A
psalter is a volume containing the Book of Psalms and which often contains other devotional material. Various schemes for the arrangement of the Psalms are described in
Latin PsaltersThe Latin Psalters are the translations of the Book of Psalms into the Latin language. They are the premier liturgical resource used in the Liturgy of the Hours of the Latin Rites of the Roman Catholic Church...
.
In the early
Middle AgesThe Middle Ages of European history is a period of European history covering roughly a millennium in the 5th century through 16th centuries. More specific starting and ending points are sometimes adopted by scholars to suit their respective specializations or current focus...
psalters were amongst the most popular types of
illuminated manuscriptAn illuminated manuscript is a manuscript in which the text is supplemented by the addition of decoration, such as decorated initials, borders and miniature illustrations...
s, rivaled only by the
Gospel BookThe Gospel Book, or Book of the Gospels is a codex or bound volume containing one or more of the four Gospels of the Christian New Testament...
s, from which they gradually took over as the type of manuscript chosen for lavish illumination. Medieval psalters often included a calendar, a litany of saints,
canticleA canticle is a hymn taken from the Bible. The term is often expanded to include ancient non-biblical hymns such as the Te Deum and certain psalms used liturgically.-Roman Catholic Church:From the Old Testament, the Roman Breviary takes seven canticles for use at Lauds, as follows:*...
s from the
OldIn Christianity, the Old Testament is the collection of books that form the first of the two-part Christian Biblical canon. These works correspond to the Hebrew Bible , with some variations and additions. In the Eastern Orthodox Church the comparable texts are known as the Septuagint, from the...
and
New TestamentThe New Testament is the name given to the second major division of the Christian Bible, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament, both terms being associated with Supersessionism...
s, as well as other devotional texts. Many psalters were lavishly illuminated with full-page miniatures as well as decorated initials.
In British North America, the first book printed was the
Bay Psalm BookThe Bay Psalm Book was the first book, that is still in existence, printed in British North America.The book is a Psalter, first printed in 1640 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The Psalms in it are metrical translations into English...
in 1640 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The Psalms in it are metrical translations into English.
The psalter is also a part of either the
HorologionThe 'Horologion' , or Book of Hours, provides the fixed portions of the Daily Cycle of services as used by the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic churches....
or the
breviaryA breviary is a liturgical book of the Latin liturgical rites of the Catholic Church containing the public or canonical prayers, hymns, the Psalms, readings, and notations for everyday use, especially by, bishops, priests, and deacons in the Divine Office...
, used to say the
Liturgy of the HoursThe Liturgy of the Hours or Divine Office is the official set of daily prayers prescribed by the Catholic Church to be recited at the canonical hours by the clergy, religious orders, and laity. The Liturgy of the Hours consists primarily of psalms supplemented by hymns and readings. Together with...
in the Eastern and Western Christian worlds respectively.
Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Catholic
In Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Catholic usage the psalter is divided into 20
kathismaA Kathisma , literally, "seat", is a division of the Psalter, used by Eastern Orthodox Christians and Eastern Catholics who follow the Byzantine Rite...
ta, for reading at
VespersVespers is the evening prayer service in the Western Catholic, Eastern Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, and Lutheran liturgies of the canonical hours. The word comes from the Greek εσπερινός and the Latin vesper, meaning "evening." The term is also in limited use in some Protestant...
and
MatinsMatins is the early morning or night prayer service in the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran and Eastern Orthodox liturgies of the canonical hours. The term is also used in some Protestant denominations to describe morning services.The name "Matins" originally referred to the morning office also...
.
Kathisma means sitting, since the people normally sit during the reading of the psalms. Each kathisma is divided into three
stasesThe term stasis may refer to* A state of stability, in which all forces are equal and opposing, therefore they cancel out each other....
, from
stasis, to stand, because each stasis ends with
Glory to the Father…A doxology is a short hymn of praises to God in various Christian worship services, often added to the end of canticles, psalms, and hymns...
, at which everyone stands. The reading of the kathismata are so arranged that the entire psalter is read through in the course of a week (during
Great LentGreat Lent, or the Great Fast, is the most important fasting season in the church year in Eastern Christianity, which prepares Christians for the greatest feast of the church year, Pascha...
it is read through twice in a week). During
Bright WeekBright Week or Renewal Week is the name used by the Eastern Orthodox Church and Eastern Catholic Churches of the Byzantine Rite for the period of seven days beginning on Pascha and continuing up to the following Sunday, which is known as Thomas Sunday...
(Easter Week) there is no reading from the psalter. Orthodox psalters usually also contain the
Biblical canticlesA canticle is a hymn taken from the Bible. The term is often expanded to include ancient non-biblical hymns such as the Te Deum and certain psalms used liturgically.-Roman Catholic Church:From the Old Testament, the Roman Breviary takes seven canticles for use at Lauds, as follows:*...
