Origins and evolution of Book of Hours in France from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance

The research begins with a historic introduction of medieval Europe concerning
International Gothic Style in particular as a liaison link and prediction for the Renaissance.
It explains the origins of the manuscripts in the Medieval monasteries with its shrinking role
in the workshops of those monasteries and its development in secular universities and
schools until the age of printing in the Renaissance. It reviews the political, economic,
cultural and religious factors that had made France the most important manuscripts center in
Europe during that time ، and how the French art combined with the Flemish and Italian
arts .It aims to compare the Book of Hours in the Medieval and the International Gothic
Style with the Renaissance to reveal aesthetic values, distinguishing features and its
development concerning shape ،design, colors, techniques and gilding with constant themes
during all these ages. The Book of Hours contains daily prayers: breviary including
calendar, hours of the Virgin ،penitential Psalms, Litanies ،prayers for the dead ،Suffrages
of the saints, passages from the four Gospels : passion of Christ and two famous prayers of
the Virgin, prayers for the hours of the Cross ،the Holy Spirit and the Holy Trinity,
selections from Psalms and various prayers .The she-researcher selects famous examples of
the Book of Hours from many French cities such as Noyon ،Verdun and Paris as well as of
John Duke de Barry to study the texts ،topics, drawings, dimensions, ornaments, margins,
language, types of paper, initials and gilding.