Medieval manuscripts blog

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1178 posts categorized "Medieval"

31 October 2024

Medieval witches

While we were developing our exhibition Medieval Women: In Their Own Words, the most common question we were asked was, “Will you be including witches?” Although many people think of the Middle Ages as a time when women were widely persecuted as witches, in fact witchcraft trials were rare before 1500. The European “witch craze” only reached its peak in the early modern period, during the late 16th and 17th centuries. Still, the late Middle Ages was the time when many myths about witchcraft first developed. We always aim to please, so this Halloween we’re pleased to announce: yes, we’re including witches!

Medieval woodcut images of two women dropping snakes into a fiery cauldron with stormy clouds overhead
Witches using magic to cause a storm, from Ulrich Molitor, De lamiis et phitonicis mulieribus (On Witches and Female Soothsayers) (1495)

In 1486, notorious inquisitor Heinrich Kramer published a book called Malleus Malificarum (Hammer of Witches). This guide to identifying and prosecuting witches codified many ideas about witchcraft that became influential in later witch trials: that witches are predominantly women, that they enter pacts with demons, that they use magic to cause impotence, crop failure, disease and death of livestock and people. Yet the Malleus Malificarum was the culmination of a development that took place throughout the 14th and 15th centuries, when several strands of thought about magic, spirituality and women came together into one disastrous stereotype. In this blogpost, we explore these various strands as well as the stories of some of the earliest accused witches.

Midwives and herbalists

From the earliest times, women were important healthcare providers. In the absence of any formal healthcare system, informal networks of female practitioners provided medical cures and assisted women during pregnancy and childbirth. Methods of treatment ranged from blood-letting to herbal remedies to magical charms. Sometimes they would use their skills for non-medical purposes, such as supplying love charms, finding lost objects and predicting the future.

Medieval drawing of a woman placing round cups on the back of a naked man
A female medical practitioner performing cupping therapy on a man, Sloane MS 6

The male medical elite looked down on female practitioners. The English surgeon and medical writer John Arderne (d. c. 1377), for example, wrote dismissively of “þe medycinez of ladiez” (the medicines of ladies), which, he said, made patients worse. We can see how the woman healer whose practices spanned the medical and the occult became a figure of distrust and derision in John Lydgate’s The Pilgrimage of Man. In this moralising verse account of an allegorical journey, the pilgrim “everyman” meets an old hag who, it turns out, is the personification of sorcery. This unpleasant character is peddling inscriptions, images, ointments, herbs and astrological readings, which she uses for malicious ends. The pilgrim asks her, “Tell on without more tarrying, where learnest thou all thy cunning?” She replies, “Soothly as I rehearse can, I learned my cunning off Satan”.

Medieval illustration of a pilgrim meeting an old woman. She has a basket on her head and she holds a severed human hand
The pilgrim meets the personification of Sorcery, in John Lydgate, The Pilgrimage of Man: Cotton MS Tiberius A VII, f. 69r

Sorceresses and the devil

In the Middle Ages witchcraft was not a secular crime, but from the 14th century it came to be regarded as a form of heresy making it punishable by the Church. The heresy trials of the Order of the Knights Templar beginning in 1307, designed by Philip IV of France as a means to destroy the powerful order, included trumped-up accusations of sorcery, devil worship and performing sexual acts with demons. Many Templars confessed under torture, the order was disbanded and the leaders burned at the stake. These trials set an important precedent for establishing sorcery as evidence of heresy and paved the way for the persecution of women associated with magic.

Medieval illustration of two men being burned at the stake surrounded by onlookers
Burning of the Templars, from the Chroniques de France ou de St Denis, BL Royal MS 20 C vii, f. 48r

In 1324, perhaps inspired by the trials of the Templars, one of the earliest known witchcraft trials in Europe took place. The accused was Alice Kyteler of Kilkenny in Ireland, whose three wealthy husbands had all died mysteriously leaving her with a great fortune. Richard Ledred, bishop of Ossory, pursued the case after Alice’s stepchildren accused her of using sorcery to infatuate and kill her husbands. Seven lurid charges were made against her, including that Alice summoned demons, brewed potions and had a sexual relationship with a demon incubus named Robin Artisson. Alice fled to England and evaded punishment, but her maidservant Petronella of Meath was tortured and burned at the stake as an accomplice.

Visionaries and demons

The association between women and supernatural influences was also informed by their prominent role as spiritual visionaries in medieval religious culture. It was believed that visionaries were able to witness glimpses of the supernatural world and communicate with spiritual beings such as God, saints or angels to gain hidden knowledge. While visionaries could be male or female, women were particularly attracted to the visionary path as it was one of the few ways that they could claim individual religious authority. Some female visionaries recorded their experiences and created important works of religious literature, including Hildegard of Bingen, Bridget of Sweden, Catherine of Siena and Julian of Norwich.

