It’s not often I start a blog with warning from a Shakespearean soothsayer, but today I shall because today is the Ides of March – the 15th day of March. The day on which, in 44BC, Julius Caesar was assassinated by his Roman senators.  Apparently 60 senators took part in Caesar’s mass stabbing and over 20 wounds were inflicted on him.

Below are medieval images of Caesar’s murder.  I find it very interesting that in them, Caesar and his senators are depicted as Northern Renaissance wealthy merchants with their rich and ornate clothing, rather than toga and sandal-clad classical Romans.  Could Medieval sensibilities not cope with classical clothes?

Beware the Ides of March!

Caesar being murdered from Bellum Gallicum (Les commentaires de Cesar), (France, N. (Lille) and Netherlands, S. (Bruges?), 1473-1476), shelfmark Royal 16 G VIII f.331v

Murder of Caesar from Les anciennes hystoires rommaines, (Paris, France, Last quarter of the 14th century), shelfmark Royal 16 G VIII f.389

Murder of Caesar from La grant hystoire Cesar, (Netherlands, S. (Bruges), 1479) shelfmark Royal 17 F II f.344

Murder of Caesar from La grant hystoire Cesar, (Netherlands, S. (Bruges), 1479) shelfmark Royal 18 E V f.355v

I can’t resist quoting that immortal line spoken by the late great Kenneth Williams during the film ‘Carry on Cleo’…

Infamy! Infamy! They’ve all got it in for me!

Notes
Images from the British Library’s collection of Medieval Manuscripts are marked as being Public Domain Images and therefore free of all copyright restrictions in accordance with the British Library’s Reuse Guidance Notes for the Catalogue of Illuminated Manuscripts.

You may also be interested in the following posts
– Early modern images from the British Library

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