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medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture Hello All, Allow me to re-introduce myself. My name is June Mecham. I am a Ph.D. Candidate at the University of Kansas, working on a dissertation on female monastic life at the convent of Wienhausen in Lower Saxony. I am returning to the list after spending a year in Germany researching. I am struggling to decipher several small liturgical manuscripts from this convent, almost certainly produced by the nuns themselves and now in a regretably fragmentary state. My basic question (forgive my ignorance) is whether or how one can differentiate between a Breviary and a book of hours based on fragmentary remains, such as excerpts from litanies, prayers, or hymns from say, the hours of the cross. Since these components seem to appear in both types of devotional works, are there any clues that might help make a definitive differentiation? Or should I simply assume that because this is a convent, breviaries and not books of hours would be standard? I should mention that the manuscripts appear to date primarily from the second half of the fifteenth century. I might also mention that the fragments that I am tentatively regarding as breviaries do not always appear to indicate what they contain. There are often few rubrics indicating hymn, antiphonal, response, etc... I have combed through Hughes' works on medieval liturgy and a few other secondary sources, but I would welcome any thoughts or advice anyone might be willing to offer. Thanks in advance, Sincerely, June Mecham ********************************************************************** To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME to: [log in to unmask] To send a message to the list, address it to: [log in to unmask] To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion to: [log in to unmask] In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to: [log in to unmask] For further information, visit our web site: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html