Élodie Lévêque
A new research found that the medieval monks in France, Belgium and England binded the books with focal skins from such distinctive destinations as Iceland or Granelândia.
In an intriguing revelation of the pages of the European past, scientists found that some medieval manuscripts were not bound in cow’s skin or deer, but rather spot -skinned from the icy waters of northwestern Atlantic and marketed by the Nordic descendants of the Vikings.
One published April 9 at the Royal Society Open Science Anaisou 32 Medieval Books Using biocodicology, a method that reveals biological data incorporated into old manuscripts.
The investigation, led by Book Conservation Specialist Élodie Lévêque at Paris University 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, combined mass concert with the mass with Old DNA Analysis to find out the surprising origins of the binding of these books.
The investigation began in the abbey of Clairvaux, in France, where they were analyzed 19 books dated 1140 to 1275. The findings revealed that their outdoor protective covers, known as “chemises”, were made of seal skin, specifically of pin species such as the seal of the harbor, the Harp seal and the bearded seal. Another 13 “hairy books” with similar binding were identified in France, England and Belgium, dated between 1150 and 1250.
DNA tests also revealed that the seals came from a diversified geographical range, Including Grolândia, Iceland, Scotland and Scandinavia. This suggests that there was a well -established trade network that connected the Nordic communities to continental Europe, says.
These networks were known for trade in valuable goodslike the ivory and the halves of walrus, and the seal skin seems to have been part of the load. Historical accounts even suggest that the seal skins were used to pay tithing to the Catholic Church in the thirteenth century.
All Books bound with seal skin came from abbeys located along the commercial routes of the thirteenth century, aligned with commercial routes known Nordic.
The study challenges previous assumptions about animal materials used in medieval binding. Although the reason for choosing the skin of the seal continues to be unknown, the discoveries underline the Long -range influence Nordic trade in the Middle Ages.
