Rare medieval rolled manuscript found in York Bar Convent archive

A rare medieval illuminated manuscript has been uncovered in a York convent’s archive.

Dr Hannah Thomas discovered the 15th-Century Arma Christi at Bar Convent while cataloguing the religious order’s collection, calling it “one of the best-preserved examples ever found”.

The rolled document is one of only 11 copies known to have survived, the convent said, and featured the prayer poem O Vernicle with response texts written after each verse.

Dr Thomas said the responses, written in red, suggested it was used in communal worship as well as private prayer.

“With hand-drawn figures and beautiful calligraphy it’s a medieval work of art in its own right,” she said.

The manuscript, thought to date from about 1475, was found in a shoebox containing leaflets from the 1980s.

The special collections manager said the response texts made it unique from the other versions previously discovered, “suggesting it was used by groups or families as they gathered together for prayers in the home.”

Other Arma Christi manuscripts are held by museums and libraries around the world, including at the Bodleian Library in Oxford, the British Library in London and Huntington Library in California.

There are no records of when this Arma Christi was passed into the order’s care, according to Bar Convent, with the item due to go on public display in April.

Sister Ann Stafford, mother superior, said the responses written on the scroll would now be used in a service at the convent’s chapel.

“We’re delighted that presiding at the service will be the Bishop of Middlesbrough and the Archbishop of York,” she said.

“We plan to livestream the service so that the world can share in its discovery.”