Who Read What in Which Language(s) in Late Medieval Ghent? The Evidence of Book Ownership

Abstract

In this essay, I focus on the communities and individuals involved in collecting manuscripts in Ghent, which was one of the most important cities of late medieval Flanders. My research makes use of a large database which includes data on Ghent manuscripts and Albert Derolez’s Corpus catalogorum Belgii. The codices, which contain Latin, French, and Dutch texts, were owned by members of the Flemish court, patrician households, the city administration, convents, fraternities, and by individuals. My analysis sheds light on the highly dynamic multilingual manuscript culture of Ghent.