You may have read Augustine or Homer or Virgil, but if you read it in English in a modern book you had a very different experience with the text than an ancient Roman or Medieval Christian once had. Medieval Christians transcribed their most highly valued texts onto animal skin: what we now generally call “manuscripts.” When we read the texts in their manuscript form, we enter into the Medieval experience while learning of those who thought the strenuous work of transcription worthwhile. The manuscript is itself an artefact.

This webinar will introduce students to the basics of Medieval manuscripts: kinds of manuscripts, how they were used, how they were made, how to identify when one was made, and where to find them now. While most were written in Latin, we will not translate them but will cover common abbreviations, transliterations, and compositional norms that one would need to know in order to begin the work of translating. After this webinar, attendees will have the tools to begin incorporating these primary sources into their own teaching or pursue their own studies in reading and interpreting Medieval manuscripts.