‘Dits scrifte dat nu in der handen es’ Writing for Third Parties in the Brussels Convent of Jericho

What is it about?

In the second half of the fijifteenth century, the sisters of the Brussels convent of Jericho regularly wrote manuscripts on commission (pro pretio) for their fellow sisters and for other persons and (semi-)religious institutions outside the convent walls. This is apparent from accounts the prioresses kept for a period of twenty-five years, between 1466 and 1491. These accounts offer us an unprecedentedly concrete and detailed view of the production of manuscripts for payment in the convent, which is highly important for our knowledge of the commercial aspects of late medieval writing culture in the Netherlands. This article offers a view of the inside of the scriptorium, in which usually five or six copyists worked at the same time. It also examines the scriptorium’s expenses and the (generally liturgical) codices the sisters produced for payment.

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Photo by Chris Lawton on Unsplash

Photo by Chris Lawton on Unsplash