One of the largest databases of medieval manuscripts has added 61 new items to its collection. They include manuscripts from the Franciscan order as well as fragments dating back to the eighth century.

The digitized manuscripts were added to e-codices: The Virtual Manuscript Library of Switzerland, which is run out of the University of Fribourg. The new additions bring their collection to over 2500 items.

Among the additions are three medieval manuscripts held at the Central Library of the Swiss town of Solothurn. They originally belonged to the Franciscans and included a German translation of their Rule.

Another interesting addition to the collection is four manuscripts from a library in Porrentruy, which is located in northwest Switzerland. They are not from the Middle Ages, but were made around the end of the 19th century, and are armourials depicting coats of arms of the local nobility.

Many of the new additions come from the Abbey Library of Saint Gall, an important monastery in the Middle Ages. Some of these are collections of fragments of manuscripts from older works, including those dating back to the 8th century. Dr. William Duba, who coordinates e-codices for the Center for Manuscript Studies at the University of Fribourg, explains that for him “by far the most exciting part of the update is the publication of hundreds of fragments from the Ildefons von Arx fragment volumes 1397 and 1398a. Before we started work on these, most of them were known only by a one-line title applied to a whole folder. Thanks to the work of Chiara de Angelis, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Cassino, Scientific Editor Brigitte Roux, St. Gallen librarian Philipp Lenz, and numerous others who helped in specific cases, we have identified and dated each of the fragments, and noting where they come from the same manuscripts.”

You can read more at: https://www.medievalists.net/2023/09/61-medieval-manuscripts-digitized-and-available-online/,