Scriptoria

On the Route of Manuscripts in Normandy

This exhibition highlights an exceptional collection of eleven manuscripts from the Benedictine Abbey of Lyre, now preserved at the heritage library of Évreux.

Symbolically gathered at the heart of the exhibit, these manuscripts testify to the intellectual, spiritual, and artistic significance of Norman monasteries in the constitution and dissemination of medieval knowledge in Europe.

Founded in the 11th century, the Abbey of Lyre is fully integrated into the monastic growth that accompanied the political, religious, and cultural structuring of ducal Normandy. The manuscripts produced or preserved by the community form a written heritage of great richness, reflecting the educational, liturgical, and scholarly practices of the religious.

Presented at the center of the exhibition hall, the manuscripts constitute the heart of the experience. Their arrangement invites visitors to walk around them and discover, through them, the gestures, skills, and long time required for their creation.

The route is enriched with thematic panels dedicated to the manuscript route in Normandy, the functioning of monastic scriptoria (roles of the monks, writing techniques, tools, and materials) as well as the history and influence of the Abbey of Lyre.

An immersive scenography, incorporating a representation of the abbey's layout, allows these exceptional objects to be placed back within their original architectural and spiritual context.

As part of the multisite exhibition Scriptoria, presented in Alençon, Avranches, Évreux, Le Havre, Rouen, and Sées, from March to December 2027.

Free

Cooperation France / United Kingdom

Partnerships within the framework of Scriptoria: Normandie Livre & Lecture, BnF, Diocesan Archives of Sées, Departmental Archives of Calvados, Lisieux media library, in collaboration with the British Library.