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Medieval documents in danger
Episode 2080

Medieval documents in danger

Robert Bartlett records the tragic destruction of medieval manuscripts through the centuries – and the heroic efforts to save them

HistoryExtra podcast · Immediate

September 5, 202444m 11s

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Show Notes

Just how far does our understanding of the medieval past rely upon written sources? And what happens when these precious fragments of knowledge are destroyed? Taking in shocking cases of destruction and disaster, Robert Bartlett tells Emily Briffett about the material that has been lost down the centuries, and the heroic efforts made by scholars and archivists to preserve fragile slivers of information about a past that would be forgotten without them.


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