Interactive
Other

Educastur: Caballeros Y Castillos

For Students 3rd - 8th
Terrific introduction to the Middle Ages, in Spanish. Learn about the people, cities, and life by clicking through beautifully illustrated screens while a jester narrates. Click objects, e.g., the castle gate, a cathedral door, or a...
Website
British Library

British Library: Illuminated Manuscripts

For Students 9th - 10th
A collection of illuminated manuscripts from the 8th to 15th centuries from the British Library. Access the entire collection of 3,000 and read the individual information about each one. A truly beautiful display.
Website
British Library

British Library: Illuminating the Renaissance: Flemish Manuscripts

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
A selection of high-quality images from the Flemish manuscripts in the British Library along with a timeline of contemporary European events.
Website
Library of Congress

Loc: A Video Selection of Illuminated Manuscripts

For Students 9th - 10th
A video selection of various medieval and Renaissance manuscripts, including bibles and books of hours.
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: What Is a Butt Tuba and Why Is It in Medieval Art?

For Students 9th - 10th
A rabbit attempts to play a church organ, while a knight fights a giant snail and a naked man blows a trumpet with his rear end. These bizarre images, painted with squirrel-hair brushes on vellum or parchment by monks, nuns and urban...
Website
National Library of Scotland

National Library of Scotland: Digital Archive: The Murthly Hours

For Students 9th - 10th
Browse pages from the Murthly Hours, a kind of prayer book popular in medieval Europe, with many, many illuminated illustrations depicting scenes from the Hebrew and Christian scriptures.
Primary
British Library

British Library: The Priceless Lindisfarne Gospels

For Students 9th - 10th
A page-through exploration of the duly famous Lindisfarne gospels, an extraordinary illuminated manuscript of the seventh century. Includes helpful commentaries, which can be read or listened to, and a magnifying glass for looking at the...
Handout
Art Cyclopedia

Artcyclopedia: Manuscript Illuminators

For Students 9th - 10th
Artcyclopedia maintains an impressive list of links related to known medieval European manuscript illuminators, from the 13th century to the 16th. Page includes links to museum sites and archives where images of illumination can be...
Website
National Library of France

Bibliotheque Nationale De France: Tresors Carolingiens (Carolingian Treasures)

For Students 9th - 10th
All in French, but the beautiful illuminated manuscripts can be appreciated without reading the detailed explanations. Advanced French students will enjoy the audio explanations.
Primary
University of Chicago

University of Chicago Library: The Moralized Game of Chess

For Students 9th - 10th
The subject matter of this medieval manuscript by the friar, Jacobus de Cessolis, is interesting--looking at the game of chess from a societal standpoint. Even more interesting from the viewpoint of the history of art is the illustrated...
Graphic
Curated OER

Illuminated Manuscripts From Belgium and the Netherlands: Saint Sebastian

For Students 9th - 10th
Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian, about 1535.
Website
J. Paul Getty Trust

J. Paul Getty Museum: Imagining the Past in France: 1250 1500

For Students 9th - 10th
View highlights from an exhibition of medieval French manuscripts, whose subjects range from the religious, to the courtly, to the historical. See a slideshow (with narration) of featured works from the exhibition and sample three...
Graphic
Curated OER

Illuminated Manuscripts From Belgium and the Netherlands: Siren and Centaur

For Students 9th - 10th
Painted manuscript of a siren and centaur, about 1270.
Graphic
Curated OER

Imagining the Past in France, 1250 1500: Illuminated Manuscript

For Students 9th - 10th
Cropped illustration, from a medieval French manuscript, of members of the court and clergy.
Handout
ibiblio

Ibiblio: Web Museum: Les Tres Riches Heures Du Duc De Berry (Book of the Hours)

For Students 9th - 10th
The complete text and artwork of a Medieval book known as a "book of the hours". It was a collection of written and visual materials dealing with each liturgical hour of the day. They were hand-made and are quite rare. This example was...
Graphic
Metropolitan Museum of Art

Metropolitan Museum of Art: The Hours of Jeanne D'evreux

For Students 9th - 10th
Examine a book of hours, or prayer book, made for French queen Jeanne d'Evreux in the early 14th century at this Metropolitan Museum site. Illustrations, closeups, and explanatory annotations populate the site, which is especially...