Why was this made, and how was it used?
The Morgan Bible is believed to have been made as a political statement under King Louis IX of France. It is to be presumed that the structure of the narratives and the iconography of the scenes were intended to view the Crusades in a strictly pictorial nature from the perspective of the crusader king; Louis IX. The Franks, under the command of Louis IX viewed themselves as the rightful descendants of the Old Testament heroes.
This viewpoint indicates the engagement in battle for the rights to the Holy Land and the depictions of contemporary events in the Old Testament. The inclusion of modern clothing and works of art commissioned under King Louis IX may suggest that this was a way for the king to legitimize his reign at home and support his dominant militant stance in the Crusade.
The specific role of Bibles in the Middle Ages was to provide a new way to understand the teachings of Christianity, or other religions, through the use of illuminated manuscripts. Illuminated Bibles were used by monks and other missionaries to spread Christianity through Europe in the years before widespread literacy. However, the size and luxury of the book combat this stance by suggesting high patronage. An illuminated manuscript of this size and luxury would require high intellectual, artistic, and financial resources.
The initial lack of inscriptions would require that the audience of this manuscript would need to be knowledgeable of the Old Testament. As this Bible was most likely designed to resonate with thirteenth-century France viewers at the time of the Crusades, the clothing and armor of the depicted figures intricately mirror the medieval style creating a connection between viewers and the Crusade at the time.