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1400Medieval Caesarean
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1400Illegal English Bible
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1400Chaucer, Canterbury Tales
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1407Monsters in hell
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1407Ptolemy's World Map
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1410Medieval woman poet
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1415Old Hall manuscript
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1423Bedford Hours
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1425Medicinal plants
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1430Chess playing
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1435Medical Treatise by John Aderne
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1440Recipe for 'custarde'
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1455Gutenberg Bible
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1455The Temptation of Eve
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1457Pregnancy
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1469The Legend of King Arthur
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1470Caxton's Chaucer
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1477Valentine's day love letter
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1486Medieval zodiac chart
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1487Heretics burned at the stake
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1490Royal feast
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1490Courtly love
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1492Columbus in America
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Intro
The Old Hall manuscript is the most important source for our knowledge of early musical harmony in England. It is made up of one of the oldest surviving collections of English part music (music written in parts for separate players or singers). Most of its music survives nowhere else. It was compiled by a single scribe between about 1415 and 1421. The writing is complex and precise, which suggests that the writer and the intended users of the book were sophisticated and knowledgeable, as were the composers.
The manuscript mentions numerous English composers, including one 'Roy Henry', who is most likely to have been Henry V. Two of the pieces of music may be associated with the Battle of Agincourt (1415) and another is one of the most celebrated works by John Dunstable (died 1453) whose music is considered to typical of the spirit of the Renaissance in England.
Shelfmark: Add. MS 57950
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