Collection items

13th-century English Book of Hours

Manuscript Created date: Late 13th century

An early Book of Hours from England. Popular in the late Middle Ages and the early Renaissance, Books of Hours were pra...

Aristotle in Latin

Manuscript Created date: 13th century

This 13th-century manuscript contains Gerard of Cremona's (c. 1114-87) translations of Aristotelian works on natural phi...

Chronicon Anglicanum

Manuscript Created date: 1200-99

After Archbishop Hubert Walter’s death in 1205 and the rejection of other nominees to the see of Canterbury, the monks o...

Collection of medieval historical works

Manuscript Created date: 1st quarter of the 13th century

This volume contains a variety of historical and legendary material, including the Trojan War, Alexander the Great and t...

Dialogue of the Exchequer

Manuscript Created date: 1200-99

Richard fitz Nigel (1130-98), Bishop of Ely and author of The Dialogue of the Exchequer, has been described as a model c...

English copy of William of Malmesbury’s Deeds of t...

Manuscript Created date: 1st half of the 13th century–c. 1291

William of Malmesbury’s (b. c. 1095, d. c. 1143) Deeds of the Kings of the English focuses on political events and ruler...

Gerald of Wales's The Conquest of Ireland

Manuscript Created date: c.1196 -1223

John first experienced warfare in 1185 when, aged just 17, he was sent by his father, King Henry II (r. 1154–89) on an u...

Images of the life of Christ

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

The book of Psalms was at the heart of medieval spirituality. From a relatively early date, very grand copies included a...

Laws of the Londoners

Manuscript Created date: 1st quarter of the 13th century

By the end of the 12th century, French was commonly used as an administrative and legal language in England alongside La...

Murder of Prince Arthur in Chronicle of Margam Abb...

Manuscript Created date: 1200-99

The murder of King John’s nephew, Prince Arthur (1187–1203) had far-reaching consequences, since it led indirectly to th...

Portrait of King John from Matthew Paris's Histori...

Manuscript, Illustration Created date: 1200-99

One of the most significant works by Matthew Paris (1200–59), author, illuminator and monk of St Albans Abbey, is the Hi...

Psalter with the Hours of the Virgin Mary

Manuscript Created date: 1st quarter of the 13th century

The 20 full-page illuminations at the beginning of this Psalter form one of the most outstanding prefatory cycles to sur...

Rochester Bestiary

Manuscript Created date: c. 1230

Bestiaries, or ‘Books of beasts’, provide an account of the characteristics and habits of a variety of animals, both rea...

The poisoning of King John and coronation of King...

Manuscript, Illustration Created date: 1200-99

King John was taken ill in October 1216, having suffered an attack of dysentery, and he died at Newark, Nottinghamshire,...

The siege of Lincoln Castle and battle of Sandwich

Manuscript Created date: 1200-99

At the time of King John’s death, England had descended into civil war. Following the papal annulment of Magna Carta, th...