The Most Widely Read Middle Dutch Book: An Introduction to 'Pages of Prayer'

The years 1383-84 mark an event that would cause a cultural earthquake: Geert Grote translated the Book of Hours into the Dutch vernacular. How to research the many extant 'pages of prayer' that testify to the popularity of his translation?

Anna Dlabacová • June 30, 2023

Medieval Photoshop

Manipulating and enhancing images may seem something that is particular to the current digital age. The Kattendijke Chronicle, a late fifteenth-century manuscript from the Low Countries, contains fascinating examples of analogue image editing.

Anna Dlabacová • February 18, 2022

Mind the Reader? Intention and Reception in the Early Age of Print, 1450-1600

In the 15th century the novel medium of print and the vernacular languages spoken across Europe became a powerful combination. Printers increasingly published in the vernacular, tapping into new markets. Who read in the vernacular, why, and how?

Andrea van Leerdam and Anna Dlabacová • August 19, 2021

Medieval Mushrooms

Was Jesus a mushroom? Just posing this question suggests the author visited one of Leiden’s smartshops before writing this post. Rest assured, the content is based on sober reading and explores theories on the role of mushrooms in medieval Christianity.

Anna Dlabacová • February 05, 2021

Why did Antonio de Nebrija draw faces into a Dutch book from 1480?

The humanist Antonio de Nebrija (c. 1444-d.1522) was a serious scholar, renowned for his work on the Spanish language. His hidden talent for drawing expressive faces, however, is less well known.

Anna Dlabacová • August 21, 2020

Picture Perfect: The Life of a Fifteenth-Century Woodcut

Early printers often re-used their woodcuts. Previously created images could find new homes in a variety of texts. This post traces the life of a particular image that became the ideal image for the title page of a “love letter” from Christ.

Anna Dlabacová • March 20, 2020

Following French Fashion: The Dutch Book of Hours in Print

On 16 August 1491, the most prolific printer of the Low Countries at the time, Gerard Leeu (d. 1492) published his only edition of a Book of Hours in Dutch. The book itself, however, looks French. Why was Leeu swayed by French fashion?

Anna Dlabacová • May 17, 2019

Throw Away that Tedious Text! 15th-Century Illustrated Books in 18th- and 19th-Century Hands

Studying fifteenth-century books can be a frustrating task, especially if former owners decided to throw away the text. But the changing attitudes towards early printed books are equally fascinating.

Anna Dlabacová • November 13, 2018

De kater die een handschrift ruïneerde en andere verhalen: De Moderne Devotie voor een breed publiek

Een leider die furore maakt als rondreizend prediker, een kloosteroverste die afgezet wordt vanwege haar mystieke aanleg, en een kater die ’s nachts in de schrijfzaal een handschrift ruïneert.

Anna Dlabacová • June 08, 2018

leidenmedievalistsblog

Anna Dlabacová

Blogs