Primer (prayer book)
Primer (Latin: primarium; Middle English: primmer, also spelled prymer)[1] is the name for a variety of devotional prayer books that originated among educated medieval laity in the 14th century, particularly in England.
[2] While the contents of primers have varied dependent on edition, they often contained portions of the Psalms and Latin liturgical practices such as the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
[1] Primers remained popular during and immediately after the English Reformation among Protestants in the Church of England, where it developed into an Anglican and humanist educational tool for schoolchildren.
[1][7]: 24 [8]: 64 Editions of the primers would match the local liturgical use in their ordering of the Psalms, with known variations for the Roman Rite, Sarum Use, York Use, and Parisian practices.
Bound books like primers were supplemented by a variety of pamphlets oriented towards private devotion, including adaptions of the Psalms, sermons, and religious educational texts.
[9]: 1–2 Since English demand outstripped domestic printing capacity, Parisian printers like François Regnault dominated the market for Sarum primers.
[10]: 229 The contents of one primer dating from circa 1400 were:[5]: 71 The Passion of Jesus was heavily emphasized within medieval piety, forming the center of English private devotion akin to the centrality of the crucifix in the liturgy.
Among the most popular devotions to the Passion that appeared within pre-Reformation Sarum primers was the prayer "Oh bone Gesu", derived from Anselm of Canterbury's Mediations.
This prayer, which originated by the 9th-century and is found within the Book of Cerne, formed a significant aspect of English lay devotion both within and outside the primer.
To circumvent this, some early English Reformers and late Lollards successfully imported foreign-printed vernacular primers in the 1530s despite official efforts to suppress this trade.
[3] While importation would sometimes be restricted, at least 60 percent of English breviaries, books of hours, primers, and manuals came from abroad during the first half of the 16th century.
[13] Reformed vernacular translations of the primer were officially authorized by the Church of England and printed that same year as English ecclesial independence.
[14] Cranmer's reformed litany,[note 2] much-shortened liturgical calendar, and less penitential Dirige replaced the medieval patterns.
This primer would establish the pattern of English prayer books and private devotion for the next century, enabling and officially encouraging the laity to worship according to the public services of the church in their own home.
[9]: 4–5 Henry VIII's primer was reprinted under Edward VI in 1547 and 1549, the latter with the revised Litany as present in the first Book of Common Prayer published the same year.
[9]: 11 The restoration of Reformation principles with Elizabeth I's ascent to the English throne saw the primer increasingly associated with the catechisms also produced during her reign, as well as the Elizabethan Book of Common Prayer.
Among the few deviations from the moderately reformed 1551 primer were the removal of the litany's deprecation of the pope and the addition of the new "An order for Morning Prayer daily through the year".
