A group of University of Nebraska–Lincoln students recently branched out from their typical textbooks and reached into the past.
Students in HIST 414 Medieval Culture classes taught by Carolyn Twomey, assistant professor in medieval European history, visited University Archives and Special Collections to view medieval manuscripts. Twomey said the students learn more about the documents and the people who created them through hands-on interaction.
“When they touch something someone made 500 years ago, 1,000 years ago, that brings them into the past,” Twomey said. “That allows a really important physical connection as well as an intellectual connection.”
During the trip, students saw two complete 15th century handwritten texts — a Roman history and a book of hours — along with several early modern printed books. Two other manuscript fragments were purchased with support from a Pedagogic Intervention Grant that Twomey received from the Center for Transformative Teaching.
Students in Twomey’s HIST 211 History of the Middle Ages course were also able to view those manuscript fragments in a class activity.
Twomey holds “manuscript week” every semester and said it’s always her favorite week of every class. Following a classroom exercise where students practice writing with a quill and parchment, they are able, under the supervision of Traci Robison, outreach archivist, to handle real medieval texts created in that manner.
“Students remember the experience of holding these materials,” Twomey said. “Because I have them practice, they’re immediately aware of how good these people are at writing and in their art.”
Senior Blake Rapper said viewing the manuscripts gave context to how complicated the work was during that time.
“I learned that even the most ordinary items are ornately done and detailed,” Rapper said. “Writing or recording something was no simple matter. It took time and devotion to get everything just right. What I liked most was the writing. You get the feel for the time and effort given for each of these manuscripts.”
One of the highlights of the exploration, a book of hours is a prayer book used to guide prayer throughout a typical day. Twomey said this text helps students understand the daily lives of people from monks to elite women of the era. It directs readers when they should recite certain prayers and psalms.
“It allows an average person, someone who does not live in a monastery, to still participate in those devotions,” Twomey said.
One of the items purchased with Twomey’s grant was a 16th century French land charter. Twomey wanted to show her students medieval documents were more than just Bibles and other religious texts, a common misconception. The land charter offers an early view at how people built kingdoms and negotiated land rights.
“We study the birth of the legal system and papal and royal bureaucracies and the technology of writing down these types of agreements,” Twomey said. “They can really see the diversity of things people were concerned about. It wasn’t just about prayer; it was also about making sure no one stole your land.”
All of the items dispel myths about medieval people, Twomey said. She said modern perceptions of the Middle Ages depict the people as unintelligent and overly pious, but they had a variety of complicated concerns, as we do today. These texts show the artistry they were capable of.
“They were not dumb. They were not unsophisticated,” Twomey said. “They were brilliant artists. We can see their skill and their devotion and their mastery of their own environment through these objects.”
Jaden Shirley, a senior secondary education and history major, said holding the manuscripts was a reminder of how meaningful the items were to the people who owned them.
“My biggest takeaway was the resilience of medieval people,” Shirley said. “The handwriting and art put into the pages of the book of hours and others like it show the talent but also the time put into these books and how special they were to the owners.”
Viewing the physical objects can show students how the organization of information has developed through the centuries, Twomey said, and connect it to how it is dispersed in modern times through things like a table of contents.
“I encourage closing looking at these objects as both texts trying to communicate something but also as objects,” Twomey said. “Even if you can’t read the Latin, can’t read the handwriting, you can still learn from it. It connects the technologies of learning and reading all the way up to what they’re doing today.”
In addition to what her students can learn about the past, Twomey also wants to make them aware of Archives and Special Collections as a resource and hopes they realize the breadth of material available to them on campus.
“This is some of the oldest material in the university,” Twomey said. “They should really take advantage of it. I find it’s good to get students into this place as soon as possible.”
