We have no way of telling whether or not this is an actual city,
but it is possible that it is meant to be Stamford, a walled city
in Lincolnshire 12 miles south of Irnham, where Sir Geoffrey had
his estates. In the Middle Ages Stamford was a prosperous wool town
and an important religious centre, with four monasteries and
priories, four friaries and fourteen parish churches. The city is
depicted in considerable detail, with a gothic church with a
weather-vane, a square with a market cross, and many small houses
and taverns. The houses, mostly thatched and timber-framed, are
very convincingly painted, with considerable variation in size,
colour and design, giving the impression of close observation on
the part of the artist.
Constantinus Nobilis
© The British Library Board 1998
Written above the image of the city are the words 'Constantinus
Nobilis'. It has been suggested that the writer of these words -
who was clearly not the calligrapher responsible for the rest of
the page - took the city to be Constantinople. Whether the artist
intended it to represent Constantinople is doubtful: the words in
fact mean 'Constantine the Noble'. These words are another of the
Psalter's many puzzles.
Fortifications
The city has a strongly fortified outer wall with round towers,
'crenellated' battlements to give protection in time of siege, and
cross-shaped arrow-loops through which archers could shoot arrows
with a minimum risk of being hit by attackers. Note that there are
two gatehouses with portcullises. The one on the left is raised to
permit a procession to pass through.
Music and Dance
© The British Library Board 1998
The people streaming through the gates, cheered on by spectators
on the battlements, are dressed in matching clothes and are dancing
to the accompaniment of musicians. Projecting through the arch are
two long horns, from which hang the arms of the Luttrell and Sutton
families. In front of the dancers are a man playing a shawm (a reed
instrument of the oboe family) and another playing a pipe and a
small drum called a tabor. Musicians, singers and dancers appear
many times in the Psalter, possibly in reference to the words of
the final Psalm:
Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him
with the psaltery and harp.
Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed
instruments and organs.
Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding
cymbals.
Psalm 150:3-5
