Our Real-Life Marginalia Inspirations
Hello Master Illuminators,
In today’s update, we want to dedicate this space to our inspirations - the original Inkulinati Masters from 100’s of years ago. We are talking about medieval scribes, monks, and illuminators that create these wonderful worlds over 700 years ago. Apart from the fact that medieval marginalia are bizarre and outright hilarious, what we really love about them is that they made us look at the middle ages in a totally different light.
When we think about the Middle Ages, we might think about the tropes we learned from school, books, and pop culture in general: big castles, brave (and not so brave) knights, powerful kings, monks, huge feasts, battles (chaaaaargeee!!!!), burning stakes, hungry peasants, disease, and many other not so fun things (tortures. We forgot to mention tortures). We imagine that the people who lived in those times were brave, virtuous, and probably very serious. They definitely weren’t funny, that’s for sure. Well, it turns out that we were very, very wrong.
So, let's take a closer look at these medieval manuscripts that we talk so much about. Most of them were written down/created by monks and contained texts dedicated to faith, religion, science, nature, and medicine. However, there are also some that describe famous events, battles, stories, poems, and other cultural events. To give those texts more pizzazz and glamour, they would have beautiful decorations adorning them, usually found on the margins of the text - hence being called marginalia. And it’s here, on the margins of manuscripts, that some of the most hilarious drawings and paintings ever depicted by man can be found. Check these out:
Missal, Amiens c. 1323 (The Hague, Koninklijke Bibliotheek, Ms. 78 D 40, fol. 177r)
Gorleston Psalter, England 14th century (British Library, Add 49622, fol. 133r)
Bestiary, England c. 1400-1425 (Copenhagen, Kongelige Bibliotek, Gl. kgl. S. 1633 4°, fol. 10r)
Summer volume of the Breviary of Renaud/Marguerite de Bar, Metz ca. 1302-1305 (Verdun, Bibliothèque municipale, ms. 107, fol. 100v)
As you can see, there are many bizarre characters, situations, and moments captured in these marginalia. A knight fighting a snail? An entire procession made up of rabbits? Bonnacon fire-farting on a knight? Trumpets stuck in bottoms!?! And a weird looking hybrid! The best part is that some of these themes/motifs repeat themselves in other manuscripts too (ie, the rabbit army fighting the dog army). It almost seems like they were medieval meme’s - a little cultural joke.
And this is the reason why we love marginalia so much. It made us realise that people that lived on this earth 100’s of years ago also laughed at absurdity. That no matter how serious the situation is, people always found time to laugh. And it’s also ok to laugh at bum jokes, poop jokes, and any other stupid jokes out there. Laughing at tomfoolery is something that’s ingrained in us, it’s part of our DNA. And laughing at these things will certainly not be the end of the world. (as a side note, if I lived in medieval times, I would love to be an illuminator. You have a king say to you “I need a new book about the latest medical practices''. To which you reply “of course my liege. I see a penis tree and monkeys throwing poop as a perfect decoration for it.” Best job ever.)
So, these are our inspirations, and our reasons as to why we fell in love with medieval marginalia. What do you think about marginalia? Do they make you laugh like us too? Do you like silly things as well? Heck, maybe you already have a favorite marginalia piece. All of your thoughts, post them below. We want to hear them!
Until next time,
Hildegard, Sir Godfrey, and Yaza Games Team
In today’s update, we want to dedicate this space to our inspirations - the original Inkulinati Masters from 100’s of years ago. We are talking about medieval scribes, monks, and illuminators that create these wonderful worlds over 700 years ago. Apart from the fact that medieval marginalia are bizarre and outright hilarious, what we really love about them is that they made us look at the middle ages in a totally different light.
When we think about the Middle Ages, we might think about the tropes we learned from school, books, and pop culture in general: big castles, brave (and not so brave) knights, powerful kings, monks, huge feasts, battles (chaaaaargeee!!!!), burning stakes, hungry peasants, disease, and many other not so fun things (tortures. We forgot to mention tortures). We imagine that the people who lived in those times were brave, virtuous, and probably very serious. They definitely weren’t funny, that’s for sure. Well, it turns out that we were very, very wrong.
So, let's take a closer look at these medieval manuscripts that we talk so much about. Most of them were written down/created by monks and contained texts dedicated to faith, religion, science, nature, and medicine. However, there are also some that describe famous events, battles, stories, poems, and other cultural events. To give those texts more pizzazz and glamour, they would have beautiful decorations adorning them, usually found on the margins of the text - hence being called marginalia. And it’s here, on the margins of manuscripts, that some of the most hilarious drawings and paintings ever depicted by man can be found. Check these out:
Missal, Amiens c. 1323 (The Hague, Koninklijke Bibliotheek, Ms. 78 D 40, fol. 177r)
Gorleston Psalter, England 14th century (British Library, Add 49622, fol. 133r)
Bestiary, England c. 1400-1425 (Copenhagen, Kongelige Bibliotek, Gl. kgl. S. 1633 4°, fol. 10r)
Summer volume of the Breviary of Renaud/Marguerite de Bar, Metz ca. 1302-1305 (Verdun, Bibliothèque municipale, ms. 107, fol. 100v)As you can see, there are many bizarre characters, situations, and moments captured in these marginalia. A knight fighting a snail? An entire procession made up of rabbits? Bonnacon fire-farting on a knight? Trumpets stuck in bottoms!?! And a weird looking hybrid! The best part is that some of these themes/motifs repeat themselves in other manuscripts too (ie, the rabbit army fighting the dog army). It almost seems like they were medieval meme’s - a little cultural joke.
And this is the reason why we love marginalia so much. It made us realise that people that lived on this earth 100’s of years ago also laughed at absurdity. That no matter how serious the situation is, people always found time to laugh. And it’s also ok to laugh at bum jokes, poop jokes, and any other stupid jokes out there. Laughing at tomfoolery is something that’s ingrained in us, it’s part of our DNA. And laughing at these things will certainly not be the end of the world. (as a side note, if I lived in medieval times, I would love to be an illuminator. You have a king say to you “I need a new book about the latest medical practices''. To which you reply “of course my liege. I see a penis tree and monkeys throwing poop as a perfect decoration for it.” Best job ever.)
So, these are our inspirations, and our reasons as to why we fell in love with medieval marginalia. What do you think about marginalia? Do they make you laugh like us too? Do you like silly things as well? Heck, maybe you already have a favorite marginalia piece. All of your thoughts, post them below. We want to hear them!
Until next time,
Hildegard, Sir Godfrey, and Yaza Games Team