The Hours of Henry VIII

November. Thrashing for Acorns, f. 6r


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November is the month for taking the pigs to the forest to fatten them up on acorns. Two men, dressed in simple frocks and leggings but with chaperons to protect their heads and shoulders from the fall chill, use long poles to shake the branches of the oak trees and thus loosen their acorns.

The left margin begins with the month’s two major feasts. First comes a group of saints (three are visible, but behind them are innumerable halos) that represents the Feast of All Saints (November 1, in blue). Next is a personification of Death as a skeleton, for the feast of All Souls (November 2). These are followed by two Touraine saints, Martin, bishop of Tours (November 11, in red) and Brictius, archbishop of Tours (November 13). At the right are Sts. Catherine, with a palm of martyrdom and the sword of her decapitation (November 25, in red), Andrew the Apostle, holding the X-shaped cross upon which he was crucified (November 30, in blue), Pope Clement, in papal tiara (November 23), and Cecilia, with a palm of martyrdom (November 22).

The zodiacal sign is Sagittarius, the Archer.

Roger S. Wieck.
Curator, Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts
The Morgan Library & Museum


Noviembre. La montanera, f. 6r

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November. Thrashing for Acorns, f. 6r

November is the month for taking the pigs to the forest to fatten them up on acorns. Two men, dressed in simple frocks and leggings but with chaperons to protect their heads and shoulders from the fall chill, use long poles to shake the branches of the oak trees and thus loosen their acorns.

The left margin begins with the month’s two major feasts. First comes a group of saints (three are visible, but behind them are innumerable halos) that represents the Feast of All Saints (November 1, in blue). Next is a personification of Death as a skeleton, for the feast of All Souls (November 2). These are followed by two Touraine saints, Martin, bishop of Tours (November 11, in red) and Brictius, archbishop of Tours (November 13). At the right are Sts. Catherine, with a palm of martyrdom and the sword of her decapitation (November 25, in red), Andrew the Apostle, holding the X-shaped cross upon which he was crucified (November 30, in blue), Pope Clement, in papal tiara (November 23), and Cecilia, with a palm of martyrdom (November 22).

The zodiacal sign is Sagittarius, the Archer.

Roger S. Wieck.
Curator, Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts
The Morgan Library & Museum


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