Medieval illustration of a kneeling woman before an altar, with the Holy Trinity appearing above
A woman experiencing a spiritual vision, Yates Thompson MS 11, f. 29r

Yet a career as a female visionary could be risky. Many churchmen were concerned that holy women might be receiving visions not from God but from the Devil. They considered that women were particularly susceptible to supernatural influences, including those of a more malevolent nature. As Heinrich Kramer explained in the Malleus Malificarum:

“Women are naturally more impressionable, and more ready to receive the influence of a disembodied spirit; [...] when they use this quality well they are very good, but when they use it ill they are very evil” (translation by M. Summers, 1971).

Church authorities developed elaborate systems to determine whether a reported vision was truly from God. Those whose visions were deemed to be from the Devil, especially those who gained power and knowledge from him, could be accused of witchcraft and heresy.

One of the most famous visionary women to be accused of witchcraft was Joan of Arc. During the Hundred Years War between England and France, the illiterate peasant girl received visions of saints and angels who told her to help the Dauphin Charles accede to the throne of France. She became the hero of the French army at the siege of Orleans, before being captured by the Burgundian-English alliance and tried for heresy. During the trial, the inquisitors accused her of visiting a “fairy tree” near her village of Domrémy, where she supposedly danced and adored the fairies. They concluded that Joan’s visions were not of saints but of evil spirits, such as Belial, Satan and Behemoth. She was found guilty and burned at the stake in 1431.

A decorated initial with an armoured knight
A decorated initial with an armoured knight, perhaps Joan of Arc, from the Rehabilitation Trial of Joan of Arc: Stowe MS 84, f. 2r

The English were particularly keen to remember Joan as a witch. The Brut chronicle, one of the most popular accounts of English history in the medieval and early modern periods, refers to Joan as “the wicche of Fraunce” (the witch of France), and claims that “By her crafte of sorserie alle the Frensshe men and her compeny trystid for to haue ouyrcome alle the Engelisshe pepull” (By her craft of sorcery, all the French men and her company trusted that they would overcome all the English people).

Political witches

Political motivations also underlie many of the other high profile witchcraft accusations of the period. Perhaps the biggest witchcraft scandal in medieval England centred on Eleanor Cobham (d. 1452), Duchess of Gloucester. Eleanor rose from a position in the lower gentry to become one of the most powerful women in England as the mistress and then wife of Humfrey, Duke of Gloucester. Humfrey was the uncle and heir of King Henry VI of England, meaning that he and Eleanor could have become king and queen if Henry had died young.

Medieval miniature portrait of Eleanor and Humphrey, richly dressed and presenting gifts to St Albans Abbey
Eleanor Cobham and her husband Humfrey, Duke of Gloucester, from the St Albans Benefactors’ Book, Cotton MS Nero D VII, f. 154r

Eleanor fell victim to court politics in 1441 when she was accused of encouraging a group of scholars to make horoscopes predicting the untimely death of the king, and employing a woman named Margery Jourdemain, “the Witch of Eye”, to perform sorcery for her. At her trial, Eleanor denied plotting against the king, although she did admit to buying fertility remedies from Margery Jourdemain to help her to conceive a child with Humfrey. Both Eleanor and Margery were found guilty of heresy. Eleanor was made to perform humiliating public penance, divorce Humfrey and spend the rest of her life in imprisonment. Margery, who had been in trouble with the authorities for witchcraft before, was burned at the stake as a relapsed heretic.

A medieval horoscope in the form of a square diagram with inscriptions
Horoscope of Henry VI, Egerton MS 889, f. 5r

Eleanor Cobham was not the only woman connected with the English royal family who was accused of witchcraft in the 15th century. Earlier in the century, Joan of Navarre (d. 1437), widow of King Henry IV of England, was accused of witchcraft as a thin excuse to confiscate her money and lands to help pay for Henry V’s war with France. Later, the Titulus Regius of 1484 justified Richard III seizing the throne of England from his young nephew by claiming that the marriage of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville came about through “Sorcerie and Wichecrafte, committed by the said Elizabeth, and her Moder” (sorcery and witchcraft committed by the said Elizabeth and her mother).

These accusations show the great fear directed at women who were active in English politics, particularly those who challenged the status quo by marrying into the royal family for love rather than diplomacy, and — in the case of Eleanor Cobham and Elizabeth Woodville — climbing the social ladder from relatively obscure backgrounds. In each of these examples, including Alice Kyteler and Joan of Arc, accusations of witchcraft proved to be a convenient tactic for discrediting an ambitious and influential woman in a way that was impossible for her to disprove.

