Dynamics of Literacy in Medieval Europe
Studies in Honour of Marco Mostert

Edited by A.J. van den Hoven van Genderen, Rob Meens, Carine van Rhijn

A Festschrift in honour of Marco Mostert that explores the multifaceted use of the written word in medieval Europe. Part I covers the early medieval period, focusing on manuscripts and texts, mainly those produced by clerics. Part II focuses on written communication in the later medieval period, when writing became significant for other social groups such as townsfolk and peasants

Friends, collaborators, colleagues, and former students of Marco have contributed to this volume, with all authors discussing different aspects of the use of the written word in various parts of the medieval European world. The result is a book with multiple facets, collectively contribute to a deeper understanding of medieval literacy and its societal implications.

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Deadline: 23 April 2026

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction

Part I. Manuscripts, Texts, and Communities in Early Medieval Europe

The Te Deum: Liturgy, Orthodoxy and Politics in the Early Middle Ages
ROSAMOND MCKITTERICK

Educating Frisians in the 8th Century
ROB MEENS

A New Carolingian Witness to the Text of Suetonius’ De Vita Caesarum
DAVID GANZ

Three of a Kind: Dating the Utrecht Psalter, Ebo Gospels, and Eller Gospels
BART JASKI

Intus – Foris: On Monastic Perception and Political Order in the Epitaphium Arsenii
MAYKE DE JONG

Sermons hagiographiques et communication politique : un sermon prononcé en l’honneur de saint Ghislain au XIe siècle (BHL 3553)
ANNE-MARIE HELVETIUS

Reading with the Pen in the Books of Fleury
IRENE VAN RENSWOUDE and MARIKEN TEEUWEN

The Fall from Grace of Ademar of Chabannes (989-1034) – or the ‘Deceits’ of Historiography
AD VAN ELS

Communicare memoriae: An Essay on Communication in the Medieval Latin of the Liturgy
ELS ROSE

Part II. Towards a Social History of Writing in Later Medieval Europe

Hitting Abraham’s Eye: Communication and Problem-Solving with the Help of a Hammer
CARINE VAN RHIJN

‘Don’t shoot the messenger!’: On the Uses and Misuses of the Written Word in Late Medieval Rural Poland
ANNA ADAMSKA

Town Books in Late Medieval Denmark
KASPER ANDERSEN, JEPPE BÜCHERT NETTERSTRØM, and BJØRN POULSEN

Layers of Literacy in the Cathedral Cities of Medieval Hungary
KATALIN SZENDE and ANNA KINDE

Chronicle Graffiti for a Social History and Geography of Writing. Some Cases from Abruzzo
CARLO TEDESCHI

The Cartulary of Egmond Abbey
JAN BURGERS

Accountability: From Organised Distrust to Obscure Confusion. A Case Study
BRAM VAN DEN HOVEN VAN GENDEREN

Peasants and Charters in Late Medieval Poland
AGNIESZKA BARTOSZEWICZ

‘Oerconde myn hant’: Literate Attitudes of Peasants in Financial Records of Eindhoven and Cranendonck (1532–1547)
MARK VERMEER