A Rare Medieval 1,000-Year-Old Gospel, Likely Written by Women, to be Auctioned December 10

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Nov 13, 2025, 08:33 ET

LONDON, Nov. 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- A thousand-year-old Gospel manuscript, believed to have been written by a community of women in medieval Germany, will be offered at Christie's London on December 10th as part of Valuable Books, Manuscripts and Photographs, including Highlights from The Royal Society of Medicine. It is one of the most significant manuscript discoveries in decades, with an estimated value of $880,000 to $1.26 million (£700,000 to £1 million). Details can be found here: https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-10th-century-gospels-6563952/

A rare survival from the dawn of the 10th century and an exceptional testament to Carolingian women's literary culture: a splendid Gospel book perhaps produced by the community of canonesses at Essen Abbey, in a handsome 16th-century blind-stamped binding from a named workshop. Fewer than ten Latin Gospels of the 10th century or earlier have been offered at auction in the last 100 years, and none with proven links to a female scriptorium.

The present Gospels are a handsome, formal and impressive production: the nail-holes running along the edges of the first flyleaf suggest that the original binding may have been metalwork - perhaps a treasure binding, given the quality of the manuscript.

Linked to the abbey of Essen, an early center of women's scholarship, the Gospel is one of fewer than ten Latin manuscripts from the 10th century or earlier to appear at auction in the past century, and possibly the first connected to a female scriptorium, where manuscripts were copied and illuminated by women scribes. The text, written in elegant Carolingian minuscule, the clear, legible script established by Charlemagne's educational reforms and used widely across Europe from the 8th to 11th centuries, includes prayers "for the veiling of handmaidens of God," a phrase used for women taking religious vows. These elements strongly suggest it was created by canonesses, aristocratic women who lived devotedly while maintaining wealth, literacy, and social status.

The popular perception of the medieval scribe and scriptorium has long been androcentric, but the truth is that medieval women were active agents of cultural productivity from the beginning. Growing material evidence shows their deep impact on the cultural, literary, and intellectual life of Europe. In Germany, women's monastic communities at the time were largely composed of noble or aristocratic women who were highly educated, resulting in active and important roles in book production. Among the few women's scriptoria known from the 8th to 11th centuries was the highly productive scriptorium at the Abbey of Essen, which flourished under Abbess Mathilde II and became one of the centers of learning under Ottonian rule. The community maintained a rich and extensive library that went well beyond a typical monastic collection. Some 50 fragments and codices from this great library survive today; after the abbey's dissolution in 1803, most manuscripts entered German institutions.

The Essen Gospels are an especially formal and impressive production, perhaps made for one of the early abbesses of the abbey. At least two scribes worked on the manuscript, identified through subtle variations in script, and it likely took months or even years to complete. The pace of writing in such a monastic scriptorium would have been shaped by religious and liturgical duties that occupied several hours each day. The result is a carefully presented and beautifully written codex that reflects extraordinary care and craftsmanship.

Professor Rosamond McKitterick, world-renowned expert in medieval history and the Frankish kingdoms, says: "This is a wonderful codex, carefully presented and beautifully written very early in the 10th century. It deserves further serious study."

Locked away for nearly a century, the manuscript was only recently identified as an early 10th century Gospel. Its rediscovery represents a major contribution to understanding women's literary culture in early Europe. After the dissolution of the abbey at Essen, the Gospels entered the collection of August Friedrich Christian Vilmar, theologian, author, and professor at Marburg, before being acquired by an American seminary in 1869. The Gospel will be on public view at Christie's London ahead of the auction from December 6–10.

Eugenio Donadoni, International Specialist, Medieval & Renaissance Manuscripts, Christie's, comments: "It is an extraordinary privilege to have a manuscript of this importance at Christie's – and with such a compelling connection to women's scholarship. To encounter a thousand-year-old Gospel so well preserved, and so eloquent in what it reveals about the intellectual and spiritual lives of medieval women, is truly exciting. This rediscovery sheds new light on the role of female communities in shaping early European culture, and its appearance at auction offers collectors and institutions a once-in-a-generation opportunity to engage directly with that remarkable history."

More information about the Gospels auction can be found here.

Media Contact:
Risa B. Hoag, President, GMGPR, Cell: 914-643-7878, [email protected]

SOURCE Christie's London