Site last updated 10/4/2008.
Welcome to new users of this site, and welcome back to those returning for another look. This constantly growing project revolves around the culture of the written word in the middle ages. There is information on what people wrote about, as well as what they didn't write about but evidently knew anyway, some discussions on the working methods and materials of writing and concepts of literacy, and a steadily growing set of examples of historic scripts from around the 5th to around the 16th century. That is a broad chronology for medieval, but is there to demonstrate certain continuities in the culture and practice of writing. There are interactive paleography exercises derived from writing samples either in my possession or that of others or in archival institutions. Some examples have been published in very ancient paleography books that represent the finest of scholarship but which unfortunately nobody seems to read any more. The others have been nutted out by the partnership we call Tillotson's Medieval Enterprises, which means the interpretations may not be so authoritative, but you may not find them anywhere else. The project continues to grow, so bookmark the site so that you can return at leisure to explore around it.
Fragmentary stained glass panel of a bishop with a book from St Peter Hungate Museum, Norwich.
The word paleography tends to spark dread in the bosom of the most ardent student of medieval history, but the exercises here are fun and designed to be accessible to anyone who likes to play with puzzles. The examples chosen all illustrate little historical snippets, like how much wine an abbess needed for a year, or how the ladies of the court of Edward III made their backsides look fashionably broad, or how much money you could get by selling off a few serfs in the 13th century, or what Henry II of England thought of stupid abbots. I call it tabloid paleography. Enjoy!
The topics in the left sidebar all lead on to various and growing discussions and resources. If you get totally lost, or are looking for a particular topic, try the site map. There is some general information on the topics covered and how it all works in a section on how you can use this website. You can also do Google search on the pages of this site. We have added The Elephant Book, a general guide to finding and assessing medieval resources on the web, and our Medieval Church Glossary.
An interesting problem is the question of copyright. Medieval manuscripts are not copyright, but the photographs taken of them are in many cases subject to copyright restriction. We have been fortunate in that the British Library and the National Archives have permitted us to reproduce a large number of manuscripts without fee to allow this project to go ahead. Various other institutions have also allowed us to use images in our possession from their manuscripts. Please respect their restrictions on copying and distribution of the images used, for the sake of all of us and the future of educational cybermedia.
With the increasing commercialisation of the education industry, the World Wide Web is becoming a last resort for the dissemination of educational material without a hefty price tag attached. Let's try to keep it that way. Thus endeth the sermon.
EMAIL: Please feel free to email me with comments or queries. I enjoy hearing from users of the site, who appear to be a most diverse and interesting crew with fascinating hobbies and interests. Don't forget to include the words "medieval writing" or "manuscript" or "paleography" or suchlike in the subject line so that you don't get deleted along with the spam. Just remember that I cannot do authentications or valuations of manuscripts for sale, as I do not have the specific expertise and when it comes to digital imagery, pixels are just pixels! General queries are most welcome, but please ask before sending large graphic files and read this section on sending attachments. Looking forward to hearing from you.
And getting all modern and trendy, some thoughts and capacity for your input are now available on Dianne's Medieval Writing Blog.
Latest Updates to Site : The section on Personal Devotion and Books of Hours has received a small update as the result of discovering a tiny minor treasure.
There is now an Update Log to keep track of continuing developments.
