The Ordinary of the Divine Office of the Order of Avis: Rare Book of the Week

The earliest known testimony of the liturgy followed by the priests and knights of Avis will go under the hammer at ANNO on September 21.

These 'warrior monks' played a leading role in the Reconquista and the affirmation of the Kingdom of Portugal, and the uniqu ordinary set out the order of the Divine Office throughout the liturgical year. It has an estimate of €220 000-€300 000.

"The historical significance of the document extends beyond the liturgical sphere," said Francisco Brito from ANNO. "The Order of Avis is inseparably bound to the nation’s destiny. It was its Master, D. João whom the Cortes of Coimbra acclaimed King of Portugal in 1385, founding the House of Avis, the house of D. Duarte, of Prince Henry the Navigator, and of the princes who opened the age of discovery to the world. 

"This codex, predating that founding moment by eight decades, documents the spiritual life of the institution at its height at the beginning of the 14th century when the friars of Avis were negotiating with the Supreme Pontiff for the renewal of their habits and observances. We are therefore looking at one of the earliest documents to bear witness to the spirituality that would go on to shape the destiny of this Order and of Portugal during the "Reconquista" and which, despite certain variations, remained in place until the 16th century when the Order ceased to be exclusively religious, and later by the end of the eighteenth century, when the Order of Avis was secularized and incorporated into the Portuguese Crown’s Orders of Honour."