Luttrell, Sir Geoffrey – Commissioned the best known Psalter

Luttrell, Sir Geoffrey (1276-1345)

SIR Geoffrey Luttrell III was a great great grandson of Sir Geoffrey de Luterel, a favourite of King John. His family seat was Irnham Hall at Irnham  and he was referred to as the 2nd Lord of Irnham.

His parents were Robert and Joan. He married Agnes Sutton, daughter of Sir Richard Sutton, Knight, and Isabella Patrick, in about 1309.

He is best known for commissioning the Luttrell Psalter – a book of psalms – the illustrations to which include a representation of him, his wife and his daughter-in-law. Only he owned this valuable book as there was only one copy.

Various scholars have debated the creation of the manuscript to be within the period of 1320 and 1345. The manuscript was initially a private creation which came to public notice in 1794, when miniature of Sir Geoffrey Luttrell, his wife, and the daughter-in-law were produced along with a summary of the book.

illustrations in the manuscript show Sir Geoffrey Luttrell mounted on a horse and dressed to confirm his status during the marriage union of his family. The manuscript had images of beggars and street performers and grosteques, all symbolising the chaos and anarchy that was present and feared by him.

Sir Geoffrey Luttrell felt his death was coming and wanted to account for all his actions. Within the publishing of the illuminated manuscript, the colophon] it states that he wanted this made.

The purpose of the manuscript was to help with his provisions for his will. His will depicts that he wanted 20 chaplains to recite masses after his death over a five-year period, for clerks to recite the Psalms, and other activities for a certain amount of money each.

The Psalter was acquired by the British Museum in 1929 for £31,500 from Mary Angela Noyes, wife of the poet Alfred Noyes. It has been displayed at the British Library since the separation of the Library from the British Museum.