Monarchy and Consent: The Coronation Book of Charles V of France, British Library, MS Cotton Tiberius B. VIII (review)

Reviews 219 the Romance world in the early Middle Ages, and the period when it ceased to be so. This uncertainty makes it hard to assess the extent of the likely use of the vernacular in preaching and instruction of the laity, so the researcher must turn to other kinds of evidence to help. Other fascinating examples show that one cannot assume that a written text had ultimate authority in legal or regnal controversies, even though written texts were produced, along with other evidence, to support a case. Often non-written acts, such as the use of compurgation or the carrying out of a non-verbalrite,had greater force in medieval communities. To sum up: this book is both useful and informative and will help break down cultural stereotypes of what 'literacy' and 'communication' mean to us and what they meant in medieval societies. The only drawbacks this reviewer noticed were a rather high number of typographical errors and, sometimes, an unidiomatic use of English. Margaret Clunies Ross Department of English University of Sydney O'Meara, Carra Ferguson, Monarchy and Consent: The Coronation Book of Charles V of France, British Library, MS Cotton Tiberius B. VIII (Studies in Medieval and Early Renaissance Art History 27), London/Turnhout, Harvey Miller, 2001; cloth; pp. 372; 107 b/w illustrations, 39 colour plates; RRP E U R 105.00; ISBN 1872501109. The Coronation Book of Charles Fis a wonderful manuscript now in the British Library, containing one of the fullest visual records of the sacrerituals.It is a manuscript notable for itsrichlydetailed illuminations that depict in great detail the coronations ofboth Charles V and his wife Jeanne de Bourbon. These lively illustrations are notable for their attention to capturing likenesses ofthe principal protagonists and for the care with which the different elements ofthe coronation are represented. There are 38 surviving miniatures, 28 for the coronation of Charles and nine for Queen Jeanne, originally there were 44. The work can, unusually, be precisely dated. A colophon to the text records that Charles V ordered the work *to be compiled, corrected, transcribed and illuminated in 1365'. Carra O'Meara's study is the first m o d e m examination focused on the manuscript since its publication in facsimile in 1899 by E.S. Dewick. The work has been discussed by those interested in the development of kingship and the 220 Reviews coronation ritual and, most notably, by Claire Richter Sherman in her studies on the representations of Charles V and the iconography of queenship. O'Meara came to examine the work while doing research into the realism of the Parement Master, and one of her major contributions in this text is the locating of the artist within the milieu of the Valois Court and the work of the favoured artists ofboth Jean le Bon and Charles V. Her knowledge of their work and her careful reading of the Coronation Book lead her to draw connections between the Master of the Coronation Book with such artists as the Parement Master and Girard d'Orleans and to artists such as the painter of the Sainte-Chapelle panel. O'Meara takes the unusual step of locating her discussions concerning the identification of the artist, his artistic milieu and the structure of the book in the last three chapters. She also includes a comprehensive catalogue of the texts and images in the manuscript, while the book also contains complete colour reproductions of all the miniatures. In thefirstpart of her study, O'Meara examines the uncertainties of succession in the period preceding the actual coronation, with the crisis following the accession of Philip VI Valois when the priniciple of primogeniture was no longer universally accepted. There were otherrivalsto the throne, including the kings of England and Navarre. In addition, during the lengthy imprisonment of Jean le Bon by the English, the role of Charles as dauphin was also challenged, and at the same time, the institution ofthe monarchy itselfwas being challenged by the emergence of citizens' advocates and elective assemblies. While not an explanation, these insecurities make comprehensible some of the anxieties that might have led to the production of such a fulsome account of the coronation. I t...