The images below are the beginnings of some general images you can go to for examples of illustrations of medieval life, history, and culture. I add to them on a regular basis, so check on them regularly!

Specific images dealing with The Arthurian Legend can be found by clicking on the link here.

  The page at the left is an example of a glossed text. Glosses were the primary way that information about a text was transmitted in the Middle Ages. They were commentaries and explanations (and sometimes corrections) of a text. Consider them a sort of medieval version of our "tips for reading." When you go to this page, you will be led to other examples of glossed texts--some of which retain less than 10 words of "original text," while the rest is gloss!

  Here is another example of the way reading and interpretation were done in the Middle Ages. The image here is from a Moralized Bible (the Bible Moralisée) and it shows the four different levels of meaning used in medieval biblical interpretation (exegesis) in pictorial form.

  Calendars and Books of Hours (for prayers) were a popular source of beautiful illuminations. Here is an image from the Book of Hours of the Duke of Berry, showing the month of April.

  Here is an excellent illustration of a medieval construction site. You might want to have a look at the videos Cathedral and Castle that we have in the lab for further insights into construction techniques in the Middle Ages. Remember that cathedrals such as Notre Dame de Paris, Chartres, St. Denis, and the like, were all constructed without the benefit of electricity and modern construction machinery or tools.

  So, you thought that they never bathed in the Middle Ages? Go to this page and take another look.