Project Status: Ongoing

An searchable image database of selections from medieval and Renaissance manuscripts that unites scattered resources from many institutions into an international tool for teaching and scholarly research.

Manuscript images may be browsed by location or language, with separate sections for the collections of Greek Manuscripts and Petrarch Manuscripts. The search function also allows subject, date, and geographical searches, as well as a direct shelfmark search. Digital Scriptorium is maintained by the University of California, Berkeley, Bancroft Library.  The technology platform is WebGenDB.

Resource details:

Resource Type: CatalogImagesManuscripts/FacsimilesSearchable Database

License: Must provide creditNo Fee

Modern Language: English

Medieval content details:

Dates: 500 - 1899

Later 18th-19th-century copies of medieval and Renaissance manuscripts sometimes included.

Subject: Church FathersClassics, HumanismClergyEcclesiologyEschatologyHistoryLawManuscript StudiesMariologyMendicantsMonasticismMonksMusicMuslims, IslamNobility, GentryPapacyPhilosophy, TheologyPietyPriests, Bishops, CanonsReformReligious LawRoyalty, MonarchsSacramentalSaintsScience, MathematicsScriptural ExegesisTheologyWomenWomen Religious

Type/Genre of Medieval Primary Source Material: AllegoricalArt and ArtifactsChronicles, AnnalsComedy, SatireCommentary, Gloss, ExegesisDevotionalDictionary, Glossary, GrammarDidacticDoctrinalDramaEpic, SagaFolklore, LegendsHagiographyLetters, PetitionsLiteratureLiturgyManuscriptsProseReligious TextsRomanceScriptureSermons, OrationsTextual EvidenceVerse

Many different types of documents (none or few reproduced in their entirety), but especially scriptural and liturgical works.

Geopolitical Region: ArmeniaAustriaBelgiumBohemiaBritish Isles and IrelandByzantiumCroatiaDenmarkEnglandEuropeFlandersFranceGermanyGreeceHoly Roman EmpireHungaryIberian PeninsulaIcelandIrelandItalyLow CountriesMiddle EastNetherlandsNorwayPortugalScandinaviaSicilySpainWales

Primarily European

Original Language: Anglo-NormanArabic (Middle)CatalanCzechDutchEnglishFrenchGermanGreekHebrewIrishItalianLatinMiddle EnglishNorseOld EnglishOld French (12-13C)PortugueseSpanishWelsh

Medieval Creators: Francis of AssisiLombard, PeterWyclif, JohnPetrarchJohn of SalisburyLangland, WilliamHildegard of BingenJeromeHoccleve, ThomasGower, JohnDante AlighieriChrysostom, JohnChaucer, GeoffreyBonaventureChristine de PizanBoccaccio, GiovanniAquinas, ThomasAugustine of Hippo

This is just a selection of the authors represented in the Digital Scriptorium.