Medieval manuscripts portrait of Elizabeth Woodville, crowned and gorgeously dressed in a dress of red and ermine with a blue cloak. She is surrounded by flowers
Elizabeth Woodville from the Book of the Fraternity of the Assumption of Our Lady of the Skinners of London, The London Archives, CLC/L/SE/A/004A/MS31692

Women healers, visionaries, heretics and accused witches all feature in our Medieval Women exhibition. You can encounter unique historical manuscripts relating to Joan of Arc, Eleanor Cobham and Elizabeth Woodville, and you can even have a go at our digital interactive “Are You a Witch?”, based on criteria from the Malleus Malificarum.

Medieval Women: In Their Own Words is on show at the British Library from 25 October 2024 to 2 March 2025. You can book your tickets online.

This exhibition is made possible with support from Joanna and Graham Barker, Unwin Charitable Trust, and Cockayne – Grants for the Arts: a donor advised fund held at the London Community Foundation.

Eleanor Jackson

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29 October 2024

Keeping a cat and other rules for anchoresses

Our exhibition Medieval Women: In Their Own Words highlights the stories of women across medieval society, from labourers and artisans to abbesses and queens. Some of the most unique experiences were had by anchoresses, religious women such as Julian of Norwich (d. after 1416), Christine Carpenter (fl. 1329-1332) and Margaret Kirkby (d. c. 1391-4), who chose to enclose themselves permanently in cells attached to churches. There they lived lives of prayer, contemplation and devotion to God.

Several surviving texts provide guidance to anchoresses about how to live their lives. One handbook, known as Ancrene Wisse, was composed in the first decades of the 13th century, supposedly for three sisters who had chosen to enter the contemplative life. One of the earliest and most important surviving manuscripts of this text (Cotton MS Cleopatra C VI) is on display in the exhibition. The Middle English work not only offers anchoresses spiritual advice, but also practical instructions about all aspects of their daily routine, outlining the rules they are expected to observe, from their food and drink to their clothes and possessions, and even the pets they could own.

A page from the earliest surviving manuscript of Ancrene Wisse.

The earliest surviving manuscript of Ancrene Wisse; England, c. 1225-1230: Cotton MS Cleopatra C VI, f. 193r

Here is a selection of these rules that give a taste of what life as an anchoress might have looked like:

Life in the Anchorhold

  • An anchoress’s cell should only have three windows: a church window, that provides a view into the church to see the Eucharist, a house window, to allow for food and other goods to be brought in, and a parlour window for dealing with the outside world. These windows should be as small as possible, and closed when not in use.
  • Anchoresses are not allowed to preach and can only offer advice to women. They are also not allowed to criticise men for their vices, the exception being ‘holy old anchoresses’ who may do it in a certain way (the text does not elaborate).
  • Anchoresses should not curse or swear.
  • Anchoresses must not become teachers or turn the anchorhold into a school.
  • They should neither send letters, nor receive letters, nor write without leave.
  • Anchoresses are allowed maidservants – Julian of Norwich is known to have had two, called Sarah and Alice – but they have to observe strict rules.

A historiated initial of a bishop enclosing an anchoress.

The enclosure of an anchoress by a bishop; London, 15th century: Lansdowne MS 451, f. 76v

Diet, Sleep and Hygiene

  • Anchoresses must not use meat or fat in their meals but instead observe a diet of vegetable stew and be accustomed to drink very little.
  • Eating with guests outside the anchorhold is not allowed, and men are barred from eating in the anchoress’s presence.
  • Anchoresses and their maidservants should not eat or snack outside of mealtimes.
  • No one else is allowed to sleep in the anchoress’s home, and anchoresses must only sleep in their beds.
  • Washing is encouraged! Anchoresses can wash themselves and their things as often as they like.
  • Anchoresses must have their hair cut, shaved or trimmed four times a year.
  • Bloodletting is permitted (a common medieval medical treatment), but the guide warns that afterwards, the anchoress should do nothing strenuous for three days and pass the time with her servants, sharing ‘theawfule talen’ (virtuous stories) together.
  • When unwell, anchoresses should not take remedies advised by ‘uncundelich lechecreft’ (unnatural healing), in case they make things worse.

Clothing

  • Clothing should be plain, warm and well-made.
  • A covering should be worn upon the head, either a wimple or a simple cap.
  • In winter, an anchoress’s shoes should be soft, large, and warm, while in summer, light shoes can be worn, or there is the option to walk barefoot.
  • Anchoresses should not own rings, brooches, patterned belts and gloves or any other kind of adornments.

A cat in the margins of the Luttrell Psalter.

