Singing along in the margin

In the early medieval books of Fleury, neumes (an early form of music notation) are a regular occurrence in the margins. Who wrote these neumes and why?

Mariken Teeuwen • October 25, 2024

A new reading of medieval ‘doodles’

Doodles in medieval manuscripts are often interpreted as idle and mindless scribbles. But is this an accurate assessment? Could doodles instead reveal a hitherto unexplored way that people in the Middle Ages interacted with their manuscripts?

Nina Witteman • May 02, 2024

John of Pamele’s Illustrated Rent Book

John of Pamele’s illustrated ‘Vieil Rentier’ is one of the few surviving secular rent books from before 1300. Its richly illustrated pages show John of Pamele as a commited landlord managing his far-flung properties.

Elizabeth den Hartog • June 02, 2023

Leiden's medieval manuscripts online: An update

Erik-Jan Dros, project officer on the ARMA (Art of Reading in the Middle Ages) project, takes us through the developments in the digitisation of the medieval manuscripts in Leiden University Library's collection which took place during 2021.

Erik-Jan Dros • December 24, 2021

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Singing along in the margin

A new reading of medieval ‘doodles’

John of Pamele’s Illustrated Rent Book

Leiden's medieval manuscripts online: An update