Course
MUSC 311—Styles and Literature of Music I
Document Type
Student Paper
Publication Date
Winter 12-7-2021
Disciplines
European History | Medieval History | Music | Other Music
Description, Abstract, or Artist's Statement
Writing in a quiet, candle-lit room may sound hygge to some, but monks during the 14th century would describe their work on the scriptorium as cold, depressing, tedious, mundane, and exhausting. The copying of all texts, including biblical and musical, was done by hand with monks working around the clock copying, illuminating manuscripts, and binding books. With the regimented schedule of monastic life, the Church worked scribes till exhaustion which created health problems and aggravated underlying conditions. Though cataracts were a common problem, commoners performed surgery on each other to restore sight, but it only made the situation worse.
Augustana Digital Commons Citation
Reiling, Jared; O'Neill, Christopher; and Curatolo, Nick. "Life and Health Concerns of a European Monastic Scribe During the 14th Century" (2021). 2021 Festschrift: The Interpolated Roman de Fauvel in Context.
https://digitalcommons.augustana.edu/muscfest2021/5
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.