Story of English 2 - Middle English

In the Middle Ages, this lead to a rise in literacy, written records, and texts to examine.

Middle English texts would be primarily written in

• Middle English

• Latin

• Old Norse

• French

The restating of material in new, parallel terms

What was seen as "wisdom literature" in the Middle Ages

• Poetry

• Bibles

• Scholarly texts

• Riddles

In the Middle Ages, books were written on

• Paper

• Parchment/Vellum

• Wood

• Fabric/Cloth

How many animal skins were required to make one book

• 200

• 100

• 150

• 50

In the Middle Ages, books were expensive and not mass produced

• True

• False

Describe the process of making books in the Middle Ages

Answer explanation

1: Animal skins would be prepared by soaking them in a water and lye solution, then sundried.

2: Skins would be stretched out and scrapped with a crescent-shaped knife (called a lunaium) to remove any remaining impurities (body fat, bumps on the skin, hairs)

3: Skins are cut into parchment sheets

4: Ink and quill are created for writing

5: Cover is created out of wooden boards wrapped in leather or similar, skin-based material. Clasps, etchings, and other decorations were added

6: Pages would be arranged skin-to-skin, flesh-to-flesh. After this, the book would be ready for writing!

A text written by hand by a scribe (often a monk at a monastery)

The artist responsible for the images in the manuscript