Thirteenth- and fourteenth-century Latin Bibles survive in hundreds of manuscripts, one of the most popular books of the Middle Ages. Their innovative layout and organization established the norm for Bibles for centuries to come. This volume is the first study of these Bibles as a cohesive group. Multi- and inter-disciplinary analyses in art history, liturgy, exegesis, preaching and manuscript studies, reveal the nature and evolution of layout and addenda. They follow these Bibles as they were used by monks and friars, preachers and merchants. By addressing Latin Bibles alongside their...

Throughout the history of Christianity, men and women have wrestled with the challenge of how to interpret, and how to follow, the Gospels. Intrinsic to this process is the concept of "reform," a recognition that change is necessary in order to return to a more authentic Christian life. The approximately thirty-five manuscripts presented here trace this process from the twelfth to the sixteenth centuries through the texts that inspired reform movements and communicated their ideas to others.