, which are read at the
canonA canon is a structured hymn used in a number of Eastern Orthodox services. It consists of nine odes, sometimes called canticles or songs depending on the translation, based on the Biblical canticles. Most of these are found in the Old Testament, but the final ode is taken from the Magnificat and...
of Matins during Great Lent. Some Orthodox psalters also contain special
prayers for the departedWherever there is a belief in the continued existence of man's personality through and after death, religion naturally concerns itself with the relations between the living and the dead. And where the idea of a future judgment or of Purgatory obtains, prayers are often offered on behalf of the dead...
, which are used during the
wakeA wake is the region of recirculating flow immediately behind a moving solid body, caused by the flow of surrounding fluid around the body.-Fluid dynamics:...
, when the psalms are read over the deceased (see
Christian burialA Christian burial is the burial of a deceased person with specifically Christian ecclesiastical rites; typically, in consecrated ground.-Early historical evidence:...
).
Significant psalters
Illuminated manuscripts
- Cathach of St. Columba
The Cathach of St. Columba is an early seventh century Irish Psalter. It is traditionally associated with St. Columba , and was identified as the copy made by him of a book loaned to him by St. Finnian, and which led to the Battle of Cúl Dreimhne in 561. Paleographic evidence, however, dates,...
, early 7th century
- Psalterium Sinaiticum
The Psalterium Sinaiticum is a 209-folio Glagolitic Old Church Slavonic canon manuscript, the earliest Slavic psalter, dated to the 11th century...
, 11th century
- Canterbury Psalter, 1147CE
- Salaberga Psalter
- Vespasian Psalter
The Vespasian Psalter is an Anglo-Saxon illuminated Psalter produced in the second or third quarter of the 8th century. It contains an interlinear gloss in Old English which is the oldest extant English translation of any portion of the Bible. It was produced in southern England, perhaps in St...
, 2nd quarter of the 8th century
- Irish Bog Psalter
An early medieval Christian psalter was discovered in a bog in July 2006, in the townland of Faddan More in north County Tipperary, Ireland. It is estimated to have been in the bog for between 1,000 and 1,200 years, but the book itself has yet to be formally identified, named or dated by Irish...
- Psalter of Lothaire
- Montpellier Psalter
The Montpellier Psalter is one of the oldest Psalter from the Carolingian era and was made in the 8th century in the then-Bavarian Mondsee Abbey during the reign of the Agilolfings and was supposedly originally dedicated to the Bavarian...
- Chludov Psalter
Chludov Psalter is an illuminated marginal Psalter made in the middle of the 9th Century. It is a unique monument of Byzantine art at the time of the Iconoclasm, one of only three illuminated Byzantine Psalters to survive from the 9th century.According to one tradition, the miniatures are supposed...
, 3rd quarter of the 9th century
- Stuttgart Psalter
- Utrecht Psalter
The Utrecht Psalter is a ninth century illuminated psalter which is a key masterpiece of Carolingian art; it is probably the most valuable manuscript in the Netherlands. It is famous for its 166 lively pen illustrations, with one accompanying each psalm and the other texts in the manuscript...
, 9th century
- Southampton Psalter
The Southampton Psalter is an illuminated manuscript from Ireland. It is asserted by some to be from ninth-century in date, while other scholars have argued for a tenth- or even early eleventh-century dating...
- Gertrude Psalter
The Gertrude Psalter is a medieval illuminated manuscript Psalter preserved in the municipal museum of Cividale, Italy . The psalter is an example of the illuminated manuscripts associated with the Ottonian Renaissance.It was originally ca...
, late 10th century with mid-11th century illuminations
- Stavelot Psalter
- Bosworth Psalter
- Aethelstan Psalter
- Harley Psalter
The Harley Psalter is an illuminated manuscript of the second and third decades of the eleventh century, with some later additions. It is a Latin psalter on vellum, measures 380 x 310 mm and was probably produced at Christ Church, Canterbury...
- Ramsey Psalter
The Ramsey Psalter is an illuminated manuscript of the tenth century. Its script and decoration suggest that it was made at Winchester, but certain liturgical features have suggested that it was intended for use at the Benedictine monastery of Ramsey, or for the personal use of Ramsey's founder St...
- Codex Vossanius
- Paris Psalter
The Paris Psalter is a Byzantine illuminated manuscript containing 449 folios and 14 full-page miniatures "in a grand, almost classical style", as the Encyclopaedia Britannica put it....
, 10th century
- Heidelberg Psalter
- Vatopedi Psalter
- St. Albans Psalter
The St Albans Psalter, also known as the Albani Psalter or the Psalter of Christina of Markyate, is an English illuminated manuscript, one of several Psalters known to have been created at or for St Albans Abbey in the 12th century...
- Theodore Psalter, 1066, at the British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. It is located in London and is one of the world's largest research libraries, holding over 150 million items in all known languages and formats; books, journals, newspapers, magazines, sound and music recordings, patents,...
- Eadui Psalter
- Tiberias Psalter
- Vitellius Psalter
- Winchester Psalter
The Winchester Psalter is an English 12th-century illuminated manuscript psalter , also sometimes known as the Psalter of Henry of Blois, and formerly known as the St Swithun's Psalter...
- Melisende Psalter
The Melisende Psalter is an illuminated manuscript commissioned around 1135 in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem, probably by King Fulk for his wife Queen Melisende...
