Talbot Shrewsbury Book

The Talbot Shrewsbury Book (London, British Library Royal 15 E vi) is a very large richly-illuminated manuscript made in Rouen (Normandy) in 1444/5. It was presented by John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury (d. 1453) to the French princess, Margaret of Anjou (b. 1430, d. 1482), in honour of her betrothal to King Henry VI (r. 1422-1461). It contains a unique collection of fifteen texts in French, including chansons de geste, chivalric romances, treatises on warfare and chivalry, and finally the Statues of the Order of the Garter. The work is an excellent example of book production in Rouen in the mid-fifteenth century and provides a rare insight into the political views of the English military leader and close confidant of the crown, John Talbot.

Following the two-page presentation miniature and dedication, tales of heroes and heroines of the past, both real and imaginary, in the form of chansons de geste (troubadour’s songs) and chivalric romances fill two-thirds of the volume. The final third contains more didactic material: chronicles, instructional manuals and statutes. Each text, preceded by a large image, begins on a new folio in a separate gathering. All were bound together in a single volume, with a list of contents on the verso of the first folio.

Two of the greatest heroes of the past, Alexander the Great and Charlemagne are the subject of the first six texts in the collection:

The Roman d'Alexandre en prose (ff. 5-24v) is a thirteenth-century French version of the Historia de Preliis (a Latin translation of the original Greek legend of Alexander, falsely attributed to Callisthenes). Alexander the Great is portrayed as the ultimate hero who conquers the known world, battles flying dragons, meets Amazonian women and horned men, and is lowered into the sea in a cask. Included here are tales of his childhood and legendary education by Aristotle, the murder of his mother, Olympias, and details of his successors. Eighty-one colourful miniatures illustrate Alexander's adventures.

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