This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience. By clicking or navigating the site you agree to allow our collection of information through cookies. Check our Privacy policy.

Rise of Literacy

This project explored the history of the written text in Europe, and aimed to showcase related cultural treasures on the Europeana collections website.  

Posted on Thursday September 14, 2017

Updated on Monday November 6, 2023

Collections Projects Cultural Heritage Institutions Newspapers Generic-services Books Manuscripts Literature Rise-of-literacy

1 September 2017 to 28 February 2019
Add to calendar
main image
Title:
Jean de Meun writing in his study
Creator:
Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meun
Date:
c. 1380
Institution:
The British Library
Country:
United Kingdom

Project partners:

  1. Narodna in univerzitetna knjižnica (project coordinator)

  2. Europeana Foundation

  3. Ethniki Bibliothiki Ellados

  4. Koninklijke Bibliotheek

  5. Narodna biblioteka Srbije -ustanova kulture od nacionalnog značaja

  6. Bibliothèque nationale de France

  7. National Library of Scotland

  8. Latvijas Nacionālā bibliotēka

  9. Biblioteca Nacional de Portugal

  10. Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin -Preußischer Kulturbesitz

  11. Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche - Opera del Vocabolario Italiano

  12. Istituto Centrale per il Catalogo Unico delle biblioteche italiane e per le informazioni bibliografiche

  13. Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru / The National Library of Wales

About the project

Rise of Literacy looked at the use of written text in Europe from the sixth to the twentieth century to record history, disseminate information and maintain cultural knowledge. In particular, the project delivered more than 31,000 new digitised items from manuscripts, books, newspapers and other printed materials, resulting in two collections on Europeana: Europeana Newspapers and Europeana Manuscripts. 

Additionally, the project curated over 70 editorial outputs to encourage Europeana audiences to discover Europe’s written history. A highlight of these editorials was the exhibition ‘The Rise of Literacy in Europe’ which follows a chronological narrative of reading in Europe, from early demands to establish a formal education through structured learning practices, to reading and writing with the help of alphabet books and catechisms.

This project was a Europeana Generic Services project and it was co-financed by the Connecting Europe Facility of the European Union.

Project partners

  1. Narodna in univerzitetna knjižnica (project coordinator)

  2. Europeana Foundation

  3. Ethniki Bibliothiki Ellados

  4. Koninklijke Bibliotheek

  5. Narodna biblioteka Srbije -ustanova kulture od nacionalnog značaja

  6. Bibliothèque nationale de France

  7. National Library of Scotland

  8. Latvijas Nacionālā bibliotēka

  9. Biblioteca Nacional de Portugal

  10. Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin -Preußischer Kulturbesitz

  11. Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche - Opera del Vocabolario Italiano

  12. Istituto Centrale per il Catalogo Unico delle biblioteche italiane e per le informazioni bibliografiche

  13. Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru / The National Library of Wales

Project news

top
Europeana Foundation
Prins Willem-Alexanderhof 5
2595 BE Den Haag
Netherlands

Our mission

Europeana empowers the cultural heritage sector in its digital transformation. We develop expertise, tools and policies to embrace digital change and encourage partnerships that foster innovation.

All texts are CC BY-SA, images and media licensed individually.
Europeana Foundation is registered at the Chamber of Commerce under number 27307531, RSIN number is 8186.80.349.

Find us elsewhere

X (Twitter) facebook Linked In Github Instagram

Funded by the European Union. Connecting Europe Facility.

Europeana is an initiative of the European Union, financed by the European Union’s Connecting Europe Facility and European Union Member States. The Europeana services, including this website, are operated by a consortium led by the Europeana Foundation under a service contract with the European Commission.

The European Commission does not guarantee the accuracy of the information and accepts no responsibility or liability whatsoever with regard to the information on this website. Neither the European Commission, nor any person acting on the European Commission’s behalf, is responsible or liable for the accuracy or use of the information on this website.