For more information about the Bedford Hours, please see our post for January 2016; for more on medieval calendars in general, our original calendar post is an excellent guide.

Calendar page for April from the Bedford Hours, France (Paris), c. 1410-1430, Add MS 18850, f. 4r

Spring is well underway in the Bedford Hours calendar pages for April.

Detail of miniatures of a man gathering leaves and the zodiac sign Taurus, from the calendar page for April, Add MS 18850, f. 4r

At the bottom of the first folio is the standard (for this manuscript) two-part miniature.  On the left, a man is carrying a leafy young tree past a flowing river, having presumably just trimmed the branches from the stump before him.  He is well dressed for a labourer, wearing a fur-lined surcoat and carrying a long dagger on his belt.  To his right is a bull for the zodiac sign Taurus, enjoying a lie-down in the sun.

Detail of a marginal roundel of Venus, from the calendar page for April, Add MS 18850, f. 4r

The marginal roundel at the right, however, displays the true central figure for the month of April – Venus, the goddess of love.   The accompanying verses tell us that April was dedicated to Venus by the pagans, because Venus (the planet) is a ‘hot and moist and drenched planet’, much like the month of April. 

Calendar page for April, Add MS 18850, f. 4v

The emphasis on Venus and April continues on the following folio.  Alongside the conclusion of April’s saints’ days are two roundels relating to the goddess.  On the middle left is a scene of the abduction of Proserpina (Persephone) in a cart drawn by two horses.  According to mythology this abduction was ultimately instigated by Venus, who envied the young girl’s beauty and ordered her son, Eros, to loose his arrows so that all would be smitten with love for her, leading ultimately to Proserpina being carried down into the depths of Hades.

Detail of marginal roundels of the abduction of Proserpina and a flower festival, from the calendar page for April, Add MS 18850, f. 4v

The bottom roundel shows a more genial scene, illustrating, as the rubrics tell us, ‘how in April the pagans had a festival for the goddess of flowers.’

-  Sarah J Biggs