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Scriptorium
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scriptorium Illustration of a medieval monk seated at a writing desk in a scriptorium, copying from an open manuscript with books and scrolls surrounding him.
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scriptorium
scriptorium Monk working in a scriptorium, engraving after a 15th-century manuscript.

Scriptorium

writing room
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Scriptorium, writing room set aside in monastic communities for the use of scribes engaged in copying manuscripts. Scriptoria were an important feature of the Middle Ages, most characteristically of Benedictine establishments because of St. Benedict’s support of literary activities. All who worked in scriptoria, however, were not monks; lay scribes and illuminators from outside the monastic foundation reinforced the clerical scribes.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Amy Tikkanen.