf or shell gold paint, or at least

4761-495: Was used, for various reasons. A very few illuminated fragments also survive on papyrus . Books ranged in size from ones smaller than a modern paperback, such as the pocket gospel , to very large ones such as choirbooks for choirs to sing from, and "Atlantic" bibles, requiring more than one person to lift them. Paper manuscripts appeared during the Late Middle Ages . The untypically early 11th century Missal of Silos

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