White spots on the map: Medieval English manuscripts in German libraries

In the High and Late Middle Ages, English was a marginal language among Western European languages, which - at least in written form - hardly ever made it across the English Channel. While the Latin works of the numerous English scholars from Oxford, Cambridge and elsewhere were copied many times and exported to the continent in large numbers, the number of English-language exports in the Middle Ages is close to zero. Nevertheless, there are still 40 manuscripts with English verses, prose texts or annotations and glosses that reached Germany via different routes and at different times. In addition, there are 16 manuscripts of the Gesta Romanorum, in which Middle English verses and other expressions were copied by
were copied by continental scribes. None of these have been sufficiently documented or cataloged to date. The lecture will provide an initial overview of the holdings and will use case studies to show research-relevant perspectives. It will also provide an insight into the difficulties of manuscript description and the joyful moments of surprising discoveries.