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ARMA -The Art of Reading in the Middle Ages

The project showed how medieval reading culture evolved and became a fundamental aspect of European culture. 

Posted on Thursday September 24, 2020

Updated on Monday November 6, 2023


1 October 2020 to 31 August 2022
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Two circular illustrations within a manuscript
Title:
Volvelle from BL Sloane 702, ff. 21v-22
Date:
c. 1482
Institution:
The British Library
Country:
United Kingdom

About the project

The Middle Ages is a crucial part of European history, lasting approximately from the 5th to the 15th centuries. Although often misrepresented and considered brutal or unsophisticated, this long and complex period of history was in fact a time of thriving arts and great inventiveness.  

To showcase the importance of this period, the  ARMA - the Art of Reading In The Middle Ages project - offered audiences a range of editorials in various formats. A total of 40 editorials including the Middle Ages feature page and the online exhibition ‘The Art of Reading in the Middle Ages’ was carefully created for the project.  The online exhibition was published in English and translated into Dutch, German, Czech, Slovene, and French.  

The project also involved curators and educators to design inspiring and innovative learning materials using digitised medieval manuscripts. The project targeted primary, secondary and post-secondary students. In total, 34 curatorial activities were published on the project website and highlighted in the Europeana Classroom

Furthermore, the project delivered 66,327 newly and updated records to the Europeana website, of which 65,885 (or 99%) are in Tier 2+ of the Europeana Publishing Framework58 records are 3D content reflecting diverse topics including bronze and ceramic objects to religious content from the Middle Ages. Finally, 62,217 objects of the 66,327 records were delivered using IIIF protocols to ensure that all digitised images in high quality.

The use of IIIF protocols is not yet widely implemented across cultural heritage institutions in Europe. Project partners presented their lessons learned on the implementation and use of the IIIF protocols on a set of recommendations available below.

Visit the project website.

Project partners

  1. National and University Library - Slovenia (coordinator)
  2. Universiteit Leiden - Netherlands
  3. Europeana Foundation - Netherlands
  4. National Library of the Czech Republic - Czech Republic
  5. Bibliotheque nationale de France - France 
  6. Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin – Preußischer Kulturbesitz - Germany
  7. Hunt Museum - Ireland
  8. Stad Brugge - Belgium

Project news

  • Teaching with digitised medieval manuscripts in post-secondary education
    Title:
    The making of the video series: Irene O’Daly and Sean van der Steen in the Special Collections Reading Room of Leiden University Libraries.
    Creator:
    Erik-Jan Dros (photographer)
    Date:
    2021
    Institution:
    Leiden University Libraries
    Country:
    The Netherlands
    News Created: 12 May 2022 Isabel Crespo

    Teaching with digitised medieval manuscripts in post-secondary education

    In the ‘Art of Reading in the Middle Ages’ (ARMA) project, curators from different European heritage institutions and educators joined forces to design innovative learning materials for higher education with digitised medieval manuscripts. FInd out more about their work.

  • Bringing digitised medieval objects into compulsory education
    Title:
    Christine de Pisan from BL Harley 4431, f. 3
    Date:
    c. 1410-c. 1414
    Institution:
    British Library
    Country:
    Rijksmuseum
    News Created: 31 May 2022 Isabel Crespo

    Bringing digitised medieval objects into compulsory education

    The ‘Art of Reading in the Middle Ages’ (ARMA) project saw curators work with educators to design inspiring and innovative learning materials using digitised medieval manuscripts. Find out the work done for pupils in primary and secondary schools. 

  • ARMA - discovering medieval reading culture
    Title:
    Composite manuscript (Greek): 1. (ff. 1-2, 52-152) Tabulas manuales / Ptolemy, and other text(s). – 2. (ff. 3-51) Commentarius brevior / Theon of Alexandria, and other text(s) – And other part(s)
    Institution:
    Bibliotheken Universiteit Leiden
    Country:
    Netherlands
    News Created: 6 October 2022 Małgorzata Szynkielewska

    ARMA - discovering medieval reading culture

    The ARMA - the Art of Reading in the Middle Ages project saw thousands of medieval objects shared with Europeana and developed resources to help educators bring these digitised items - and their history - into the classroom. Discover what the project achieved and how to use the resources it developed. 

  • Case study explores digitisation, education and engagement at the Hunt Museum
    Title:
    Ivory figure of St Thomas Becket digitised as part of the ARMA project
    Institution:
    The Hunt Museum
    News Created: 19 October 2022 Kate Fernie Sian McInerney Effie Patsatzi

    Case study explores digitisation, education and engagement at the Hunt Museum

    Earlier this year, the Hunt Museum published a case study which shared insights from their experience digitising items from their collections in 3D. Read on to hear about their experience and learn how objects digitised in 3D can form an important part of engagement strategies.

Project events

Project publications

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