On Saturday 9th January David Cockman will speak at our New Year meeting on the subject of the Luttrell Psalter, one of the great surviving treasures of the Middle Ages. It was commissioned by Sir Geoffrey Luttrell of Irnham in Lincolnshire during the mid-14th century. What distinguishes the Psalter from many others of the same period is the vast number and richness of the images which decorate the Latin text. These provide a graphic insight into medieval peasant life, which can be found virtually nowhere else.
Our speaker will explore the Luttrell psalter as a non-medieval specialist. He is fascinated by unique light it sheds on everyday life on the 14th century. This exploration is much easier now because of the availability of a digital copy of the psalter. He has also spent some time at Irnham to see just how much of Sir Geoffrey Luttrell’s world as described in the psalter can still be identified and this will also form part of the talk.
David is a member of Holmfirth Local History Group and serves on the committee of Huddersfield Archaeology Society. His moment of fame came when he appeared on one of Michael Portillo’s railway programmes talking about the great Holmfirth flood of 1852. For this contribution he was rewarded with a free cup of BBC tea, which he says makes the Medieval Section’s offer of a book token in lieu of fee seem like a win on the Euro Lottery!
The lecture will be at 2-3pm in our new venue at Swarthmore Education Centre at the bottom of Clarendon Road in Leeds. It promises to be a visual treat and just the thing to revive the jaded senses after the over-indulgence of the festive season.
Medieval Section of the Yorkshire Archaeological and Historical Society 