Edition, Translation, and Exegesis: The Carolingians and the Bible
In their attention to philological procedures and details, to the work of editing, revising, and translating, ninth-century scholars made a lasting contribution to the ways in which Europeans would think about the Bible.
Exegesis According to the Rules of Philosophy or the Rule of Faith?: Methodological Conflict in the Ninth-Century Predestination Controversy
The development of biblical exegesis, as Contreni shows, was rapid, but not homogeneous. On the one hand, one of the main ways to acquire biblical wisdom was to rely on the interpretations and teaching of the Holy Fathers, whose texts were studied, assimilated, simplified, collected, and taught. On the other hand, Alcuin’s revival of the liberal arts6 paved the way for the rise of another method of biblical exegesis.
In It for the Money: The Birth of Commercial Book Production
This lecture introduces the main players of this world of medieval book commerce — parchment makers, paid scribes, illuminators, shopkeepers — and discusses why these traditionally separate professions blended into a closely knit community that stands at the cradle of our bookish world today.
Reading and meditation in the Middle Ages: Lectio divina and books of hours
This article aims to shed light on the practice of reading the book of hours by considering who engaged in this practice, how the book of hours was read, and what the goal of such reading activity was.
Medieval Book History Week Lecture: “Practical Latin and Formal English in the 14th-15th Centuries”
This lecture is part of Medieval Book History Week. Renown Professor Jeremy Catto spoke about literacy and language in England during the later Middle Ages at the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies at the University of Toronto.
Authors, Scribes, Patrons and Books
This essay gives an account of the social role of manuscripts and early printed books and the processes by which they were made, processes that changed greatly during the period
Bernard Ayglier and William of Pagula: Two Approaches To Monastic Law
The paper examines the role of canon law in two monastic works, the Speculum monachorum (SM) (1272×74) of Bernard Ayglier (d.1282), abbot of Montecassino, and the Speculum religiosorum (SR) (c.1322) of William of Pagula, a canonist and secular priest (d.1332)
The Librarius and Libraire as Witnesses to the Evolving Book Trade in Ducal Brittany
In monasteries and cathedrals of the medieval West, the « custos librariae » functioned primarily as a custodian or keeper of bound codices, and we see a similar role emerge from extant medieval registers from Breton cathedral chapters.
“The King’s Library: Construction, Representation and Reception of the Ideal Kingship in the Late French Middle Ages”
This paper on Charles V of France and his contribution to education was given on October 5th, 2012 as part of a workshop between Freiburg and the University of Toronto.
Medieval and Renaissance Book Production
We are accustomed to think of the periods of manuscripts and printed books as distinct. Traditionally a scholar working in one of these fields has known little of the other field.
Kissing Images, Unfurling Rolls, Measuring Wounds, Sewing Badges and Carrying Talismans: Considering Some Harley Manuscripts through the Physical Rituals they Reveal
Christianity as practised in the late Middle Ages demanded physical rituals. These rituals encompassed great public displays, such as processions around town walls and through churches, led by clergy dressed in ceremonial garb; smaller public displays, such as priests’ performances of Mass; and actions by the laity, including small private rituals involving a votary with his book and perhaps an image.
Reading in the Refectory: monastic practice in England from the eleventh to the thirteenth centuries
Teresa Webber discusses monastic practices of communal public reading at mealtimes.
Glossaries and Other Innovations in Carolingian Book Production
Carolingian book production needs to be understood within the context of the communication of knowledge, the transmission of ideas across time and space and the consequent formation of what can be described as a cultural map in Europe.
Charting the “Rise of the West”: Manuscripts and Printed Books in Europe, A Long-Term Perspective from the Sixth through Eighteenth Centuries
These arguments suggest that the number of manuscripts and printed books produced in a given society are complex measures of economic performance and societal capabilities, and are therefore a valuable guide to the study of long-term economic change.
Libraries and Book Culture of the Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire supported literary life at a time when many other parts of the western world were in a state of literary darkness.
Footnotes on Life: Marginalia in Three Medieval Icelandic Manuscripts
This project investigates what paratextual material—specifically marginalia—can tell us about the way medieval Icelandic readers felt about their books, and how they participated in the creation of the reading experience for future readers through the marks they left on the page.
Hidden Wisdom and Unseen Treasure: Revisiting Cataloging in Medieval Libraries
Hidden Wisdom and Unseen Treasure: Revisiting Cataloging in Medieval Libraries By Beth M. Russell Cataloging and Classification Quarterly, Vol. 26, no. 3 (1998)…
The Medieval Girdle Book Project
The Medieval Girdle Book Project By Margit Smith and Jim Bloxam International Journal of the Book, Vol.3:4 (2005/6) Abstract: The study of girdle…