Book of Hours
c. 1315-1320
John de Pabenham and Joan Clifford are depicted at the bottom of folio 2v, each wearing clothing decorated with their family’s heraldry. Later owners removed leaves from this manuscript.
The Fitzwilliam Museum
](/medieval-marriages/objects/14th-pabenham-clifford/images/pabenham-clifford-hours.png)
Folio 2v of the Pabenham-Clifford Hours. Source
Connection to Website Themes
Spousal Power Dyanmics: This Book of Hours presents the two spouses in mirror positions underneath an image of the Annunciation, literally an equal footing.
Community Social Norms: This object calls to mind the social norm of conforming to the ideals of Christian devotion. The ethics and morality of Christianity provided spouses with guidelines for proper behavior. The larger society, dominated by Christian culture and its teachings, served to reinforce these practices.
Church and State: As a devotional work, this Book of Hours places the authority of the Church at its center. Ecclesiastical authorities structured the devotional practice of hourly prayers laid out in the Books of Hours. The heraldic patterns on the clothing of the spouses hints at State authority because only the monarch could authorize the official blazon for heraldic coats of arms.
What is Love: As an object primarily intended to reinforce notions of devotional practice, any representation of passionate love gets subsumed into the spiritual love of Christ.