446 Libri Carolini
G. Watson. (London: Offices of the Royal Historical
Society, 1987).
Libri Carolini The Libri Carolini(Caroline books, or
Capitulary of Charlemagne on images) was a treatise
written by theologians in the entourage of CHARLEMAGNE,
perhaps ALCUIN, or more likely THEODULF, bishop of
Orleans. It came out vehemently in favor of images,
rejecting the ICONOCLASM of the Eastern Church. It
explicitly criticized the decisions that it mistakenly
attributed to the second COUNCIL OFNICAEAin 787. The
treatise condemned the adoration of images themselves
but not the veneration of their subjects. It demonstrates a
clear hatred for the empress IRENE, claiming that women
should have little influence in educating Christians or
considering theological questions.
See alsoICONOCLASM ANDICONOCLASTIC CONTROVERSY.
Further reading:Lawrence Nees, From Justinian to
Charlemagne: European Art, 565–787: An Annotated Bibli-
ography(Boston: G. K. Hall, 1985); Lawrence Nees, Early
Medieval Art(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002);
Luitpold Wallach, Diplomatic Studies in Latin and Greek
Documents from the Carolingian Age(Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell
University Press, 1977), especially pp. 43–294.
Libro de buen amor SeeRUIZ,JUAN.
lighting and lighting devices In the Middle Ages,
artificial lighting employed wax candles or torches; oil
lamps of metal, glass, or pottery; and lanterns in the
streets. The limited illumination that they could supply
left little opportunity for work during the long periods of
darkness of European winters. In the Christian tradition,
light was also a visible sign of God’s presence and deemed
necessary for the liturgy. Liturgical requirements stipu-
lated the exclusive use of olive oil and beeswax. Candle-
sticks were to be placed before ALTARS, and lights with
metal supports were suspended above altars and choirs to
illuminate the liturgy. The Eucharist had to be preserved
in a tabernacle all day with a light nearby to show the
presence of Christ. The tombs of the saints were sur-
rounded by lights, and votive lamps were placed before
images and statues of Christ, the Virgin, or the saints to
illuminate sanctuaries or the oratories or places of PRAYER
before them. The church collected large donations from
the LAITYto pay for all this wax or oil. In the Islamic
world, lamps played similar roles in illuminating every-
day life and the interiors of MOSQUES.
See alsoGLASSWARE; METAL SMITHS AND WORK, METAL-
LURGY.
Further reading:Robert Hillenbrand, Islamic Art and
Architecture (New York: Thames and Hudson, 1999);
Matthew Luckiesh, Torch of Civilization: The Story of
Man’s Conquest of Darkness(New York: G. P. Putnam’s
Sons, 1940); F. W. Robins, The Story of the Lamp (and the
Candle)(Bath: Kingsmead Reprints, 1970); Leroy Living-
stone Thwing, Flickering Flames: A History of Domestic
Lighting through the Ages(Rutland, Vt.: Published for the
Rushlight Club by C. E. Tuttle, 1958).limbo (limbus,border) Limbo in the Middle Ages was
considered a place situated on the margins of hell for souls
excluded from the BEATIFIC VISIONof GOD. It did not occur
in Scripture. The apocryphal Gospel of Nicodemusdescribed
Christ’s descent into and the HARROWING OFHELL, a place
somewhat like limbo. References to limbo as a place in the
afterlife did not appear before the late 12th century. In the
13th century commentators on the Sentencesof PETERLOM-
BARDdistinguished five places for SOULSof the deceased,
four of them in hell: the hell of the damned, the limbo of
infants still bearing original sin, PURGATORY, and the limbo
of the patriarchs. The limbo of infants was assigned to unre-
generate babies who died without being baptized. They did
not suffer but were deprived of the beatific vision of God.
The limbo of the patriarchs was where the just of the Old
Testament awaited entrance to PARADISE.
In the 13th century, Scholastic theologians began to
posit five distinct places for the afterlife, based on levels
of virtue and vice among souls. First of these was hell for
the damned. The second was the limbo of unbaptized
infants. Then there was purgatory, or the place of transi-
tion where punished souls earned their way to heaven;
fourth, the limbo of the patriarchs; it was empty and
closed since Christ’s Harrowing. The last was the king-
dom of HEAVEN. Neither limbo was a punishment. This
limbo of unbaptized infants was distinct from that of the
patriarchs. There the unbaptized infants were eternally
deprived of the beatific vision, but they had a natural joy,
since they had a lesser but natural knowledge of God.
The ideas of AUGUSTINEassumed the same punishment
for all the unbaptized because of original sin.
Further reading:“Limbo,” The Oxford Dictionary of
the Christian Church,981–982; Jacques Le Goff, The Birth
of Purgatory,trans. Arthur Goldhammer (1981; reprint,
Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1984).Limbourg brothers (ca. 1386–1416)three illuminators
of manuscripts
The younger Limbourg brothers, Herman and Jean, were
documented before Paul, or Pol, as apprentices of a
Parisian goldsmith in 1399 or 1400. These French or
Picard miniaturists were born at Nijmegen, in the Nether-
lands. They entered the service of Philip the Bold
(1342–1404) in 1402 and then joined JOHN, DUKE OF
BERRY, with their elder brother Paul when Philip died. The
two most famous of their works were the Belles Heures
(now in New York), finished in 1409, and the famous TrèsTrès Riches Heures du Duc de Berry
Chantilly), started between 1413 and 1416 but unfinished.