Marie of Brabant
Owners
Marie of Brabant married Louis IX’s son Philip III in 1274. The main argument in favour of her ownership is the textual and visual content paralleled in Books of Hours from Brabant and Hainaut, and the diocese of Liège. The association with Marie is weakened, however, by the absence of Brabant heraldry from the line fillers and of Louis IX’s obit (25 August 1270) from the Calendar. The latter would have been included alongside the obits of other members of the French royal family, had the manuscript been made after his death in 1270 for his son’s bride, the new Queen of France.
Prayer Suscipere digneris domine
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’).