Celtic Connections and More?

This afternoon I opened my email  to see a blog from the British Library (a great place to look for medieval images, btw, especially as you can zoom in) on twelfth-century Bibles. Computers have greatly enhanced my ability to make the Middle Ages visual and having access to entire pages of illuminated Bibles allows us to attempt to see the past in the same way as a man or woman from the twelfth century would have. So there was much surprise when I saw that one of the featured bibles was from a monastery that I have researched and from a monastic order that I have published a few articles on: the Premonstratensian order, and the monastery of Arnstein. The British library today holds the Bible, although it originated in the Rhineland of Germany.  The images that I have included link directly to class because I found their use of Celtic knotwork interesting. We discussed The Book of Kells, which was known for its intricate knot work (see also Bennett 48-49). But I was fascinated to see a monk from Germany--which by the twelfth century was a very different world than that which created The Book of Kells--use space in a similar way.

Take a look at the images of the illuminated Bible below which date from the twelfth century. In the first image every inch of space is used, but if you look more closely find the words, In precipio, meaning "In the beginning. . ." (IN is very large and takes the left two-thirds of the page; principio runs down the right hand side). Scattered among these interwoven visuals is Jesus at the top and John the Evangelist at the bottom (thanks to the British library site for helping me out with who was at the bottom).  In the following image, note the tight use of imagery and the fairly easy to read script on the right. Now thank Charlemagne, his advisors, and monastics for implementing the clear easy to read script (Bennett 97) which was unlike anything used before.

For a direct look at more Bibles and for info related to these images, see: http://britishlibrary.typepad.co.uk/digitisedmanuscripts/

If you're interested in an article on the Premonstratensian order that I wrote,  you can read start here (caveat: not light reading): https://muse.jhu.edu/login?auth=0&type=summary&url=/journals/catholic_historical_review/v089/89.3wolbrink.html

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