Exploring this 15th-century illumination is an opportunity to discover how medieval society represented its structure and organization.
Exploring this 15th-century illumination is an opportunity to discover how medieval society represented its structure and organization.
The three classes of feudal society
Exploring this 15th-century illumination is an opportunity to discover how medieval society represented its structure and organization.
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Bibliothèque nationale de France
1279
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Le Régime des princes was written in 1279 by Gilles de Rome, tutor to King Philip the Fair. It is a “miroir des princes”, a literary genre originally intended for the education of kings’ sons, and which had become fashionable since the 12th century. Composed of three parts devoted to the government of oneself, one’s family and one’s kingdom, the work was translated in the 15th century and copied in large numbers, first for high-ranking young aristocrats, then for notable merchants.
This page, painted on the first page of the book, summarizes the contents of the work and forms its frontispiece. It is part of a manuscript produced for the échevinage of Rouen around 1450, one of France’s great merchant cities, open to long-distance trade thanks to its port position. The illumination depicts the three orders of medieval society: those who pray, those who fight and those who work.
Translated with DeepL.com (free version)