Who owned illuminated manuscripts?
Originally, illuminated manuscripts were commissioned and owned by religious or royal individuals who attached great importance to the written and recorded word and the Christian doctrine. With the rise of the universities and the growing desire of rich noblemen to own books, more and more manuscripts were produced. Noble families now had access to the bible, to the teachings of Christ and the saints and to prayer and psalm books. The expensive materials and skills involved in the production of books also displayed the owner’s wealth, status, learning and piety. On a more modest scale, charters, family trees and estate maps were often decorated and this continued into Victorian times. These documents were owned by companies, individual families or landowners.
