Medieval writings

Medieval Writings

Welcome to new users of this site, and welcome back to those returning for another look. This constantly growing project revolves around the culture of the written word in the middle ages. There is information on what people wrote about, as well as what they didn't write about but evidently knew anyway, some discussions on the working methods and materials of writing and concepts of literacy, and a steadily growing set of examples of historic scripts from around the 5th to around the 16th century. That is a broad chronology for medieval, but is there to demonstrate certain continuities in the culture and practice of writing. There are interactive paleography exercises derived from writing samples either in my possession or that of others or in archival institutions. Some examples have been published in very ancient paleography books that represent the finest of scholarship but which unfortunately nobody seems to read any more. The others have been nutted out by the partnership we call Tillotson's Medieval Enterprises, which means the interpretations may not be so authoritative, but you may not find them anywhere else. The project continues to grow, so bookmark the site so that you can return at leisure to explore around it.
http://medievalwriting.50megs.com/writing.htm