Medieval Musical Notations Discovered in 9th-Century Manuscript
A newly identified 9th-century manuscript leaf may contain some of the earliest known examples of written music in Western Europe — what experts are calling a rare witness to the very dawn of musical notation. The manuscript leaf is being offered on the public market for $80,000 US.
A Medieval Book Lover Explains Why We Love Books
Discover why a medieval bishop loved books—Richard de Bury’s Philobiblon reveals timeless wisdom and passion for preserving knowledge.
Medieval Manuscripts in Living Colour
Discover how medieval scribes turned manuscripts into vibrant works of art — from rare pigments and gold leaf to enduring brilliance a millennium later.
History in Flames with Robert Bartlett
This week on The Medieval Podcast, Danièle speaks with Robert Bartlett about the manuscripts we’ve lost by accident and by design, and how these precious documents are being preserved today.
Pola of Rome: The Remarkable Story of a Medieval Jewish Scribe
Pola of Rome defied expectations in more ways than one: not only was she a professional scribe in the late thirteenth century, she was a Jewish woman working in a field dominated by male Christian clerics. Her surviving colophons offer a rare glimpse into the intellectual life, family networks, and self-perception of a medieval woman who made her living through the written word.
Going Places: Travel in the Middle Ages to Open at The Getty
The Getty Center will present Going Places: Travel in the Middle Ages from September 2 to November 30, 2025, exploring medieval journeys through rare manuscripts, pilgrimages, trade, and imaginative voyages.
Paws on Parchment: New Exhibition Highlights Cats in Medieval Manuscripts
Explore how medieval people viewed and valued cats in “Paws on Parchment,” a new exhibition at the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, featuring feline-themed manuscripts and rare pawprints left by a 15th-century cat.
The Hours of Jean de Montauban: Apocrypha and Devotion in a Medieval Manuscript
Discover how a 15th-century Book of Hours uses vivid imagery from the Vita Adae et Evae to explore apocryphal stories of Adam and Eve, spiritual struggle, and medieval views on sin and redemption.
Mysterious Manuscripts with Garry Shaw
This week on The Medieval Podcast, Danièle speaks with Garry Shaw about who was encrypting their manuscripts, the codes they used, and the centuries of attempts to crack the Voynich Manuscript.
Getty Museum Acquires Major Gift of Italian Renaissance Manuscripts
The Getty Museum has acquired 38 illuminated manuscript leaves from the Burke Collection, showcasing masterpieces of Italian art from the 12th to 17th centuries, including works by Lorenzo Monaco and Giovanni di Paolo.
The Book of Leinster Returns to the Public Eye After Major Conservation Work
Pages from the 12th-century Book of Leinster are now on display at Trinity College Dublin following a major conservation project, offering visitors a rare look at one of the most important medieval Irish manuscripts.
Can You Solve These Medieval Labyrinths?
Explore a dozen medieval manuscript labyrinths and uncover surprising facts about their origins, meanings, and hidden designs. Can you find your way through?
British Library Acquires Five Rare Medieval Manuscripts
The British Library has acquired five rare medieval manuscripts from Longleat House, offering new insights into Jewish-Christian relations, civic life, theology, and devotion in the Middle Ages.
New Medieval Books: The Magic Books
Medieval people were interested in accessing secret knowledge like magic, divination and astrology. This book examines over 20 works from the period that deals with these topics, revealing what they say (and what they show) about these topics.
New Medieval Books: History in Flames
Many medieval materials survived for centuries, only to be lost in more recent times to war and violence. This book tells the story of some of Europe’s most important collections that have since vanished.
Magna Carta at Harvard dates to the Year 1300, historians find
Detailed comparison and imaging techniques confirm Harvard manuscript as one of seven surviving versions from Edward I’s 1300 issue.
Symbols and Signs: Getty Exhibition Explores Medieval Manuscript Codes
The Getty Museum’s new exhibition, Symbols and Signs: Decoding Medieval Manuscripts, explores the visual and textual codes used by medieval scribes and artists. On view May 20 to August 10, 2025.
Scribes, Not Just Authors: New Study Uncovers Editorial Brilliance in Medieval Syriac Manuscripts
A new study analyzes nearly 1,000 Syriac manuscripts using digital tools to reveal how scribes shaped literary culture through excerpting—introducing a new metric, Excerpts Per Manuscript (EPM), to map editorial practices across time and genre.
Medieval Bible Reveals Secrets of Parchment-Making, Study Finds
A new study reveals how the skins used to make the 13th-century Hamburg Bible preserve scars, stitches, and even signatures from medieval parchment-makers—offering a detailed look at manuscript production through the lens of biocodicology.
Medieval Manuscripts Were Bound in Seal Skin, New Study Finds
New research reveals that Cistercian manuscripts from the 12th and 13th centuries were bound in seal skin sourced from Scandinavia and Greenland, uncovering unexpected links between monastic book production and Norse trade networks.
Medieval Merlin Manuscript Fragment Revealed Through Digital Unfolding
A rare 13th-century manuscript fragment of Merlin and King Arthur has been rediscovered in a 16th-century book binding at Cambridge University Library and digitally revealed using advanced imaging techniques.
Magic in Medieval Manuscripts: A Beginner’s Guide
Far from being hidden and marginalised, magical texts abound in medieval manuscripts, many embellished with beautiful illustrations and sparkling with gold.
10 Famous Forgeries from the Middle Ages
Medieval history is full of secrets—and some of its most influential documents were outright fakes. From forged royal charters to fabricated letters from mythical kings, here are 10 famous forgeries that reshaped the Middle Ages.
20 Essential Tools of a Medieval Scribe
From ink-stained fingers to feline assistants, medieval scribes relied on an eclectic mix of tools to craft their manuscripts—some practical, some unexpected.
