Last month we looked at pannage, feeding pigs on the autumnal fodder in wooded pastures, particularly on acorns. December, however, is less auspicious for our porcine friends. Vegetarians and vegans should look away now because after November's pannage, December's Labour of the Month is the slaughter of pigs. It may seem odd to us that this was …
Imagine you are standing at the edge of a forest on a cold November day. The periodic thump of a woodsman's axe echoes in the still air and from the shade beneath the trees there comes the sound of many animals rooting around in the fallen leaves. You hear their grunts and the occasional thwack of the swineherd's stick …
Sowing was the beginning and end of the agricultural season and was an important charge for the workers responsible. After the soil was loosened with a harrow and subdivided into furrows with a plow, the process of sowing was as follows: "The field to be sown was measured, and the seed was measured into open sacks …
With summer just around the corner, outdoor pastimes are the order of the day. Among the most ancient and noble of these is falconry and it is this aristocratic pursuit that is the first of two Labours of the Month for May. Developed in Mesopotamia perhaps as early as 2,000 BC, falconry is the hunting …
Catchwords are words which are usually written on the bottom margin of a page which repeat the first word on the following page. Here is an example from Trinity MS R.3.60. Note the catchword 'singula' on the bottom of the verso (left) page which is the first word on the recto (right) page. In MS B.15.25, the …
A brief account of the Fruit, Herbs & Vegetables of Italy was written in 1614 by Giacomo Castelvetro (1546-1616) and dedicated to Lucy, Countess of Bedford. Trinity holds three manuscript versions, now digitised, and a copy of the gorgeous 1989 translation, The fruit, herbs & vegetables of Italy: an offering to Lucy, Countess of Bedford …
February having flown by, it is time once again to find out what we should be doing this month. Medieval manuscripts tell us that it's finally time to get out into the garden. Our 15th century French Book of Hours, B.11.31, tells us that this month we should be out pruning our trees (eccentric head …
Tucked away in one of the locked bays in the Wren Library is Trin MS B.5.3, a huge and "exceptionally splendid"* 13th century manuscript produced at the Benedictine abbey in St. Albans, Hertfordshire. The St. Albans scriptorium was a hub of illuminated manuscript production, perhaps best known for the St. Albans Psalter and for Matthew Paris, a monk, …
Manuscript R.4.20 comprises two texts bound together: The Travels of Sir John Mandeville and John Lydgate's Siege of Thebes. Hidden between these two texts, someone has made use of the blank folios for handwriting practice and there are pen trials (testing newly trimmed pen nibs) in the margins. The lines chosen appear to be from …
The Trinity Carol Roll (MS O.3.58), a parchment scroll over six feet long, is the earliest source for English polyphonic carols. Dating from the early 15th century in East Anglia, the roll contains words and musical notation on a five line stave for thirteen carols in Middle English and Latin. These include the patriotic 'Deo gracias …
The Rare Books & Manuscripts Library of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge
Worcester Cathedral Library contains nearly 300 medieval manuscripts, 5500 printed books, and 20,000 archival documents. The aim of this blog is to open up the fascinating collection of a Medieval English Cathedral to the wider world.
News from the Peterhouse Perne and Ward Libraries
Erik Kwakkel blogging about medieval manuscripts
Treasures from the Collection
Special Collections of King's College, Cambridge
One of Cambridge's hidden gems
Treasures from the Collection
Trinity College Library, Cambridge 