Mirroring the Reformation: ‘Dashed’ Religious Books

This was the first breviary produced without references to the authority of Rome, and has been called the 'original liturgical book of English rite'. However, like the old Catholic breviaries, it was written in Latin and followed their same structure of worship. As in other dashed books, references to the martyr Thomas Becket have been removed. Becket was the first target of Henry’s iconoclasm; in 1538 the King ordered that Becket’s tomb be destroyed and his bones burned.

Church of England Title: Portiforium secundum usum Sarum [Portable breviary according to the Sarum rite] (London, 1541)
Shelfmark: K.17.28 (catalogue record)

16th century17th centuryK.17.28annotationstitle pageswoodcuts