Collections’ Highlights
Prayer book for young Charles V
Prayer book for young Charles V






- Collection ID
- MS.000788
- Type
- Manuscript
- Date
- Between 1516 and 1519
- Geography
- Ghent or Bruges, (Belgium)
- Language
- Latin
- Medium
- Ink on Vellum
- Dimensions
- iv + 38 leaves; 6 3/4 × 4 3/4 × 11/16 in. (17.2 × 12.0 × 1.8 cm)
- Exhibit Location
- Not on View
Based on the coat of arms at the beginning of this small manuscript, it was made for the young Charles V (1500–1558) after he became king of Spain (1516) and shortly before his election as Holy Roman Emperor (1519). The Latin text contains common prayers in simple language written in two easy-to-read humanistic scripts suitable for a younger reader. The illuminations are in the style of Simon Bening (ca. 1483–1561), the Flemish master who shaped artistic tastes in the region surrounding Ghent and Bruges in the sixteenth century. The manuscript contains 36 pages decorated with images that stress self-sacrifice, humility, and devotion to the Catholic sacraments.
Based on the coat of arms at the beginning of this small manuscript, it was made for the young Charles V (1500–1558) after he became king of Spain (1516) and shortly before his election as Holy Roman Emperor (1519). The Latin text contains common prayers in simple language written in two easy-to-read humanistic scripts suitable for a younger reader. The illuminations are in the style of Simon Bening (ca. 1483–1561), the Flemish master who shaped artistic tastes in the region surrounding Ghent and Bruges in the sixteenth century. The manuscript contains 36 pages decorated with images that stress self-sacrifice, humility, and devotion to the Catholic sacraments.
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