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1300Medicine: examining urine
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1300The medieval Church
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1300Medieval Surgery
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1300Rural life: the lazy ploughman
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1301Friar playing music
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1308Dante's Divine Comedy
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1310Harvesting acorns
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1315Living and dead Princes
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1320Golden Haggadah
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1320Noah in the Holkham Bible
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1325Apothecary shop
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1325City walls
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1330Lord at supper
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1330Peasants work the land
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1335The Last Judgement
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1337Hundred Years War
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1348Demons fall into Hell
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1348Chronicle of the Black Death
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1350Genesis picture book
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1360Medieval encyclopedia
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1375Sir Gawain & the Green Knight
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1381Peasants' Revolt
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1385Scottish freedom
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1390English cookery manuscript
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Intro
It is possible to catch glimpses of rural life painted on the pages of medieval manuscripts. But it must be remembered that such images were almost always made for the wealthy few who commissioned these manuscripts. The images therefore reflect their views of country life rather than the experiences of those lower down the social scale.
This image from a beautiful 13th-century manuscript made in Paris, shows a lazy ploughman who represents the idea of idleness. The ploughman is asleep by a tree, as his team and plough sit idle. Below, the idea of labour is represented by a sower scattering seed, who is visually likened to the powerful David in the act of hurling a stone at Goliath.
Shelfmark: Add. 54180 f.121v
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