Television that offers Illumination on the Kings of the Dark Ages

Illuminations: The Private Lives of Medieval Kings is a new series about to start on BBC4 tonight at 21:00 and will continue into next week. The series concentrates on the British Library's Royal Manuscripts Illumination collection and delves into the great illuminations through the Medieval period to discover their meaning, symbolism and creation.

Episode One; Ruling by the Book:

Dr Janina Ramirez unlocks the secrets of illuminated manuscripts that were custom-made for kings and explores the medieval world they reveal. She begins her journey with the first Anglo-Saxon rulers to create a united England, encountering books in the British Library's Royal manuscripts collection which are over a thousand years old and a royal family tree which is five metres long.

Janina finds out about a king who had a reputation for chasing nuns and reads a book created as a wedding gift for a ten-year-old prince. She roams from Westminster Abbey to other ancient English spiritual sites such as Winchester, St Albans and Malmesbury, and sees for herself how animal skins can be transformed into the finest vellum.

The British Library's exhibition; Royal Manuscripts. The Genius of Illumination, began in November 2011 and will continue until 13th March 2012.

Dozens of medieval manuscripts from the Royal and other British Library collections will be featured in a television series to air on BBC Four, beginning next week. Presented by art historian Dr Janina Ramirez, Illuminations: The Private Lives of Medieval Kings is a three-part series examining in detail what these manuscript treasures can reveal about the hidden lives of England's monarchs.

The series was produced as part of The British Library's ongoing collaboration with the BBC, and in conjunction with our exhibition of manuscripts from the Royal collection. Many of the manuscripts featured have never before appeared on film (a few of our curatorial team will be making their television debuts as well).

Dr Scot McKendrick, Head of History and Classics at the British Library, served as a series consultant on the programmes. He says, 'There is no doubt that this collection held by the British Library provides us all with unique opportunities to explore in-depth the lives of our kings from the medieval period. The beauty and ingenuity of these manuscripts, that have stood the test of time, also tells us a great deal about a relatively forgotten period of our history. We are delighted to be telling this fascinating story through the British Library's exhibition and through this mesmerising series with BBC Four.'

The first episode, called Ruling by the Book, will air on BBC Four on Monday 9 January at 21:00, and will also be available after the broadcast on BBC iPlayer.

Further information is available from the British Library's press release, and there is also a review of the programme in the Daily Mail. This review ends with a reference to the long-running debate over whether or not gloves should be worn by curators handling illuminated manuscripts, a topic previously discussed in our blog.

The Library, in keeping with the latest cultural trend to attempt to reach a wider audience, has provided a wealth of information about the exhibition, linking facebook, apps, blogs and online video's to engage with the prospective visitor or interested viewer. The 'Royal App' is actually very interesting and for £2.99 you can access;

• 58 manuscripts from the exhibition, each with interpretive text
• 500 high-resolution manuscript images of some of the best surviving examples of medieval painting in England, including many pages not on display in the exhibition
• 6 expert curator videos exploring the history and details of the manuscripts
• Functionality to star your favourite items and view them together in one place

Selected manuscripts include colourful histories and genealogies, Bibles and Psalters, scientific works and accounts of coronations.

Highlights include:

• Book of Hours made for Margaret Beauchamp (great-grandmother of Henry VIII)
• Henry VIII’s Psalter, commissioned and annotated by the king himself
• Maps of an itinerary from London to Apulia and to the Holy Land
• Shrewsbury book, presented to Margaret of Anjou on her marriage to Henry VI in 1445

Please note, a WiFi connection is required to download the app and to view the videos.

There is also the usual exhibition catalogue to provide substantial academic support. The British Library's website says;

Illuminated manuscripts collected by the kings and queens of England from the 9th to the 16th century form the heart of a unique and visually stunning collection held by the British Library. A key figure in the formation of the collection is King Edward IV (1461 – 1483), who commissioned luxury manuscripts decorated with his arms. Subsequent monarchs added to this library, which was given to the nation by George II in 1757.Over 150 examples from this exceptional collection are presented in this catalogue, which accompanies a major British Library exhibition of the same name. These manuscripts contain paintings produced by some of the finest artists of the Middle Ages and together provide the most vivid surviving source for understanding royal identity, moral and religious beliefs, learning, faith and international politics.The catalogue features a full-page entry of around 750 words on each manuscript included, as well as three illustrated essays which explore the wider history and context of this unique collection. It is lavishly illustrated, with a beautiful reproduction of an image from each manuscript presented alongside the text for every entry.

http://britishlibrary.typepad.co.uk/digitisedmanuscripts/royal/

http://www.bl.uk/whatson/exhibitions/royalman/about/index.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0192nrg