(Excerpt) Horae ad usum Romanum, known as the Grandes Heures of Anne of Brittany

Type: MANUSCRIPT

Source: National Library of France. Department of Manuscripts. Latin 9474.

🪶 In 1508, Anne of Brittany, Duchess of Brittany and twice Queen of France, commissioned a monumental manuscript: the "Grandes Heures." This prayer book was not merely a tool for devotion, but a true artistic and scientific treasure.

📚 In its richly illustrated margins, the artists painted dozens of plants, flowers, and animals with astonishing precision, reflecting the botanical knowledge and encyclopedic curiosity of the Renaissance. And among these depictions, two are particularly striking: cannabis. One can clearly distinguish between male hemp and female hemp, designated as such in the captions. The male, slender, bears its fine flowers in airy panicles, while the female, robust, displays dense, seed-laden inflorescences. This distinction reveals an in-depth knowledge of the plant, long before modern botany codified its study.

🛶 In the era of Anne of Brittany, cannabis, or hemp, was an integral part of daily life. Its fibers were used to manufacture fabrics, ropes, sails, and nets—all essential elements for the economy and, above all, for the naval power of Europe. Its seeds, rich in oil, nourished both humans and animals, and also provided fuel and a base for certain artisanal uses. As for its medicinal properties, they were already known and exploited, particularly to soothe pain or calm inflammation. In other words, cannabis was not a curiosity: it was a fundamental resource, cultivated everywhere, familiar and indispensable.

🍀 That this plant appears in a royal devotional manuscript is not trivial. It shows that it was perceived as a legitimate part of divine creation, worthy of being represented among the other gifts of nature. For Anne of Brittany, it was not a marginal plant, but a common certainty, just like wheat, flax, or grapevines. In the illuminations, there is no attempt to exoticize or stigmatize it: it is painted as it is—recognizable, useful, present in the fields and in homes.

🌍 These images remind us of an often-forgotten truth: at the beginning of the 16th century, cannabis was part of the material and spiritual landscape of Europe. People knew how to distinguish its male and female forms, they were familiar with its multiple uses, and they saw it as a vital resource. The fact that its image appears in a book commissioned by a queen is striking proof of this normality. Through these pages, we rediscover a whole relationship with the world: one from a time when cannabis was not a subject of debate, but simply an essential plant, fully integrated into daily life, from the agricultural field to the royal manuscript.

Caption 1: Coat of arms of Anne of Brittany, illuminated by Jean Bourdichon.

Caption 2: Male hemp, illustration from the same royal manuscript, showing this time the male cannabis, recognizable by its fine flowers in airy panicles and the absence of seeds.

To discover more about the world of CannArchive 🔗👈