Scriptoria

On the Route of the Manuscripts of Normandy

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

Symbolically brought together at the heart of the exhibition, these manuscripts testify to the intellectual, spiritual, and artistic significance of the Norman monasteries in the formation and dissemination of medieval knowledge in Europe.

Founded in the 11th century, the Abbey of Lyre is fully embedded in the monastic rise that accompanies 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 monks.

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

The journey is enriched by thematic panels dedicated to the route of manuscripts 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 in 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 in the framework of Scriptoria: Normandie Livre & Lecture, BnF, Diocesan Archives of Sées, Departmental Archives of Calvados, Library of Lisieux, in connection with the British Library.