, circa 1135
- Shaftesbury Psalter
- Westminster Psalter
- Camaldoli Psalter
- Gough Psalter
- London Psalter
- Psalter of Lambert de Bègue
- Grandisson Psalter
- Huth Psalter
- Oscott Psalter
- Alphonso Psalter
- Rutland Psalter
- Felbrigge Psalter
The Felbrigge Psalter is an illuminated manuscript Psalter from mid-13th century England that has an embroidered bookbinding which probably dates to the early 14th century. It is the oldest surviving book from England to have an embroidered binding...
- Psalter of Robert de Lindesey
- Ramsey Psalter
The Ramsey Psalter is an illuminated manuscript of the tenth century. Its script and decoration suggest that it was made at Winchester, but certain liturgical features have suggested that it was intended for use at the Benedictine monastery of Ramsey, or for the personal use of Ramsey's founder St...
- Psalter of St. Louis
The Psalter of Saint Louis is a psalter created for Louis IX sometime between the death of his mother Blanche in 1253 and his death in 1270. The text consists of 78 miniatures of Old Testament scenes starting at the story of Cain and Abel and ending with the coronation of Saul, a calendar of...
- Luttrell Psalter
Luttrell Psalter is an illuminated manuscript written and illustrated circa 1325 – 1335, by anonymous scribes and artists...
- Gorleston Psalter
- Macclesfield Psalter
The Macclesfield Psalter is a lavishly illuminated manuscript from the English region of East Anglia, written in Latin and produced around 1330...
- De Lisle Psalter
- Queen Mary Psalter
- St. Omer Psalter
- Psalter of Henry VIII
The Psalter of Henry VIII is a 16th century illuminated psalter that belonged to Henry VIII of England. The king commissioned the book in the early 1540s from the French illuminator Jean Mallard, who had at one time worked for Francis I...
- Tomich Psalter
- Psalter of Bonne de Luxembourg
- Tickhill Psalter
The Tickhill Psalter is an 14th century illuminated manuscript. It is beautifully illuminated with scenes from the life of King David. Created in the early 1300s, the manuscript was originally part of the library of the Worksop Priory in north Nottinghamshire. It is now kept in the New York Public...
- Ormesby Psalter
- Psalter of Jean, Duc de Berry
- Vienna Bohun Psalter
- Kiev Psalter of 1397
The Kiev Psalter of 1397, or Spiridon Psalter, is one of the most famous East Slavic illuminated manuscripts, containing over three hundred miniatures...
- Burnet Psalter
- Sofia Psalter
The Sofia Psalter , also known as Ivan Alexander's Psalter or the Kuklen Psalter, is a 14th-century Bulgarian illuminated psalter...
- St. John's Bible- Psalms, 2007
Printed psalters
- Psalterium Romanum, 1457 [Mainz], Johann Fust
Johann Fust , was an early German printer.- Family background :Fust belonged to a rich and respectable burgher family of Mainz, traceable back to 1423; members of the family held many civil and religious offices....
and Peter SchöfferPeter Schöffer or Petrus Schoeffer was an early German printer, who studied in Paris and worked as a manuscript copyist in 1451 before apprenticing with Johannes Gutenberg and joining Johann Fust, a goldsmith, lawyer, and money lender.Working for Fust, Schöffer was the principal workman of...
. The first printed psalter.
- Psalterium Benedictinum, 1459 [Mainz], Johann Fust
Johann Fust , was an early German printer.- Family background :Fust belonged to a rich and respectable burgher family of Mainz, traceable back to 1423; members of the family held many civil and religious offices....
and Peter SchöfferPeter Schöffer or Petrus Schoeffer was an early German printer, who studied in Paris and worked as a manuscript copyist in 1451 before apprenticing with Johannes Gutenberg and joining Johann Fust, a goldsmith, lawyer, and money lender.Working for Fust, Schöffer was the principal workman of...
. The second printed psalter.
- Geneva Psalter, 1562
- Davids' Psalter
Davids' Psalter by Jan Kochanowski, the most prominent Polish poet of the Renaissance, is one of the greatest pieces of Polish literature and of the Polish language...
, 1579
- Scottish Psalter
Decisions concerning the conduct of public worship in the Church of Scotland are entirely at the discretion of the parish minister. As a result, a wide variety of musical resources are used...
,1635 and 1650
- Bay Psalm Book
The Bay Psalm Book was the first book, that is still in existence, printed in British North America.The book is a Psalter, first printed in 1640 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The Psalms in it are metrical translations into English...
, 1640
- Grail, The Psalms, 1963, 1993
- ICEL Psalter
The ICEL Psalter is a 20th century translation of the Book of Psalms, translated by the International Commission on English in the Liturgy, usually known as ICEL. The Psalter was Published by Liturgical Training Publications in 1995 with the imprimatur of William Cardinal Keeler...
, 1995
- New England Psalter
The New England Psalter was an early reading textbook for children which was first published in the late 17th century. It was preceded by the hornbook and the primer as early reading texts and by a variety of psalters which were used in religious services...