The Crusades: Les Passages d'Outremer

The Crusades: Les Passages d'Oultremer – Club Bibliófilo Versol – Fr. 5594 – Bibliothèque nationale de France (Paris, France) — Bourges (France) — 1474
Commissioned by Louis de Laval, illuminated by none other than Jean Colombe: the greatest medieval source on the history of the Crusades, adorned with magnificent large-format miniatures

Sébastien Mamerot authored the largest medieval work written on the Crusades, comprising nearly 600 pages
The owner, Louis de Laval (1411–89), commissioned Jean Colombe (d. 1493) to illuminate the incredible work
It is a monumental manuscript, with respect to both its text and illustrations, composed in several scenes each

The Crusades: Les Passages d'Outremer

Fr. 5594 Bibliothèque nationale de France (Paris, France)

Description

The Crusades: Les Passages d'Outremer

The Crusades were one of the defining events of the Middle Ages and had far-reaching ramifications for both Christianity and the Islamic world. The most comprehensive, if somewhat mythical, source on the Crusades was written in 1474 by the scholar Sébastien Mamerot (1430/40 – c. 1490) on behalf of the French bibliophile and nobleman Louis de Laval (c. 1411–1489). The resulting manuscript was magnificently illuminated by none other than Jean Colombe and his workshop. He is considered one of the greatest artists of the transitional period from Gothic to Renaissance in France. Colombe captured the events of the Crusades on 66 monumental image pages, usually consisting of a large miniature and a bas-de-page scene. The gold-decorated pictorial works especially impress with wide landscapes, convincing perspective and an often imposing amount of figures.

The Crusades: Les Passages d'Outremer

Sébastien Mamerot (ca. 1418–90) was the author of the largest medieval work written on the Crusades: Les Passages faiz oultre mer par les François contre les Turcqs et autres Sarrazins et Mores oultre marins, which translates to “Overseas Expeditions made by the French against the Turks and Saracens and Moors” in English. It consists of nearly six hundred pages of text written in two wide columns. The owner, Louis de Laval (ca. 1411–89), commissioned the French master Jean Colombe (ca. 1430 – ca. 1493) to illuminate the text with 145 miniatures, including some of the most iconic imagery of medieval manuscript art, e.g. the scene of the Council of Clermont on folio 19r. The result is a monumental work that is distinguished both for its textual content and the artistic refinement of its décor. A portrait of Laval appears on the first page, depicting the French nobleman and general as a thin, elderly man who is being presented the manuscript by a kneeling Mamerot. The dedication is precisely dated to Thursday, January 12th, 1473.

Codicology

Alternative Titles: Une chronique des croisades: les passages d'Outremer
Chronik der Kreuzzüge: Die Passage von d'Outremer
Passages de l'Outremer
Passages faiz oultre mer par les François
Type: Manuscript on parchment
Size / Format: 572 pages / 32.0 × 23.0 cm
Origin: France
Date: 1474
Epochs: Late Middle Ages Onwards
Style: Gothic
Genre: Literature / Poetry
Language: French
Script: Littera bastarda
Illustrations: 66 splendid miniatures, numerous historiated and ornamental initials
Content: History of the French participation in the Crusades in the Holy Land; letter from Bayezid II to Charles VIII (added later)
Patron: Louis de Laval (1411–1489)
Artist / School: Sébastien Mamerot (between 1430 and 1440 – ca. 1490) (author)
Jean Colombe (ca. 1430 – ca. 1493) (illuminator)
Previous Owners: Diane de Poitiers, Duchess of Valentinois; Diane de La Marck; Charles-Henri, Count of Clermont-Tonnerre; Jules Mazarin

Available facsimile editions:

Detail Picture

The Crusades: Les Passages d'Outremer

The Siege of Antioch

Antioch was one of the most important cities in the Holy Land, it occupied a strategic position and was well defended by Byzantine walls with over 400 towers, making it a difficult target. The city endured 8 months of siege before falling on June 2nd, 1098 after two armies sent to relieve the city were defeated and routed in succession. Here we see the impressive fortifications of the city and the massive army of Crusaders attacking it with scaling ladders.

Single Page

The Crusades: Les Passages d'Outremer

The Council of Claremont

“Let those who have been accustomed unjustly to wage private warfare against the faithful now go against the infidels and end with victory this war which should have been begun long ago…Let those who have been serving as mercenaries for small pay now obtain the eternal reward…Christ commands it!” With these words, Pope Urban II sparked the First Crusade.

This important speech, given on November 27th, 1095, is depicted within a gorgeous Gothic interior filled with a sea of faces. A masterful use of perspective focuses the beholder’s attention on the distant figure of Urban in this famous miniature that sparkles with gold brush strokes. The Frankish knights to whom Urban’s message is directed are depicted in contemporary armor in the bas-de-page miniature.

Facsimile Editions

#1 Les Passages D´Oultremer

Club Bibliófilo Versol – Madrid, 2012

Publisher: Club Bibliófilo Versol – Madrid, 2012

Limited Edition: 400 copies

Binding: Red leather with gold stamping

Commentary: 1 volume by Alfonso García Leal
Language: Spanish

1 volume: Exact reproduction of the original document (extent, color and size) Reproduction of the entire original document as detailed as possible (scope, format, colors). The binding may not correspond to the original or current document binding.

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The Crusades: Les Passages d'Outremer

The Crusades: Les Passages d'Outremer

The Crusades: Les Passages d'Outremer

Codicology

The Crusades: Les Passages d'Outremer

The Siege of Antioch

The Crusades: Les Passages d'Outremer

The Council of Claremont

#1 Les Passages D´Oultremer

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