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Here I Stood: The Lindesfarne Gospels (Dublin)

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The Middle Ages was a productive time for the Christian faith. Not only was the gospel carried to the entire continent by the year 1000, but great theologians arose who made significant contributions to the understanding of Holy Scripture, beautiful churches were built in the Gothic style which permitted raising the sanctuary to unprecedented heights and allowing light into the structure by large windows, stained glass became a beautiful art form that was perfected and used in religious architecture, monasteries were established that became centers of learning, and beautiful manuscripts of Scripture were copied there.


One of these monasteries was located on the island of Lindesfarne off the Scottish coast. Here monks combined the art of calligraphy with copying of Scripture, and the result was the Lindesfarne Gospels, perhaps the best example of High Medieval calligraphy. Printing presses were yet to be invented, so copying and artistic decoration of the copies was done slowly, carefully, and painstakingly by monks seated at desks copying as Scripture was read. On the average a monk could make two copies of the Bible in a year; when the printing press was introduced, multiple copies could be made in a short time.



The beautiful Lindesfarne Gospels are located in Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland. I was able to see them in person in 2001. Pictures of the gospels are below:


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