The only animal an anchoress was allowed to keep was a cat: Add MS 42130, f. 190r

Manual Work and Possessions

  • Anchoresses should not conduct business. An anchoress who is fond of bargaining ‘chepeth hire sawle the chap-mon of helle’ (sells her soul to the peddler of Hell).
  • They should not make embroidered items like purses, caps, silk bandages or lace as a means of making friends. If they want to sew, they can make church vestments or mend clothes for the poor.
  • Anchoresses can receive gifts from ‘good people’, but they should not take anything from those they do not trust. Examples of untrustworthy people include those with ‘fol semblant’ (foolish pretences) or ‘wake wordes’ (idle chatter).
  • Anchoresses are not allowed to look after other people’s possessions, including clothes, boxes, charters or tally sticks, indentures, church vestments and chalices.
  • No pets allowed! Anchoresses are told ‘ne schule ye habben nan beast bute cat ane’ (you should not keep any animals, except a single cat), so they do not invest too much thought on their welfare. If an anchoress must have an animal, then it should not bother or harm anyone and she should not think too much about it, as an ‘ancre ne ah to habben na thing thet ut-ward drahe hire heorte’ (‘an anchoress should not have anything which draws away her heart’).

Ancrene Wisse was one of the more popular medieval anchoritic handbooks – at least 17 manuscripts of the text survive, with translations in Middle English, Anglo-Norman French and Latin – but whether these rules represented a reality for all anchoresses is difficult to judge. There may have been other advisory texts available to guide them, some less stringent than others. One can also imagine the individual relationships anchoresses had with their communities meant that a life of restriction and near-total seclusion was harder to adhere to. Nonetheless, the rules Ancrene Wisse sets out give us a sense of what these women were knowingly committing to when then entered the contemplative life.

An illustration of an anchoress in her anchorhold.

An anchoress inside her anchorhold; London, c. 1400-1410: Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, MS 079, f. 96r

To learn more about the lives of anchoresses, visit our major exhibition Medieval Women: In Their Own Words, which runs from 25 October 2024 until 2 March 2025, at St Pancras in London. Tickets are available to order now!

This exhibition is made possible with support from Joanna and Graham Barker, Unwin Charitable Trust, and Cockayne – Grants for the Arts: a donor advised fund held at the London Community Foundation.

Calum Cockburn

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25 October 2024

Medieval Women well and truly open

Fanfare, please! We are thrilled to say that the British Library's major new exhibition, Medieval Women: In Their Own Words, is now open to the public. The first ticket-holders are starting to go through the doors, and we hope thousands more will follow them in the coming months.

Statue of Eleanor of Castile

It's about time, we think, that medieval women took the spotlight. Margery Kempe (died in 1438) wrote the first autobiography in the English language. Her contemporary, Joan of Arc (burned in 1431), led armies to victory in a male-dominated world. Marta, an enslaved Russian woman, was sold in the marketplace in Venice in 1450. Shajar al-Durr (died in 1257) was the first woman to rule in Mamluk Egypt. Margery Brews wrote the first Valentine letter in 1477. Sibylle of Flanders (died in 1163) refused to return home with her husband from Jerusalem. Margaret of Anjou (died in 1482) owned a pet Barbary lion. Gwerful Mechain (lived in the late 1400s) wrote explicit poetry. Joan Astley asked Henry VI for a pay rise in 1423/4. Margaret, Maid of Norway (died in 1290), aged just seven, was to be betrothed to an English prince. Estellina Conat was the first woman to print a book in Hebrew, in 1474. Margaret Starre took part in the Peasants' Revolt in 1381. Joan of Beverley embroidered an altar band in the 14th century.

Our exhibition features an incredible range of manuscripts, documents and early printed books from the Library's collections, alongside some amazing loans from other institutions. Medieval Women is the culmination of many months' hard work behind the scenes, by colleagues in our Exhibitions, Loans, Conservation, Marketing, Press, Publishing, Events, Learning, Commercial and Visitor Services teams — not to mention the curators (Ellie, Julian, Calum) and our other colleagues. We hope you have the chance to visit our exhibition in person, to attend one of the events, or to buy the book. We like to think that the medieval women whose stories we tell would have been delighted to make your acquaintance.

A page from the Talbot Shrewsbury Book

This exhibition is made possible with support from Joanna and Graham Barker, Unwin Charitable Trust, and Cockayne – Grants for the Arts: a donor advised fund held at the London Community Foundation.

 

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19 October 2024

Countdown to Medieval Women

Our major new exhibition, Medieval Women: In Their Own Words, opens on 25 October 2024. In hot anticipation, here are some ways you can get involved, and a sneak preview of the gallery to whet your appetite.

The entrance to the gallery

Tickets can be purchased in advance here or in person at the British Library, with a large range of concessions available.

