Book of Hours

Books of hours opened with a calendar that tracked the year’s feast days, which celebrated major events in the lives of Christ, the Virgin Mary, and other saints. The feasts in a calendar included some that were celebrated across Christianity, as well as those that were particular to the region where the book was used. Calendars often highlighted important celebrations in red writing, a practice from which the modern term “red-letter day” derives. While the formal prayers in this book of hours were written in Latin, the calendar is in French, suggesting that its owner was more comfortable in the vernacular.