The Monastic Manuscript Project is a database of
descriptions of manuscripts that contain texts relevant for
the study of early medieval monasticism, especially monastic
rules, ascetic treatises, vitae
patrum-texts and texts related to monastic reforms.
We provide lists of manuscripts for each of these texts,
which are linked to manuscript descriptions. The purpose is
to offer a tool for reconstructing not only the manuscript
dissemination of early medieval monastic texts but also to
give access to the specific contexts in which a text
appears.
The database supports current edition projects and draws
attention to understudied texts and the transmission of
fragments, excerpts and florilegia. It is designed to
facilitate the work of students and scholars who are
interested in the history and reception of texts and who
want to work with manuscripts rather than rely on modern
editions.
Most pages provide links to a number of web resources, such
as manuscript catalogues, online texts and translations,
digitized manuscripts and repertoria. Manuscript
descriptions are usually based on published manuscript
catalogues and secondary literature. We hope to
replace these often incomplete and inaccurate descriptions
with new ones that are based on hands on studies of the
manuscripts themselves.
The Monastic Manuscript Project is conceptualized as a
'Wiki' project. Every student or scholar who works on
monastic manuscripts is invited to contribute new manuscript
descriptions, to fill in gaps and to submit additions and
corrections to existing pages. Eventually the project will
become a forum for collaborative work and the presentation
of new research.