Kings, bishops and aristocrats were once among the few people privileged enough to leaf through the vivid and painstakingly handcrafted pages of Medieval and Renaissance manuscripts.
Soon, however, the stories and ornate decorations in these centuries-old books - nearly 900 in total - will be open for everyone to see on Europeana.
The manuscripts come from three main collections. One group includes works created in the 8th and 9th centuries and highlights the intellectual and artistic activity of the main abbeys and bishop schools around the time of Charlemagne. The other two are from the royal libraries of King Charles V and the Aragon Kings of Naples.
"These three collections represent the moment from which Europe's existence began, from a political standpoint, and also the beginnings of a common European culture," says Thierry Delcourt, director of the Manuscript Department at the National Library of France and head of the Europeana Regia project, which will digitise the manuscripts.
The books being digitised by Europeana Regia are all handwritten masterpieces that were initially produced by monks and later, as their popularity grew, by commercial scribes.
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When the digital copies of these manuscripts appear on Europeana, before the end of the year, it will be the first time that the public at large will have easy access to some of Europe's most precious Medieval and Renaissance manuscripts.
"Almost none of these manuscripts have been digitised before," says Mr. Delcourt. "If you want to see these manuscripts at the moment, you have to do a tour of European libraries, which is far from practical, or you have to ask for copies."
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The contributions from Europeana Regia will add to the illuminated manuscripts already present on Europeana, including many beautiful examples from the British Library.
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