The exhibition book, Medieval Women: Voices and Visions, edited by Eleanor Jackson & Julian Harrison, with a foreword by Kate Mosse, can be ordered in advance from the British Library Shop. The perfect birthday or Christmas present! Maybe we can even tempt you to buy our Medieval Women Christmas jumper.

We have an exciting programme of events, starting with Kate Mosse, Here and Now: Meet the Medieval Women, on 29 October (in person and online).

Meanwhile, our Learning team has organised school workshops and tours, and you can find more information about them here.

Eleanor of Castile

Books in the exhibition

IMG_0386

Installing a roll

Medieval seal

Birthing girdle

Mortuary roll

Medieval charter

Talbot Shrewsbury Book

Medieval Women: In Their Own Words runs from 25 October 2024 until 2 March 2025, at St Pancras in London. We'd be delighted to see you there, as we uncover the stories of women from the past, from across Europe, and from all walks of life.

This exhibition is made possible with support from Joanna and Graham Barker, Unwin Charitable Trust, and Cockayne – Grants for the Arts: a donor advised fund held at the London Community Foundation.

 

 

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17 October 2024

Maidens or monsters?

During the Middle Ages, some of the most popular and well-loved stories were about classical women, female saints and heroines of courtly romance.  In a new British Library publication, Maidens or Monsters? Tales of Amazons, Goddesses, Queens & Temptresses in Medieval Manuscripts, Chantry Westwell delves into the stories of these women, exploring their portrayal by medieval authors and illuminators. 

The book is divided into six sections dedicated to female warriors and murderesses, women of virtue and faith, power, and tragedy, as well as enigmatic and allegorical women taken from myth and legend. Their accounts are accompanied by some of the most exquisite examples of medieval art, reproduced from within the pages of manuscripts from the eighth to the 16th centuries, mostly from the British Library’s collections.

The front cover of Maidens of Monsters.

The six sections are as follows: 

I: Warriors, Murderesses and Femmes Fatales

The first section of the book features stories of the legendary Amazon Women led by their Queen Penthesilea, the Colchian witch Medea, who takes her revenge on the Greek hero Jason, Minerva, goddess of war and Salome, who danced for Herod, then asked for the head of John the Baptist on a platter. 

A group of Amazon Women riding into battle alongside their Queen Penthesilea.

Queen Penthesilea leads the Amazon Women into battle, from Christine de Pizan’s ‘Book of the Queen’ (Paris, c. 1410-c. 1414): Harley MS 4431/1, f. 103v

II: Holy Women

The second section focuses on the lives and stories of holy women, from Mary Magdalene and St Margaret of Antioch, who emerges from a dragon’s belly to St Helena, mother of Constantine the Great and a remarkable group of desert saints known as the Holy Harlots.

A naked St Mary of Egypt is handed a cloak by St Zozima.

St Mary of Egypt is handed a cloak by St Zosima, from in the Theodore Psalter (Constantinople, 1066): Add MS 19352, f. 68r.

III: Powerful Women

Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, Olympias of Macedon, and Candace of Ethiopia are among those featured in this section dedicated to women who wielded real power in their lifetimes but were not always treated fairly by historians and chroniclers, who tended to portray them as manipulative temptresses rather than as skilful politicians or rulers.

The Egyptian Nectanebo disguised as a serpent or dragon seducing Olympias.

The Egyptian Nectanebo disguised as a serpent seducing Olympias, in the Roman d’Alexandre en prose (‘Prose Alexander Romance’), from the Talbot Shrewsbury Book (Rouen, c. 1445): Royal MS 15 E VI, f. 6r

IV: Tragic Heroines

This section looks at women whose stories ended in great tragedy: from the romantic heroine Elvide and the classical Lucretia who both die for their honour, to the Persian Shirin who takes her own life on her husband’s grave, and the story of the Biblical Eve, blamed for the downfall of humanity, exiled from paradise, before experiencing terrible family tragedy.

A miniature of the suicide of Shirin.

The suicide of Shirin at Khusraw’s tomb, in Nizami, Khamsah (India, 1595): Or 12208, f. 102r

V: Partners and Lovers

The women in the fifth section of the book were all partners of famous men, but nonetheless captured the limelight in their stories.  Among them are Camelot’s Guinevere and the legendary Helen of Troy, as well as the Old Testament Delilah, Dante’s Beatrice from the Divine Comedy and Humayun, the Chinese princess of Persian folklore.

Beatrice and Dante before the angels, from a manuscript of the Divine Comedy

Beatrice showing Dante the orders of angels and saints in Dante, Paradiso (Tuscany, c. 1445): Yates Thompson MS 36, f. 180r

VI:  Mystical, Magical and Allegorical Women

The final section looks at the stories of mystical and magical women, from the fairy Melusine, who transforms into a fish, to the mermaids, who lured sailors from their ships, and the divine Sibyls, known for their prophecies, along with other fantastical female characters.

