English: This psalter was copied in England (probably London) in the first quarter of the fifteenth century. It contains eight large decorated initials each one marking a liturgical division of the psalter. The Beatus initial shown here (Psalm 1) is illuminated with gold. The border contains interlinked stems of trumpet-shaped flowers, stamens and acanthus leaves, with two prancing dragons at the lower edge.
Psalters contained the 150 psalms from the Old Testament. They could also include some other standard texts such as a liturgical calendar, a litany, and the canticles (Old Testament songs). The psalter was the most popular type of illuminated book from the eleventh to the fourteenth century. Thereafter the Book of Hours became the most important channel for illuminations. Because psalms played a central role in the performance of the medieval liturgy, psalters were kept at altars and were owned by individual monks and clergy. Psalms were also read extensively for private devotion by both monks and secular clerics. This practice spread to the laity so that, from at least the twelfth century, richly decorated psalters became a form of personal prayer book.