An extremely rare medieval scroll has been uncovered in the archives of York’s Bar Convent.
Special collections manager Dr Hannah Thomas discovered the 15th-Century Arma Chrisi as she was cataloging the collection.
The unassuming document was rolled up in a shoebox, but once unfurled, Dr Thomas realised she had found something incredibly unique.
Featuring hand-drawn figures and calligraphy, she marked it as, “a medieval work of art in its own right”.
The roll is one of only eleven copies known to have survived, each one handmade by a number of skilled craftsmen.
Very few medieval devotional items survived the Reformation in the 1540s and the outlawing of Catholicism some decades later under Elizabeth I.
The ten existing Arma Christi Vernicle rolls are held by museums and libraries around the world, including:
- Redemptorist Archives of the Baltimore Province, Philadelphia, USA
- Bodleian Library, Oxford University, Oxford, UK (x 2)
- British Library, London, UK (x 2)
- Scottish Catholic Archives, Edinburgh, UK
- Stonyhurst College, Clitheroe, UK
- Beinecke Library, New Haven Yale University, USA
- Huntington Library, California, USA
- Pierpont Morgan Library, New York, USA
Not only is the Bar Convent Arma Christi thought to be one of the last examples produced, it’s one of the best-preserved ever found.
This particular illuminated manuscript dates back to around 1475.
The ten known scrolls have been subject to academic scrutiny for decades and used to provide a unique insight into religious iconography and devotional practices.
The newest Bar Convent discovery features the prayer poem O Vernicle with response texts written after each verse.
This demonstrates that they may have been used in a different way to previously believed.
The responses, written in red, suggest that the scroll was likely used in communal worship as well as private prayer.
Dr Thomas said: “Where it differs from the other examples that have been discovered is that this is not merely an illustrated poem or prayer created for private contemplation, but featuring response texts suggesting it was used by groups or families as they gathered together for prayers in the home.”
Given its importance, the existence of the newly discovered scroll has been kept under wraps until now.
The manuscript will be revealed as a centrepiece of a major exhibition at the Bar Convent on Saturday 5 April.
“We know that there will be huge excitement about this discovery, but given that it has remained hidden for over 500 years, we know that people will not mind waiting a few more weeks before we share this magnificent scroll with the world,” says Sister Ann Stafford, Mother Superior at the Bar Covent.
“We also have exciting plans for another exciting world-first: responses on the scroll to be used in a Service in our Chapel. We’re delighted that presiding at the service will be the Bishop of Middlesbrough and the Archbishop of York,” she added.
The service will be live-streamed, so the world can share in its discovery.
For more information, or to book tickets for the opening of the exhibition, you can visit their website here.
A video on how Dr Hannah Thomas found the roll can be watched here.