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Lesson Plan
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Curated OER

Theology…the Use of Silence in the Classroom

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Immerse your class in the Middle Ages with a thorough history lesson. After viewing examples of illuminated manuscripts such as the Book of Kells, they discuss how these were the mode of keeping and storing information employed by the...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Looking At Illuminated Manuscripts: Exploring an Illuminated Manuscript Page

For Teachers 3rd - 12th
Students investigate illuminated manuscript pages from the Medieval period. In this illuminated manuscript lesson, students examine 13th century pages and compare them to modern printed works. They describe the details of an illuminated...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Funky Illuminated Fairy Tales

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students create their own fairy tale.  In this book making instructional activity, students write a fairy tale and turn it into a book. They use decorated initials and borders to make it look like an illuminated manuscript.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Looking at Illuminated Manuscripts: An Illuminated Day Planner

For Teachers 7th - Higher Ed
Young scholars examine a book of hours to compare it with a modern day planner. In this illuminated manuscripts lesson, students analyze a book of hours example from the 16th century. Young scholars create their own modern day...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Looking at Illuminated Manuscripts: Exploring an Illuminated Manuscript Page

For Teachers 3rd - 12th
Learners compare a 13th-century illuminated manuscript page to other manuscript pages and modern printed books. They study the different elements of an illuminated manuscript page.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Looking At Illuminated Manuscripts: A Book Of Modern Astronomy

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Learners examine a medieval manuscript on astronomy and create their own books based on modern discoveries in astronomy. They choose a subject of modern astronomy that they would like to write and create an illuminated image about.
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Website
National Library of France

Bibliotheque Nationale De France: Tresors Carolingiens (Carolingian Treasures)

For Students 9th - 10th
All in French, but the beautiful illuminated manuscripts can be appreciated without reading the detailed explanations. Advanced French students will enjoy the audio explanations.
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Activity
British Library

British Library: Explore the World's Knowledge

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
The United Kingdom's British Library is the largest library in the world. It's collections include cultural artifacts from around the world on topics such as art, music and literature. Explore virtual reproductions of classic works of...
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Website
British Library

British Library: Illuminated Manuscripts

For Students 9th - 10th
A collection of illuminated manuscripts from the 8th to 15th centuries from the British Library. Access the entire collection of 3,000 and read the individual information about each one. A truly beautiful display.
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Website
University of Washington

University of Washington: Historical Book Arts

For Students 9th - 10th
Learn about various aspects of the traditional art of bookmaking from the binding, printing and illustrations, to the papers used. These galleries and descriptions are a complete resource on this topic.
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Primary
University of Chicago

University of Chicago Library: The Moralized Game of Chess

For Students 9th - 10th
The subject matter of this medieval manuscript by the friar, Jacobus de Cessolis, is interesting--looking at the game of chess from a societal standpoint. Even more interesting from the viewpoint of the history of art is the illustrated...
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Website
University of California

University of California Berkeley: Digital Scriptorium

For Students 9th - 10th
Browse and search an image database of medieval and Renaissance illuminated manuscripts from many participating institutions.
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Website
British Library

British Library: Illuminating the Page

For Students 9th - 10th
The British Library presents "Illuminating the Page", a broad and diverse analysis of illuminated manuscripts from the middle ages. Including videos, audio, a gallery and other forms of information that give a detailed overview of this...
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Website
Other

Medieval Bestiary: Animals in the Middle Ages

For Students 9th - 10th
Bestiaries, illustrated volumes of animals and birds, were an expression of the intersection of the natural and religious worlds in medieval art and science. At this large database on the subject, you can learn about the symbolic content...
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Website
J. Paul Getty Trust

J. Paul Getty Museum: Illuminated Manuscripts From Belgium and the Netherlands

For Students 9th - 10th
Highlights from an exhibition of painted manuscripts from the late Middle Ages. Find examples of a range of works from the time, along with audio files of commentaries from the exhibition's curators.
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Website
J. Paul Getty Trust

J. Paul Getty Museum: Imagining the Past in France: 1250 1500

For Students 9th - 10th
View highlights from an exhibition of medieval French manuscripts, whose subjects range from the religious, to the courtly, to the historical. See a slideshow (with narration) of featured works from the exhibition and sample three...
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Website
J. Paul Getty Trust

J. Paul Getty Museum: Illuminating the Renaissance

For Students 9th - 10th
Through four different "looking closer" tools you can get an in-depth discovery of a well-known manuscript from the Renaissance.
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Website
Library of Congress

Loc: A Video Selection of Illuminated Manuscripts

For Students 9th - 10th
A video selection of various medieval and Renaissance manuscripts, including bibles and books of hours.
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Primary
Library of Congress

World Digital Library: Illuminated Manuscripts From Europe: Map

For Students 9th - 10th
A collection of primary source materials linked to a map that showcase illuminated manuscripts from 764 to 1889 that are in European museums and libraries. Click on a numbered circle and a popup appears showing one or more thumbnails and...
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Primary
Library of Congress

World Digital Library: Illuminated Manuscripts From Europe: Timeline

For Students 9th - 10th
A collection of primary source materials presented on a timeline that showcase illuminated manuscripts from 764 to 1889 that are in European museums and libraries. Click on an image to go to a page with descriptive information about each...
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Unit Plan
Other

Depicting Devotion: Illuminated Books of Hours

For Students 9th - 10th
A digital page-by-page walk through an illuminated Middle Age Book of Hours.
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Primary
Other

University of Aberdeen: Aberdeen Bestiary

For Students 9th - 10th
Digitized version of the Aberdeen Bestiary, written and illuminated in England around 1200. Access full-page displays and detailed views of illustrations, along with transcriptions of the text in English and the original Latin. Also...
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Website
Metropolitan Museum of Art

Metropolitan Museum of Art: Pen and Parchment: Drawing in the Middle Ages

For Students 9th - 10th
Fully illustrated blog about the art of medieval draftsmen shown in a special exhibition at the Metropolitan in 2009. Includes access to exhibition images, written assessments of important themes in medieval works on parchment, and...
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Website
Library of Congress

Loc: Rome Reborn: The Vatican Library & Renaissance Culture

For Students 9th - 10th
This page chronicles an exhibit hosted by the Library of Congress of manuscripts and documents from the Vatican Library. Includes manuscripts of both a secular and religious nature as well as a detailed history of the Vatican Library....