Date: c. 947 Place of Production: Germany Description: Edith was originally buried in the monastery of St Maurice in Magdeburg, which was converted into Magdeburg Cathedral. In 2008, the 16th-century stone sarcophagus in Magdeburg Cathedral was opened and a lead coffin found with Edith’s body inside. Held at: Magdeburg Cathedral Image in Public Domain. For more, see H. Meller, W.Schenkluhn,…
Book of Deer Date: Early tenth century(?) Place of Production: Lowland Scotland(?) Description: The Book of Deer/Leabhar Dhèir is a Gospel Book written in Latin, and was produced in the tenth century, perhaps in the Scottish lowlands: it is the earliest manuscript to survive that was made in Scotland. In the twelfth century, annotators from the monastery at…
The Beatus of La Seu d’Urgell Date: Late 10th century Place of Production: Rioja(?) Description: This remarkable book was produced in somewhat mysterious circumstances – no reference to or hint of the author, date or place of production survives. It is full of illustrations, some of the most impressive of which depict the Apocalypse, and the Commentary of…
Codex Aureus of Echternach Date: c. 1030 Place of Production: Echternach Description: This large manuscript has 41 miniatures, thirteen decorated pages and more than 250 golden initials. The miniatures depict different images, among which is a cycle of seven images of St Stephanus, the first martyr. The codex is also called ‘codex Aureus’, because the text is…
Otto III’s Prayer Book Date: 983–991 Place of Production: Mainz Description: This lavish book was made for Otto III, who was three when he became king. It is likely that his mother who commissioned it for him. The manuscript is a prayer book, and contains many beautiful illustrations and detail in gold leaf. Held at: Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, München, Clm…
The Egbert Psalter Date: c. 980 Place of Production: Reichenau Description: The psalter (a book containing the psalms) was given to Egbert, archbishop of Trier (975-993). It contains a calendar and a psalter. The manuscript holds several full-paged portraits of archbishops of Trier. It was illuminated in Reichenau, one of the most rich and creative centres in the…
The Egbert Codex Date: Late tenth century Place of Production: Reichenau Description: This gospel book was commissioned by archbishop Egbert of Trier (975-993) and contains one of the most elaborate collections of miniature drawings illutrating the life of Christ. The codex holds the Gospel readings throughout the ecclesiastical year, and it has 60 illuminated pages and 140 decorated…
Date: 10th–11th century Place of Production: Unknown, found in Oxford, UK Description: Six twisted gold rods form a finger ring, in a style typical of Viking jewellery. The ring gets smaller towards the back, where the rods have been beaten flat together. Held at: British Museum Accession Number: 1905,1108.1 Images licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA…
Date: 10th century Place of Production: Unknown, found in Buckinghamshire, UK Description: Twisted gold rods form a circular arm band, in a style typical of VIking jewellery. This particularly fine example was likely worn by a male. This type of arm band was worn as jewellery but could also serve as portable bullion. Held at: British…
Date: 10th century Place of Production: England, found in Faversham Description: This cast gold ring has at its centre a Roman carnelian intaglio, a typical example of the use and re-use of precious gems in the early medieval period. Although quite badly worn, much of the decoration is still visible, including seven elongated oval leaves, filigree…
