This project produced new research to investigate our extensive collection of artefacts that illustrate this fascinating theme. Finds, found in York, that were explored include:
- A clockmaker seal matrix from 62-68 Petergate.
- Seal matrices from Bedern, Fishergate, Aldwark and Rawcliffe.
- Papal bullae from St. Leonards, All Saints Peasholme Green and Haymarket.
- Parchment prickers, styli and lead points from Swinegate, Fishergate. Coppergate, Tower Street, Bishophill Senior and Bedern.
- Book clasps and mounts from Bedern and Fishergate.
- Wax tablets from Swinegate.
An exhibition at Barley Hall displayed the collection of objects and revealed how they were involved in document, manuscript and book production and care. The project also revealed who was literate in the medieval period? How dominant was the church in this period? Do we know if the owners of seal matrices – some of whom were craftspeople – would have been literate and who wrote on the wax tablets?
The Swinegate Tablets
An exhibition at These 14th century box wood tablets with wax inlays were excavated in Swinegate, York during the 1990s. They appear to contain a Chaucerian English poem and part of a legal document made in Latin. Bradford University scanned these tablets using a variety of methods to determine the data that they hold and what more it tells us about life in medieval York.
The resulting images have been translated by Professor Linne Mooney from the University of York
