Collection items

Bestiary, with extracts from Gerald of Wales

Manuscript Created date: Late 12th-century–early 13th century

A bestiary contains Christian allegorical lessons based on the characteristics and habits of animals found in nature and...

Bilingual Psalter

Manuscript Created date: 4th quarter of the 12th century

Produced in England during the last quarter of the 12th century, this manuscript is one of only a few bilingual Psalters...

Canterbury or Anglo-Catalan Psalter

Manuscript Created date: 4th quarter of the 12th century

The Canterbury Psalter is amongst the most lavishly illustrated of English manuscripts. The luxurious decoration is part...

Cartulary of Reading Abbey

Manuscript Created date: 1190–1199

The 12th-century Cartulary of Reading Abbey gives a list of works held at the medieval libraries at Reading Abbey and Le...

Chartres Bible (first of two volumes)

Manuscript Created date: Mid-12th century

The 12th century saw the production of large-format ‘giant’ Bibles. In part, their popularity was due to the needs of ne...

Chartres Bible (second of two volumes)

Manuscript Created date: Mid-12th century

Named after its probable place of origin, The Chartres Bible is divided in two volumes. (The first is now BnF, Latin 55)...

Computus collection including Byrhtferth of Ramsey...

Manuscript Created date: 2nd quarter of the 12th century

The Enchiridion (Handbook) by Byrhtferth of Ramsey Abbey (fl. c. 986–c. 1016) is a commentary on the computus, covering ...

Early illustrated bestiary

Manuscript Created date: 4th quarter of the 12th century

A bestiary is a book of descriptions and pictures of beasts that combines natural history, Christian allegorical lessons...

English copy of Bede's Commentary on the Gospel of...

Manuscript Created date: 2nd or 3rd quarter of the 12th century

The Venerable Bede (b. c. 673, d. 735), whose greatest work was the Ecclesiastical History of the English People, also w...

English copy of St Augustine’s De Trinitate from S...

Manuscript Created date: 2nd quarter of the 12th century

St Augustine’s treatise on the Trinity was one of his most influential works. It concerns Christian theology and doctrin...

Flavius Josephus, Antiquities and The Jewish Wars

Manuscript Created date: 1171–1180

Flavius Josephus (d. c. 100) was one of the most important historians of the Greco-Roman era. He was born in Jerusalem,...

Foigny Abbey Bible

Manuscript Created date: 4th quarter of the 12th century

This giant Bible includes the entire text of the Old and New Testaments. Each biblical book opens with a large initial l...

Geoffrey of Ufford’s miscellaneous compilation of...

Manuscript Created date: c. 1154

A unique compilation of Latin moral, grammatical and historical treatises was collected by Geoffrey of Ufford in the 12t...

Gilbert of Poitiers, Commentary on the Psalms

Manuscript Created date: 1st half of the 12th century

Gilbert of Poitiers (d. 1154), or Gilbert de la Porrée, was a French scholar and theologian, who lectured at the ...

Glossed Book of Ezekiel

Manuscript Created date: 2nd half of the 12th century

This 12th-century copy of the Old Testament book of Ezekiel may have been produced at the Cistercian monastery of Founta...