The 100 carefully selected objects in this book – from everyday utensils to extraordinary masterpieces – make history tangible. Each tells an important story from our regions.
The Latin psalterium of Guy of Dampierre
The Latin psalterium of Guy of Dampierre, the Count of Flanders from 1278 to 1305, was produced in Bruges or Ghent. The book of psalms of the Count of Flanders contains a mixture of pious, Latin texts on the one hand, and a wonderful and adventurous world with alternating scenes of courtly love, battles, and hunting and work on the other.
In the margin of folio 175 is a small miniature showing a hare reading a book, while the fox bites the hare’s right ear. It is obviously a reference to the passage from Van den Vos Reynaerde, in which Reynaert convinces the hare Cuwaert that he will teach him the creed so he can become a chaplain. But the fox actually wants to get his teeth into his student’s throat. The contemporary interpretation is that it is an allusion to a homosexual relationship. Reynaert appears several times in the psalm book. That’s unique, because there are no illustrations in the two surviving manuscripts and the three surviving fragments of the 13th century story.
View the digital version here:
At home at the Court of Burgundy: The ‘Chroniques de Hainaut’
The ‘Chroniques de Hainaut’ is the absolute showpiece from the Library of the Burgundian dukes. The manuscript of Jean Wauquelin is among the 50 most prestigious manuscripts worldwide. The opening miniature that takes us into the intimacy of a room in a ducal palace is world famous. It is attributed to Rogier van der Weyden, among the greatest artists of the 15th century. Although there is no documentary evidence that he painted the miniature, stylistic analyses (in particular the depiction of the faces), the study of the underlying drawings and the painting technique, suggest that he did in fact produce the miniature.
The people of the day were so impressed by the opening miniature of the Chroniques de Hainaut that it was copied many times by other artists. It is a reference model and perhaps the most emblematic image of Burgundian culture.
Browse the digital manuscript:
https://opac.kbr.be/LIBRARY/doc/SYRACUSE/16995140
https://opac.kbr.be/LIBRARY/doc/SYRACUSE/18312566
https://opac.kbr.be/LIBRARY/doc/SYRACUSE/18312911
The dawn of printing: Speculum conversionis peccatorum
A book doesn’t have to look spectacular to be special. Speculum conversionis peccatorum (Mirror of the conversion of sinners) was the very first book that came off the press in the Southern Netherlands. It was printed in 1473 in Aalst by Dirk Martens and John of Westfalen, less than 20 years after Johannes Gutenberg invented the technique of printing.
It prompted a veritable revolution in the Netherlands. The exponential rise in the supply of books accelerated the spread of ideas and intellectual movements, including the Reformation and humanism. The work itself is by Carthusian monk Dionysius van Rijckel. The modest book, barely 28 pages long, is in the tradition of moralising works.
See the book in our catalogue:
Speculum conversionis peccatorum – OPAC (kbr.be)
Missal of King Matthias Corvinus
The Missale Romanum was produced between 1485 and 1488 for the king of Hungary, Matthias Corvinus. The miniatures are by Florentine artist Attavante degli Attavanti, who was part of the entourage of Leonardo da Vinci. This masterpiece of the Italian Renaissance was part of the magnificent Bibiotheca Corviniana, whose collection was subsequently dispersed.
When Mary of Hungary returned to Brussels in 1526 following the death of her husband, King Louis II of Hungary, she took the precious missal with her from the royal collections. When the governess died in 1558, her nephew Philip II had his coat of arms affixed to the manuscript, instructing that it be preserved thereafter in the Library of the Burgundian Dukes in Brussels. It is now one of the showpieces in our rich collection and is also accessible online.
View the missal online:
Music for the Habsburg Court: Choir book of Margaret of Austria
Margaret of Austria’s choir book obviously had its place among the 100 objects. The choir book was produced in the early 16 century, in the workshop of the famous Petrus Alamire. It contains beautifully composed masses by leading Flemish composers Mathias Pipelaere and Pierre de la Rue. They are among the Franco-Flemish composers whose polyphonic repertoire resonated throughout Western and Central Europe in the 15th and 16th centuries.
Both the content and design of this luxurious manuscript leave no doubt as to its recipient. At the top of the right-hand page, at the start of the tenor part, is the inscription Margaret of Austria. She is kneeling in prayer and looks at the image of Mary with Child, who on the left-hand page introduces the ‘superius’, or highest voice. The daisies around the diamond-shaped shield, which also appear elsewhere in the border decoration, allude to her name.
See the choir book in our catalogue:
[Chansonnier of Margaret of Austria] – OPAC (kbr.be)
Medical botany between tradition and innovation: The ‘Cruydeboeck’
The ‘Cruydeboeck’ (herbarium) is an important milestone in the history of science. It was compiled by Rembert Dodoens (1517-1585), town physician of Mechelen and subsequently private physician at the imperial court in Austria. The herbarium was first published by Plantijn in Antwerp in 1554, and remained a reference work throughout the 16th and 17th centuries. It was reprinted several times and translated into multiple languages. Although it evokes the ancient tradition of medicinal herbalism dating back to antiquity, some aspects of it herald modern botany.
The Cruydeboeck provides an overview of more than 1,000 medicinal plants, as well as animals and minerals that were used in the preparation of medicines. Primarily a manual intended for doctors, pharmacists, midwives and students, it also includes multilingual registers that allowed readers to look up plants in Dutch, French, Latin and Greek.
See the Cruydeboeck in our catalogue:
https://opac.kbr.be/LIBRARY/doc/SYRACUSE/16265239
The editions from 1618 and 1644 are also available digitally
https://opac.kbr.be/LIBRARY/doc/SYRACUSE/17124208
and
https://opac.kbr.be/LIBRARY/doc/SYRACUSE/18574475