The Rare Books & Manuscripts Library (RBML) is hosting its second fall “open house.” The event will highlight RBML’s substantial collection of medieval manuscripts of pastoral care, including annotated collections of sermons, confessional manuals, reference books summarizing sin and how to remedy it, collections of folk tales and miracle stories and other manuscripts related to the “care of souls in the Western European Middle Ages.” The broad genre of pastoralia represents the intersection of virtually every type of medieval literary genre—from high to low—including holy scripture, scholastic theology, folklore, philosophy, canon and civil law, natural history, chronicles, poetry, medicine and visual and artistic narrative. In recent years, RBML’s collection has grown to become one of the most diverse and interesting assemblages of pastoralia between the coasts. Come and explore these fascinating manuscripts for yourselves!
