![]() ![]() The events of 1348 had special resonance for these rich individuals, who, unlike the poor, were not guaranteed entrance to heaven. Since the first arrival of the Black Death in England in 1348, people were focused on their own mortality, and there was an increasing awareness of the need for penance in individuals in all walks of life. It would have found an audience that could share in his need for penance, and understand its message. Although Henry’s primary purpose for writing the Livre was penance for his sins and spiritual healing, he must have been aware of the potential readership his book might enjoy. As a result, the book consists of a series of moral self-analyses in a confessional style, meditations on the life of Christ and the Virgin Mary, and prayers, all of which reveal his insightful sensibility and devotional feelings. He then seems to have continued to write daily during the following months. Henry set to work on the Livre during the Lenten weeks of 1354 leading up to Good Friday and Easter, 2 a liturgical period that arouses penitential feelings and hope of salvation. The impetus for the work came from his friends, possibly including his confessor, who urged him to compose a devotional book. Henry, in his forties, was probably reflecting on his own actions as a youth and turning his mind to more religious matters. Le livre de seyntz medicines (hereafter Livre) is essentially an allegorical and autobiographical account of Henry’s sins and penance. In fact, during his lifetime he composed two treatises: the first, a work on the laws of war the second, a devotional book entitled Le livre de seyntz medicines ( The book of holy medicines). ![]() As a member of the social elite, Henry would have enjoyed a high standard of education. ![]() A second cousin of Edward III, and duke of Lancaster from 1351, he served the king as military commander, diplomat, and political adviser. Henry of Grosmont ( c.1310–61) was one of the most outstanding English aristocrats of the mid-fourteenth century. ![]()
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