This course introduces participants to medieval manuscripts and to methods of manuscript study that are often absent from the curricula of many medieval studies disciplines. It aims to provide students with practical skills for working with these sources. Manuscripts will be approached holistically: as material objects with their own biographies, as carriers of textual transmission, and as artefacts whose physical features and historical contexts can be analyzed and interpreted.
Different areas of manuscript studies – including codicology, palaeography, art history, bookbinding, research tools and related fields – will be presented in seminar-style thematic blocks. Excursions to libraries in Vienna and hands-on work with original manuscripts will complement the course program.
Teaching staff: Erik Kwakkel (University of British Columbia: palaeography), Christine Beier (University of Vienna: art history), Maria Stieglecker (Austrian Academy of Sciences: watermark studies), and Maria Theisen (Austrian Academy of Sciences: bookbinding studies).
It is organized in cooperation with the Abbey Library of the Scots, the Bibliotheca Theresiana, and the Library of the Minorite Convent in Vienna; funded by the Horizon project PAMELA.
Application
The course is intended for students and doctoral candidates who are working – or planning to work – with medieval manuscripts in the context of an academic project or thesis.
Participation is limited to 15 participants. No course fee will be charged. The course is given partly in English and partly in German.
Please submit your application documents either in English or German as a single PDF file (email subject: Winter School 2026; filename: Winterschool_2026_[Surname].pdf), including:
- a letter of motivation (max. 1 page) with your contact details; and
- if applicable, a short project description (approx. half a page) if you are already working with medieval manuscripts as part of a research project or academic thesis (from seminar paper to dissertation).
Application deadline: 15 September 2026
Notification of acceptance: no later than 30 September 2026
Contact: Dr. Maria Theisen (maria.theisen@oeaw.ac.at), Dr. Maria Stieglecker (maria.stieglecker@oeaw.ac.at)
For more information, see the Winter School page at the Institute for Medieval Research (ÖAW), or download the programme folder (PDF).
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