Medieval documents in danger

Just how far does our understanding of the medieval past rely upon written sources? And what happens when these precious fragments of knowledge are destroyed? Taking in shocking cases of destruction and disaster, Robert Bartlett tells Emily Briffett about the material that has been lost down the centuries, and the heroic efforts made by scholars and archivists to preserve fragile slivers of information about a past that would be forgotten without them.

(Ad) Robert Bartlett is the author of History in Flames: The Destruction and Survival of Medieval Manuscripts (Cambridge University Press, 2024). Buy it now from Waterstones: https://go.skimresources.com?id=71026X1535947&xcust=historyextra-social-histboty&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.waterstones.com%2Fbook%2Fhistory-in-flames%2Frobert-bartlett%2F9781009457156.

The HistoryExtra podcast is produced by the team behind BBC History Magazine.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices