Scriptorium (plural: scriptoria) derives from the Latin word for “writing.” In the Middle Ages, scriptoria were specialized workshops in monasteries dedicated to the production of manuscripts. In an age before printing, each book needed to be copied by hand. Groups of several copyists worked diligently under the supervision of a superior to produce various volumes that were necessary for the monastery. These included copies of the Scriptures, patristic works, commentaries, liturgical documents, monastic rules, charters, letters, and even secular works. As a matter of fact, we owe the survival of all of antique literature to the great scriptoria of Carolingian France and Byzantium. Miniscule script, which we still use today, was an invention of the medieval scriptoria. 

 

Copying a book could be an intensive endeavour taking several weeks or even months, depending on its length. Sometimes, one individual would dictate a work aloud as others copied it simultaneously. At other times, one and the same manuscript could be worked on by several hands. The production of manuscripts also depended on the available resources. Vellum was the material of choice, that is, leather that had been carefully treated and cleaned, although paper also became popular towards the thirteenth century.  One bishop from Cyprus in the twelfth century remarked that he had to wait until Easter, when many sheep would be slaughtered, to have enough animal hides to commission a copy of Demosthenes’ orations! An upside of this laborious process was that the manuscripts that were produced, if properly cared for, were virtually indestructible. Amazingly, we still possess copies of the Bible from the fourth century and an illuminated copy of the works of Vergil from the fifth, when the Caesars still ruled Rome.