Considerable efforts were made to protect medieval manuscripts at the outbreak of the Second World War. In England, for example, one of the largest collections of manuscripts (that of the British Library) was moved, first to an underground tube station, then to a facility that had been used to grow mushrooms (more details here).

Despite efforts such as these, it a tragic reality that many manuscripts were lost during the war. The four regions under investigation here collectively lost over 2000 manuscripts, many of which were medieval. With some important exceptions, these manuscript collections were not deliberately targeted, but were the casualties of wartime attacks. In France, for example, several important historical archives were caught in the crossfire of wartime destruction, and their manuscripts could not be evacuated in time.

This online exhibit (and the related catalogue) is aimed at sharing information about the medieval manuscripts that were lost during the war, with the hope of bringing them to light.

Scope

The war was a devastating chapter of history and one that has been the subject of countless studies and books. The goal at hand is not to retell this history, but to shed light on only one particular consequence of the war: the medieval manuscripts that were destroyed.

This exhibit is focused on four nations: The Netherlands, France, Belgium, and the United Kingdom. Aside from these nations, many others lost medieval manuscripts during the war. Some of these are listed in this UNESCO report.

At present, this exhibit is focused on manuscripts that were lost from institutional collections due to wartime damage.