"One of the rarest early medieval manuscripts to appear on the market in a century - a thousand-year-old Gospel book potentially produced by a community of women in 10th-century Germany - will be offered at Christie's London on December 10th. Estimated at $880,000 to $1.26 million (£700,000-£1 million), the manuscript is being hailed as one of the most significant medieval discoveries in decades. The Gospel, written in elegant Carolingian minuscule, is closely associated with Essen Abbey, a renowned centre of women's scholarship during the early Middle Ages."
"The text contains prayers "for the veiling of handmaidens of God", language used for women taking religious vows. This strongly suggests the manuscript was created by canonesses-aristocratic women who lived in religious communities while maintaining wealth, status, and high levels of literacy. Their scriptoria played a crucial role in preserving and transmitting learned culture during the early medieval period."
A thousand-year-old Gospel book, written in elegant Carolingian minuscule, is linked to Essen Abbey and may have been produced by a community of canonesses in 10th-century Germany. The manuscript contains prayers 'for the veiling of handmaidens of God', indicating use in female religious vows and suggesting production within a female scriptorium staffed by aristocratic, highly literate women. The codex was long held in the Chicago Theological Seminary's Hammond Library and was only recently identified as an early medieval manuscript. Fewer than ten Latin Gospel manuscripts from the 10th century or earlier have appeared at auction in the past century, and none with a documented link to a female scriptorium.
Read at Medievalists.net
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