Conclusion

Modern scholars are fond of likening the task of attempting to reconstruct the medieval past to trying to do a jigsaw puzzle with very few pieces. This study has focused on the more colourful pieces of medieval history. Some of the pieces fit together neatly, through the processes of copying that were central to both the development of text and medieval book production. New histories were composed with reference to and often from existing ones, and comparison of surviving volumes sometimes permits us to track the circulation of a work over time. Other pieces of the puzzle are less obviously connected, but can nevertheless be situated within a larger picture of book production and circulation in the Middle Ages. The manuscripts considered here are united both in the themes of their contents and in the complex processes involved in their manufacture, from the production of parchment to the composition of text, and from the planning of pages to the execution of their contents. Although medieval histories could be the work of individuals, who acquired parchment, composed and wrote text, and added any decoration, history books were usually created through the collaboration of authors, scribes, and artists. The decisions made about the investment of resources of time, skills, and materials in these manuscripts seem also to be linked to real or potential patrons, and thus manuscripts were planned with consideration of the experience of the intended owner. The surviving volumes vary significantly in size (both of the folios and the amount of content), and in their appearance. Some manuscripts were made for a local readership, within a monastic community. Others were probably created for historians whose primary interest was in the text, but the most extensively decorated volumes, whether narrative histories, chronicles, or cartularies, can often be linked to a desire to impress powerful patrons. At the same time, new texts were less likely to be copied in manuscripts that required a significant investment of resources, though higher-quality copies might be made once their value was recognized....