Two sirens swimming beside a ship and luring sailors.

Two Sirens swim beside a ship with sailors who are under their spell, from the Queen Mary Psalter (London, c. 1315): Royal MS 2 B VII, f. 96v

It becomes clear when reading these tales that women were not always treated fairly or in a positive light by medieval historians and storytellers, most of whom were, of course, men. A counter to this was Christine de Pizan (b. 1364, d. c. 1430), a professional author based at the French royal court during the 14th and early 15th centuries, who argued forcefully in her writings for the intellectual and moral equality of women. Her Book of the City of Ladies was an impassioned defence of women, in which she recounted the stories of these heroines, and imagined herself building a metaphorical city from their achievements. It was Christine who provided the inspiration for this book.

The goddess Venus appears before her courtiers, who offer her their hearts.

The goddess Venus presiding over her courtiers, who give her their hearts, from Christine de Pizan’s ‘Book of the Queen’ (Paris, c. 1410-c. 1414): Harley MS 4431/1, f. 100r

Maidens or Monsters? Amazons and Goddesses, Queens and Temptresses in Medieval Legend is available to order now from the British Library Shop.

Chantry Westwell

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03 October 2024

Our first 1000 digitised manuscripts return

Following the cyber-attack on the British Library last year, staff have been working behind the scenes to restore access to the Library’s digitised manuscripts. The Library has now made an initial batch of 1,000 digitised items available online, of which over 600 are ancient, medieval and early modern manuscripts.

A full list of the items, with links to their digitised images and summary catalogue information, can be consulted on the British Library website. Improvements to the discoverability of the manuscripts will be made in due course.

A lavishly illuminated page for Easter Sunday from the Sherborne Missal.

The page for Easter Sunday in the Sherborne Missal: Add MS 74236, p. 216

A highlight is the Sherborne Missal (Add MS 74236), a service book containing all the texts required for celebrating Mass on the different feasts, holidays and saints’ days throughout the year. Made for the Benedictine abbey of St Mary in Sherborne, Dorset, the manuscript has been called one of the masterpieces of 15th-century English illumination, with decoration on nearly all of its 694 pages. You can read more about the manuscript in our previous blogpost and listen to a guided tour and discussion of the page for Easter Sunday as part of the BBC’s Moving Picture Series.  

Illustrations of a phoenix rising from the ashes, from an illuminated medieval bestiary.

A phoenix rising from the ashes, from an illuminated Bestiary: Harley MS 4751, f. 65r

The selection also includes all 400 manuscripts digitised as part of The Polonsky Foundation England and France Project, a ground-breaking collaborative project between the British Library and the Bibliothèque nationale de France. The manuscripts, made in England and France between the years 700 to 1200, comprise a wide range of texts and topics, including biblical, liturgical and theological works, science, music and medicine, Classical and contemporary literature and works on history and law. Among them are a lavishly-illuminated Bestiary (Harley MS 4751), with illustrated accounts of birds, beasts and fantastical creatures, and the Eadui Psalter (Arundel MS 155), a copy of the Book of Psalms, written by a scribe called Eadui Basan at Christ Church, Canterbury in the early 11th century, with a partial gloss in Old English.

A Beatus page with frames in colours and gold, from the Eadui Psalter.

The Beatus page of the Eadui Psalter, showing the opening of Psalm 1: Arundel MS 155, f. 12r

There are also a number of manuscripts containing significant works of Middle English literature. They include the ‘Amherst Manuscript’ (Add MS 37790), a Carthusian anthology of theological material containing the only surviving medieval copy of the Short Text of The Revelations of Divine Love by the anchoress Julian of Norwich. This work is an account of the 16 mystical visions Julian experienced in her early 30s, and the earliest surviving example of a book in the English language known to have been written by a woman.

A text page from an anthology of Middle English religious works, showing Julian of Norwich's Revelations of Divine Love.

The Short Text of Julian of Norwich’s Revelations of Divine Love: Add MS 37790, f. 98v

As further digitised manuscripts become available online, we will post updates about them on the Medieval Manuscripts blog. Browse a list of all currently available digitised manuscripts here

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25 September 2024

Medieval Women: 1 Month to Go!

There’s only one month to go before our major exhibition Medieval Women: In Their Own Words opens. Running from 25 October 2024 to 2 March 2025, this exhibition tells the history of medieval women through their own words and uncovers their lives through manuscripts, documents and precious artefacts. Tickets for the exhibition are already on sale

As opening day approaches, we thought we would reveal a few more of the incredible items that are going to be on display.

The Psalter of Melisende, Queen of Jerusalem

An illustration of the Presentation in the Temple painted in colours and gold.

