Accession number
MS M.775
Object title
Ordonances of Chivalry (MS M.775).
Display Date
third and fourth quarters of the 15th century.
Created
England, probably London, third and fourth quarters of the 15th century.
Binding
English stamped calf, gilt, ca. 1545, with motto ich dien of Edward VI Prince of Wales (his arms have been removed), by the King Edward and Queen Mary Binder.
Credit line
Purchased in 1931.
Description
320 leaves, (1 column, 28 lines), bound : vellum, ill. ; 244 x 165 mm
Provenance
Written for Sir John Astley (d. 1486), arms on several pages: quarterly, 1 and 4, azure a cinquefoil ermine (Astley); 2 and 3, gules two bars or (Harcourt) over all a label of three points ermine); Thomas Fitzhugh (arms 'part azure a fesse inter three buckets sable hooped or'); Brian Tunstall; Thomas Tunstall; owned by Edward VI before accession in 1547; Astley family, to Sir A.E.D. Astley, 21st Lord Hastings; his sale (London, Sotheby's, July 20, 1931, pp. 9-15, lot 7, pl. VI-IX) to Quaritch; purchased through Quaritch in 1931.
Notes
Ms. ordonances of chivalry written and illuminated in England, probably London, 3rd and 4th quarters of the 15th century.
Decoration: 4 full-page and 5 smaller miniatures, 1 astrological table, 1 Zodiac Man, with inscriptions, 1 circular astrological diagram.
Artist: Wingfield Master.
Decoration: 4 full-page and 5 smaller miniatures, 1 astrological table, 1 Zodiac Man, with inscriptions, 1 circular astrological diagram.
Artist: Wingfield Master.
Contents
fols 3r-4v: Abilment for the Jusus of the Pees -- fols. 5r-11v: Memoriale - a table for calculating daily and yearly expenses -- fols. 12r-13v: The Assize of Bread and Ale, and tables of Weights and Measures -- fols. 14r-15r: Poem on the Coronation of Henry VI in 1429 -- fols. 16r-23v: The Coronation of the Kings and Queens of England -- fols. 25r-121v: Vegetius, De re militari, an English translation completed for Thomas Lord Berkeley -- fols. 122v-123v: How a man schall be armyd at his ese when he schal fighte on foote -- fols. 124r-130r: Thomas, Duke of Gloucester, Letter to Richard II on Tournaments -- fols. 131r-138v: Sailing directions -- fols. 139r-195r: Aristotle, Secreta Secretorum, translated into English verse by John Lydgate and Benedict Burgh -- fols. 195v-198r: How Knyghtis of the bath shulde be made -- fol. 199r: To make agua composyta (added in a slightly later hand) -- fol. 200r: Last page or prologue of a poem in English beginning: I that to youre service wolde were able and ending: The pore effecte of my litill konnynge -- fol. 200-274v: Christine de Pizan, Pistill of Othea to Hector; translated into English verse, with a gloss in prose -- fol. 275r: Recipe for a powder -- fols. 275v-282v: The Challenges of Pierre de Masse and Philip Boyle and the results of their combats with Sir John Astley in 1438 and 1441-1442, followed by the oath of a herald on appointment -- fols. 283r-291r: Calendar in Latin, thunder prognostications, astrological tables and diagrams -- fols. 293r-320r: Parvus Cato and Magnus Cato, translated into English verse by Benedict Burgh -- fol. 320r: John Lydgate, Four Things that make a Man a Fool -- fol. 320v: Medical recipes.
Script
textura
Language
Middle English and Latin
Resources
Century
Catalog link
Classification
Department