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Lost Medieval Pages Found in Brighton Archive
17 Sep
Summary
- Six missing pages of a medieval Catholic manuscript discovered.
- Pages were hidden by a Tudor courtier during the Reformation.
- The manuscript is 'Mirror Of The Blessed Life Of Jesus Christ'.
Six previously missing pages from a significant medieval Catholic manuscript have been discovered by academics from the universities of Sussex and Cambridge. The find was made at The Keep archive in Brighton.
These pages are from Nicholas Love's 'Mirror Of The Blessed Life Of Jesus Christ'. They were reportedly shielded by Sir John Gage, a Tudor courtier involved in the dissolution of monasteries from 1536. Sir John, who remained a Catholic, is believed to have safeguarded the manuscript.
The newly found pages were absent from the contents list of a box deposited in 1929. They have now been successfully matched with the main body of the manuscript, which resides at Yale University. This discovery provides a counter-narrative to the common perception of extensive book destruction during the Reformation, suggesting that books were also actively preserved.
Researchers noted that the manuscript may have originated from a monastic house before coming into Sir John Gage's possession, given the likely history of ownership by religious women.
