Medieval Rural Life in the Luttrell Psalter

The Luttrell Psalter is one of the best-known English manuscripts. Written and illuminated in the early 14th century for Sir Geoffrey Luttrell, it is celebrated for its series of attractive marginal illustrations showing scenes of life in mediaeval England. The most celebrated sequence of pictures in the manuscript represents the annual cycle of growing crops, including ploughing, sowing, weeding, harvesting, threshing and the delivery of the grain. Animal illustrations include domestic boars, geese, pigs, cattle, ferrets, rabbits, birds, cats and mice. Many scenes depict women playing a full part in rural life. In this study of these illustrations, Janet Backhouse reminds us that although The Luttrell Psalter was designed to provide a reflection of the status of the Luttrell family, its preservation has given a supremely emotive pictorial source for the daily life of rural England.

Janet Backhouse is an internationally respected manuscript expert and former Curator of Illuminated Manuscripts at The British Library.