The Presentation in the Temple, from the ‘Melisende Psalter’; Jerusalem, 1131–43: Egerton MS 1139, f. 3r

From Margaret of Anjou to Empress Matilda, you will hear the stories of many medieval queens, their lives, words and achievements in the course of the exhibition. They include Melisende (d. 1161), ruler of the Crusader state of Jerusalem in the mid-12th-century. Jointly reigning with her husband, Fulk of Anjou, and then her son Baldwin III, Melisende was responsible for much of the kingdom’s day-to-day governance. She was also a renowned patron of the Church and the arts, founding schools devoted to bookmaking and miniature painting. A precious survival from her reign is her Psalter (Book of Psalms), a personal prayer-book that was probably commissioned for her and features exquisite illuminations and writing in gold.

Birth Girdle

A parchment roll partially unfurled, showing prayers and image-based talismans.

Medieval birth girdle, featuring the Three Nails from the Crucifixion, illustrations of Christ’s Side Wound, and other textual and image-based talismans; England, 15th century: Harley Roll T 11

A detail showing a life-size representation of Christ's Side Wound, painted in red.

A life-size representation of Christ’s Side Wound, from a medieval English birth girdle: Harley Roll T 11

Among the exhibits devoted to the subject of women’s health is one of only nine surviving medieval English birth girdles. These parchment waist belts were produced commercially as amulets, offering protection against a number of different hazards and ailments, but particularly childbirth. This 15th-century birth girdle is covered with a variety of prayers, charms and other textual and illustrative talismans, including an image of the three nails used during the Crucifixion and a life-sized representation (‘measure’) of Christ’s side-wound.

Hildegard of Bingen’s Ordo Virtutum

A page from Hildegard of Bingen's Ordo Virtutum, showing a musical piece arranged on a four-line stave.

Hildegard of Bingen’s proto-opera, Ordo virtutum (‘Play of the Virtues’); Sponheim, 1487: Add MS 15102, f. 219v

The exhibition will also introduce a number of women who embraced a spiritual calling and found purpose as part of religious communities. A foremost example is Hildegard of Bingen (d. 1179). Sent to live in the Benedictine nunnery of Disibodenberg in Germany when she was 8 years old, Hildegard later founded and became abbess of the nunnery of Rupertsberg. In the course of her life, Hildegard had many achievements and roles. She was a polymath, a visionary and prophet, who went on multiple extended preaching tours, even in her 60s and 70s; she was also an author, a prolific letter-writer, and the beloved leader of her religious community. One of her many compositions is a musical play, or proto-opera, the Ordo virtutum (Play of the Virtues), which tells the story of the struggle for a human soul between personifications of the virtues and the Devil, and was intended to be sung by nuns.

The Luttrell Psalter

A bas-de-page scene showing female labourers gathering in the harvest.

Female labourers bringing in the harvest and reaping barley with sickles, from the ‘Luttrell Psalter’; Lincolnshire, 1325–40: Add MS 42130, f. 172v

The exhibition will also highlight the variety of working roles women played at all levels of medieval society, from rural communities to royal courts. The Luttrell Psalter is one of the masterpieces of medieval English art, an illuminated copy of the Book of Psalms commissioned by the landowner Sir Geoffrey Luttrell (d. 1345), lord of Irnham in Lincolnshire. Its marginal illustrations are known for their fantastical menagerie of hybrid creatures and grotesques, but they also include depictions of arable farming and labourers, artisans, and craftspeople at work, many featuring women prominently. On this page, three female farmworkers reap and gather barley with sickles. In the background, one of the labourers stands and stretches to ease her aching back, her sickle balanced on her shoulder.

The Lais and Fables of Marie de France

An opening from a medieval manuscript of the works of Marie de France, showing her lai Bisclavret.

An opening from Marie’s ‘Bisclavret’, the story of a werewolf trapped in lupine form, from a collection of her Fables and Lais; England, 13th century: Harley MS 978, ff. 66v–67r. 

Alongside Christine de Pizan’s ‘Book of the Queen’ and The Book of Margery Kempe, one of the exhibition’s most important literary manuscripts contains the work of Marie de France (active around the 1180s), one of the first recorded female authors in Europe. Few details of Marie’s identity are now known to us, though she was probably based in England, since she wrote in Anglo-Norman, a dialect of French spoken by the ruling class in England after the Norman Conquest. This manuscript is the only medieval copy to record all twelve of Marie’s Lais, a set of narrative poems notable for their celebration of courtly love, and featuring such memorable characters as the werewolf Bisclavret, the abandoned girl Le Fresne, and the knights Milun, Guigemar and Lanval.

A detail from the end of Marie's Bisclavret, in which she states her name and origin.

