The Art of Reading in the Middle Ages

34,000 books, manuscripts, and artifacts in the Europeana database.

The art of reading in the Middle Ages¹ is part of the multi-library project, The Art of Reading in the Middle Ages. Librarians and archivists have digitized and curated 34,000 books, manuscripts, and artifacts for the Europeana database.²

From the Introduction—

Let's take a journey through society of medieval Europe to discover the rich palette in which reading manifested.

We begin in the monasteries, where the written Latin word (Latinitas) was cultivated in the early centuries of the Middle Ages, and continue to the noble courts of the High and Late Middle Ages. The attitudes of nobility towards reading changed during the first half of the Middle Ages: the ability to read and write was among the skills civilised knights and damsels should possess. Their interests led to the creation of new literary genres: courts were the birthplace of courtly literature (hence the name).

From there, we move to cities, where the growing class of self-assured merchants, craftsmen and patricians looked at courts for inspiration and examples, while at the same time they adapted writing and reading for their own purposes. As the term literate (litteratus) was used in the Middle Ages specifically for people who understood Latin, we move to the role of reading in the vernacular. Literary works written at courts are some of the earlier and best known examples, but the vernacular slowly entered even religious literature, dominated by Latin.

We then move to the Balkan Peninsula to discuss the development of reading in Slavic languages. From there, we discuss an integral part of textual culture: reading networks. Within a community books were shared and read together (often by reading aloud), and affiliated communities exchanged manuscripts for copying. This allowed monasteries to collect impressive libraries with many texts, both medieval and classical, that were handed down until the present.

Finally, we return to the ecclesiastical domain, as universities are discussed. Reading and discussing texts were (and still are) a vital part of the university curriculum, and the development of science was based on thorough use of older, authoritative texts.³

1. This exhibition was created within the framework of the CEF-funded project ARMA – The Art of Reading in the Middle Ages.

Authors

Markus Greulich (Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin - Preußischer Kulturbesitz): Among knights and troubadours: courts and court culture
Hannah Johnson (Bibliothèque nationale de France): The pastime of the people: reading culture in medieval cities and Bookpaths: circulation of manuscripts in the Middle Ages
Zdeněk Uhlíř (Národní knihovna České republiky): Temples of knowledge: reading culture in medieval universities
Mark Vermeer (Openbare Bibliotheek Brugge): Introduction, Thoughts and prayers: monastic life and reading culture, Colophon;
Ines Vodopivec (Narodna in univerzitetna knjižnica): Beyond lingua franca: development of reading in European national languages.

2. Discover Europe’s digital cultural heritage | Europeana

3. The Art of Reading in the Middle Ages. Introduction.