Research Questions:

• 1. How were the northernmost areas of Europe included in different intellectual and educational networks extending across Europe, and how did these networks evolve, interact, and overlap, geographically and chronologically? In the making of a new book culture, how were the practical and the intellectual requirements organized and coordinated?

  2. How does incorporating the Nordic region in the ‘map’ of medieval parchment change conventional understandings of medieval book production? To what extent do books produced in the northernmost parts of Europe show adaptations of techniques, materials, format or other features owing to climatic conditions and/or limiting resources (e.g. lime, salt)?

  3. How can this unique, cross-national archive help us put to the test the new category of ‘textual heritage’ in the unoccupied space between tangible and intangible heritage? What impact could we have on both literary history and on heritage thinking in general, if we can show that ‘textual heritage’ will redefine – in contrast to national and institutional curating practice – who ‘owns’ the texts transmitted by the fragments?

Research Objectives:

• 4. Expand the perspective of European book history c. 1000-1500 through the Nordic collections of book fragments, which contain a wealth of material related to everyday literary culture (e.g. liturgy) that is less well documented in other parts of Europe.

  5. Illuminate the relationship between the transmitted manuscript material and the overlapping international networks linking Northern Europe c. 1000-1500, investigating the role played by texts and manuscripts in integrating the Nordic region into a European intellectual culture.

  6. Explore the dynamics of literary culture within the Nordic region by studying the dissemination and development of selected texts, and practical literary know-how between literate communities and writing centers; the Northern take on European literate culture.

  7. Reconnect fragments to each other across collections and ‘reassemble’ medieval books through a combination of old and new fragment identifications, and visualizing the ‘reassembled’ books in a virtual library.

  8. Explore the craftsmanship associated with book production and provide reference material for Scandinavian parchment, through biomolecular and visual analysis – giving rise to a more fine-grained image of book production, imported books and Nordic characteristics.

  9. Develop methodologies and best practices through applying multidisciplinarity on an unprecedented scale. This will take place in close cooperation with the relevant holding institutions with a particular focus on in-house conservators, whose funding within CODICUM champions their unique skills and knowledge of the materials. This highlights our view of institutions as active partners rather than passive repositories of material.

  10. Increase the awareness of fragments and accessibility of Nordic fragments for a wider community of scholars, thereby advancing medieval studies on a European scale.