The Psalter-Hours of Isabelle of France

Evidence for female ownership

Owners

Two prayers contain female forms (fols. 240v, 241r), revealing that the manuscript was intended for the use of a woman. Several women associated with Louis IX have been considered likely owners of this volume owing to its intimate relationship with the Psalter of St Louis: his sister Isabelle of France; his wife Margaret of Provence; his daughter Isabelle; his daughter-in-law Marie of Brabant; and his niece Blanche of Artois.

This is one of the two prayers in the manuscript which reveal that the manuscript was made for a woman. The words in female forms can be seen on text lines 7-8: ego misera et indigna peccatrix (‘I, the wretched and unworthy sinner’).