Marie ai nun, si sui de France (Marie is my name and I am from France): Marie naming herself at the end of the lai ‘Bisclavret’; Harley MS 978, f. 67r

Medieval Women: In Their Own Words is on show at the British Library from 25 October 2024 to 2 March 2025. You can pre-book your tickets online now. 

This exhibition is made possible with support from Joanna and Graham Barker, Unwin Charitable Trust, and Cockayne – Grants for the Arts: a donor advised fund held at the London Community Foundation.

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18 July 2024

Tickets go on sale for Medieval Women exhibition

Tickets are now on sale for the British Library’s major exhibition Medieval Women: In Their Own Words, which runs from 25 October 2024 to 2 March 2025.

From the courage of Joan of Arc at her trial for heresy, and the visionary experiences of Julian of Norwich, to the artistry of the London silkwoman Alice Claver, the work of female medical practitioners, and the struggles of female rulers like Queen Melisende of Jerusalem, this exhibition explores the challenges, achievements and daily lives of women in Europe from 1100 to 1500. It will tell the history of medieval women through their own words and uncover their lives through manuscripts, documents and artefacts.

The exhibition poster for Medieval Women: In Their Own Words, showing a group of nuns on their way to mass.

To whet your appetite before the exhibition opens in October, here are a few of the incredible items that will be on display:

The Book of Margery Kempe

The opening page of the Book of Margery Kempe, beginning with a large initial in red.

The opening of the only surviving manuscript of The Book of Margery Kempe; Norfolk, c. 1445–1450: Add MS 61823, f. 1r

The earliest autobiography written in English, The Book of Margery Kempe is an extraordinary account of the experiences of a female mystic, her spiritual visions, pilgrimages to Rome, Jerusalem and Santiago de Compostela, and her struggles for recognition in a male-dominated religious world. Margery’s Book was lost for centuries until this copy was discovered in a country house in 1934.

Christine de Pizan’s ‘Book of the Queen’

An illustration of Christine de Pizan building the City of Ladies alongside a personification of Reason.

Christine de Pizan building the ‘City of Ladies’, from ‘The Book of the Queen’; Paris, c. 1410-1414: Harley MS 4431/2, f. 290r

The ‘Book of the Queen’ is the largest and most splendid manuscript of the works of Christine de Pizan, made for Isabeau of Bavaria (d. 1435), queen of France. Christine is often described as the first professional woman author in medieval Europe. Her Book of the City of Ladies recounts tales of exemplary historical, legendary and biblical women, building a metaphorical ‘city’ out of women’s achievements.

The Paston Letters

A letter written in Middle English, from Margaret Paston to her husband John.

Letter from Margaret Paston to John Paston I, asking him to send her a new girdle and cloth for a gown; Norfolk, December 1441: Add MS 43490, f. 34r

The Pastons were a Norfolk family who climbed the social ladder from peasantry to landed gentry during the 15th century. They left behind a cache of around a thousand personal letters, giving unparalleled insight into their everyday lives. The women of the family are some of the most prolific correspondents, recording their joys, sorrows, loves, rivalries, friendships and arguments that span several generations.

The Sekenesse of Wymmen

A page from a copy of a gynaecological treatise, showing a set of anatomical drawings of a baby in the womb.

Anatomical drawings featured in a section on childbirth, from The Sekenesse of Wymmen; England, 15th century: Sloane MS 2463, f. 17v

One of a number of items in the exhibition devoted to women’s health, this manuscript contains the Sekenesse of Wymmen, a widel- read gynaecological treatise. It features instructions to a midwife on how to assist a mother during complications in childbirth, with accompanying anatomical drawings showing the position of the baby in the womb.

The Foundation Charter of Bordesley Abbey

A medieval charter affixed with a seal enclosed in a silk seal bag, made with blue and yellow threads.

The foundation charter of Bordesley Abbey by Empress Matilda; Devizes, 1141–1142: Add Ch 75724

The foundation charter of Bordesley Abbey was made in the 1140s, a period of strife in England as a bitter civil war raged between Matilda and Stephen, rival claimants to the throne after the death of Henry I. This document styles Matilda as ‘Empress’ and ‘Lady of the English’ and features her seal, showing her crowned and holding a sceptre, enclosed within a distinctive silk seal bag.

The seal of Matilda, showing her enthroned, holding a sceptre, with an accompanying Latin legend.

The seal of Matilda: Devizes, 1141-1142: Add Ch 75724

Medieval Women: In Their Own Words is on show at the British Library from 25 October 2024 to 2 March 2025. You can pre-book your tickets online now.

This exhibition is made possible with support from Joanna and Graham Barker, Unwin Charitable Trust, and Cockayne – Grants for the Arts: a donor advised fund held at the London Community Foundation.

Follow us @BLMedieval

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