Book Commissions in the Noble Women’s Chapter of Sainte-Waudru’s Collegiate, Mons (Hainaut)

The Collegiate of Sainte-Waudru in Mons, which was founded in the seventh century and evolved into a chapter of Secular Canonesses by the middle of the twelfth century, played a significant role in the book production in late medieval Hainaut. Two capitular acts, from 1265 and 1545, allocated portions of the Chapter’s prebendal income, derived from the Canonesses (all of noble origin and not bound by vows of poverty or required to relinquish their property), to cover liturgical expenses, including the purchase and repair of books and vestments. Between 1306 and 1623, records from seventy different years document payments for the production and the maintenance of liturgical books, revealing that approximately eighty craftsmen — secular and clerical — including scribes, illuminators, and bookbinders, were employed, with Tournai, Paris, and Antwerp as the main production centres. By examining the Latin 1269 lectionary (London, British Library, MS Egerton 2569), written by the English scribe John of Salisbury and commissioned by Dean Hermine de Héronfontaine (d. c. 1294), along with the unique French poem in it that names three Canonesses, this article highlights the Canonesses’ direct and multi-layered involvement in the manuscript’s creation process.