A Discourse on the Poor: The Hours of Jeanne d'Evreux

"A Discourse on the Poor: The Hours of Jeanne d'Evreux." This paper takes as its object of study three scenes from the life of Louis IX in the Hours of Jeanne d'Evreux (New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Cloisters Collection), ca. 1324. The miniatures, inspired by contemporary Lives of Louis, show the saint aiding the poor. Surrounding each of the scenes is a series of marginal figures that form a kind of pictorial "gloss" on the central pictures. It is argued that this original juxtaposition of miniature and marginalia constitutes a discourse on the problems of poor relief, revealing some of the ambivalence with which the poor were regarded in the fourteenth century. The margins function repeatedly as a site of exclusion from the charitable activities occurring within the pictorial frame. Thus, the book depicts not only the beneficiaries of Louis's charity, but also (in theory) those unworthy of the king's compassion. In this light, the pictures function not merely as an exhortation for Queen Jeanne to give alms to the poor, but also as a warning to give discriminately, recognizing that not all people were deserving of charity.