It’s not uncommon for Medieval manuscripts to be bound in animal skins. The hides of deer and goats were used, as were those of boars. But a new analysis of 16 manuscripts held in a French abbey has ...

Books with furry covers are indicative of medieval monks’ role in international trade, researchers said. Lévêque, et al (2025) Royal Society Open Science At the end of the ninth century, a group of ...

Newly displayed 1,300-year-old doodles suggest that medieval monastic life wasn’t all about solemn chants and holy scripture. Now on view at the National Museum of Ireland, Kildare Street, the ...

The best location for a monastery was one that was close to water and wood. Many monastic chroniclers mention this. Orderic Vitalis, born in England near Shrewsbury in 1075 and sent to the Norman ...

The French countryside is littered with medieval monasteries -- stony, quiet and atmospheric. Some are in a state of ruin; others are still home to peaceful monks or sisters going about their ...

At the end of the ninth century, a group of Roman Catholic monks in France struck out on their own. Dissatisfied with the rules of the Benedictine abbey they called home, they created the Cistercian ...