Collection items

14th-century Greek New Testament

Manuscript

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

14th-century pilgrim's travel guide

Manuscript

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

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

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

Babylonian Talmud

Manuscript

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

The haggadah is the service book used in Jewish households on Passover Eve to celebrate the Israelites' deliverance from...

Constantine Manasses, Chronicle

Manuscript

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

Decretals of Pope Boniface VIII

Manuscript

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

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

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

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

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

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

Mattheus Platearius, Circa instans

Manuscript

Mattheus Platearius (active during the 12th century) was a physician from the medical school of Salerno, near Naples in...