Reply To: Public vs. Private Devotion

[Laura Barber]

The moralized bibles, such as Bible moralisée and the Saint Louis Bible, were essentially illustrated bibles that gained popularity during the Gothic period, but were not accessible to most due to the high cost required to make them. Typically, royal family members were the only ones who could afford to buy them.
Numerous books also began being published during this time period. For the common folk, many of whom were illiterate, reading these books wouldn’t have been possible. This provides yet another means with which the upper class was able to attain additional religious objects for themselves alone.
Perhaps it was the increasing ornateness and impersonal nature of the churches of the time that drove wealthy nobles to seek out additional devotional objects and personal spaces for praying/studying the bible. It became a matter of status and exclusivity for those who could afford those rare and difficult to attain religious objects.