Imagine a European monk from the 12th centurye century, leaning over a precious manuscript whose blanket is soft, hairy and waterproof. No, the grimoire is not straight out of the Hogwarts library, and several of this type were found in European abbeys. The Live Science online magazine reveals that certain medieval bindings were in fact made from seals of seals coming straight from the Vikings countries.
This amazing discovery was made thanks to DNA analyzes carried out on thirty-two manuscripts preserved in these abbeys. The researchers have identified common seal skins, Greenland seals and bearded seals, driven out in the Northwest Atlantic. They were reportedly sent by Nordic merchants to the Cistercian libraries, in particular that of the Abbey of Clairvaux, in the department of Aube.
A study, published in the journal Royal Society Open Science, demonstrates the existence of an unsuspected commercial network connecting the Vikings of Greenland to French, English and Belgian monasteries. These roads, used for the trade in Morse and furs, also allowed the delivery of seal skins, sometimes used as payment of the tithe, the old harvest tax taken by the church.
In addition to informing us about medieval trade, these “hairy books” also offer an overview of the biodiversity of the time. The research team was thus able to locate the origin of skins through northern Europe: Scandinavia, Denmark, Scotland and even Greenland or Iceland.
Born of unknown seals
The Cistercians and the Benedictines, two Catholic orders, were distinguished by their relationship to luxury. Élodie Lévêque, main author of the study and expert in conservation of books at Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University, explains: “The Cistercians had a particular preference for white and discreet luxury forms, which corresponds well to the aesthetic qualities of the seal skin.”
The Benedictines preferred shades of darker blankets. But did the monks know that they used seal skin? At the time, no French term designated this animal, and it can be assumed that if they loved matter, they had no very precise idea of its origin.
The choice of seal skin seems above all to have been dictated by its aesthetic and practical qualities. Indeed, no period text justifies this use and nothing in the content of the books seems to be linked to this specific material.
“The distinctive white and hairy bindings may therefore have been appreciated only for their visual and environmental qualities – they are waterproof – rather than for any knowledge of their zoological and geographic origin ”, concludes Élodie Lévêque.
