Collection items

14th-century Greek New Testament

Manuscript Created date: 14th century

Most Greek manuscripts of the Bible tend only to include a small sub-section of biblical books, for instance, the four G...

14th-century Mamluk Qur’an

Manuscript Created date: 1300–1399

This 14th-century Qur’an from Egypt. The manuscript This Qur’an is written in muhaqqaq script, with ornamental chapter ...

14th-century pilgrim's travel guide

Manuscript Created date: first half of the 14th century

This is a 700-year-old traveller’s guidebook: a practical manual for pilgrims walking St James’s Way to Santiago de Comp...

Alphonso Psalter

Manuscript, Illuminated manuscript, Parchment Codex Created date: c. 1284–1316

This manuscript was begun for Prince Alphonso (b. 1273, d. 1284), son of Edward I and Eleanor of Castile, who was betrot...

Ascetical works by Matthew of Ephesos

Manuscript Created date: 14th century

Matthew of Ephesus (also known as Manuel Gabalas) was a cleric and scholar in the turbulent world of 14th-century Byzant...

Babylonian Talmud

Manuscript Created date: 1290–1309

This is an exceptionally rare item: a treasured medieval Jewish text, known as the Talmud, that somehow escaped the publ...

Barcelona Haggadah

Manuscript, Illuminated manuscript, Illumination Created date: 14th Century

A highly illuminated medieval Spanish Hagadah. What is the Hagadah? The Hagadah (plural Hagadot), which literally mean...

Constantine Manasses, Chronicle

Manuscript Created date: 1312-13

While most works of history in the Byzantine world were composed in prose, Constantine Manasses (c. 1130-c. 1187) wrote...

Dawes Illuminated Gospel-book

Manuscript Created date: 1314-15

Created in the early 14th century, probably on Cyprus, this manuscript of the Gospels contains illuminations of the four...

Decretals of Pope Boniface VIII

Manuscript Created date: 2nd half of the 14th century

As the head of the Catholic Church, the Pope led one of the most powerful institutions of the Middle Ages, making laws t...

Double-edged sword

Object Created date: c. 1250-1330

This sword is typical of those that would have been wielded by European knights in the 13th century. Weighing 1.2 kg (2 ...

Illustrated volume of Dante's Divine Comedy

Manuscript Created date: 1st half of the 14th century

The Divine Comedy is considered one of the greatest works ever written in Italian. It describes a journey undertaken by...

Islamic map of the western Mediterranean

Map Created date: 14th century

This page from a Persian copy of a 10th-century atlas in the British Library's India Office collections is typical of Is...

John Dee's spirit mirror

Object Created date: 14th–16th century

This black spirit mirror and other magical objects are thought to have been owned by John Dee (1527–1608/9), the Elizabe...

Maastricht Hours

Manuscript Created date: 1st quarter of the 14th century

The Maastricht Hours is an early 14th-century Book of Hours written in Latin and French. The manuscript was made near Li...