A Book of Hours was a common possession among the very well-to-do in the late Middle Ages. The “Hours” in question were those of the offices of the Church: a book such as this was a kind of devotional almanac giving the texts of the services, and sometimes, as in this case, informing the owner of the events, social and agricultural, of the different seasons, and the progress of the constellations with the signs of the Zodiac.