The team behind our major exhibition Medieval Women: In Their Own Words has created a new animation (designed by animator Ivyy Chen) telling the stories of five of the exhibition’s extraordinary leading figures, women who carved out their own destinies in ways that would be remembered for generations to come. The full animation can now be viewed below!

Discover the stories of Empress Matilda, who battled to assert her claim to the English throne in the 12th century, and Shajar al-Durr who became the first Sultana of Egypt and defended her country from an invading Crusader army.

Learn about Margery Kempe, a visionary responsible for the first autobiography written in the English language, and Christine de Pizan, a professional female author who argued for the moral and intellectual equality of women in her writings. 

Explore the life of a military leader and patron saint of France, the young peasant girl Joan of Arc, who was inspired by a divine calling to rally the French army and save her country.

The animation’s design has been inspired by medieval manuscripts that are part of the British Library’s collections, many of which are also on display in the exhibition. How many references can you spot?

Medieval Women: In Their Own Words is on show at the British Library from 25 October 2024 to 2 March 2025. You can purchase your tickets online now. 

This exhibition is made possible with support from Joanna and Graham Barker, Unwin Charitable Trust, and Cockayne – Grants for the Arts: a donor advised fund held at the London Community Foundation. 

Calum Cockburn

We are entering the final two months of our fabulous major exhibition, Medieval Women: In Their Own Words. By now, we hope you may have already visited, or that you've booked your tickets, or alternatively that you've laid hands on a copy of the exhibition book. You may have seen Joan of Arc's earliest signature in person, as well as the first Valentine's letter, the oldest autobiography in the English language, Christine de Pizan's Book of the Queen, the lion owned by Margaret d'Anjou, and the manuscripts of Julian of Norwich's Revelations of Divine Love. But how much do you know about the women whose stories are told in the show?

Here is a little quiz to whet your appetites. We'll reveal the answers @BLMedieval on Sunday, 5 January.

1. Who wrote (or, more correctly, dictated) the first surviving autobiography in English?
2. Which female Welsh author is best known for writing erotic poetry?
3. Joan Astley, the wet-nurse of King Henry VI, wrote to the king in 1422 requesting what?
4. Which queen of England is commemorated by a series of crosses erected in her name?
5. Which lady (shown in the Benefactors Book of St Albans Abbey, above) was sentenced to life imprisonment for seeking to predict the king's death?

Medieval Women: In Their Own Words is on show at the British Library from 25 October 2024 to 2 March 2025. You can book your tickets online.

This exhibition is made possible with support from Joanna and Graham Barker, Unwin Charitable Trust, and Cockayne – Grants for the Arts: a donor advised fund held at the London Community Foundation.

Follow us @BLMedieval

We have an exciting opportunity for a permanent Curator of Illuminated Manuscripts to join our team, to work with our internationally renowned collection of illuminated manuscripts made in Britain and Europe before 1600.

A personification of Italy as a mourning woman, facing Robert of Anjou, King of Naples (1309–1343), sitting on his throne, from the Carmina regia, made in Tuscany c. 1335: Royal MS 6 E IX, ff. 10v–11r

Does this sound like you? You will help to develop, manage and interpret the Library’s collection of illuminated manuscripts. You will be responsible for cataloguing these manuscripts and presenting them to a variety of audiences, through online resources, writing blog posts, answering specialist enquiries, and contributing to exhibitions and the public programme. You will oversee digitisation projects, including the selection of manuscripts to be digitised. You will also contribute to fundraising initiatives, and strategic communications with our stakeholders.

To be successful in this role, you will have a doctoral degree or its equivalent in medieval art history, history, literature or another closely-related discipline. You will have specialist knowledge and strong research experience relevant to the illuminated manuscripts collection of the British Library. You will have strong knowledge of medieval Latin, and excellent palaeographical and codicological skills. You will have the ability to work with colleagues in other areas, and the ability to work independently and to a high degree of accuracy.

We welcome applicants from all backgrounds.

For more information and to apply for this position, please visit this link or the British Library jobs page https://www.bl.uk/careers, citing job reference R00000821.

Closing date: 9 February 2025.

Interview date: 25 February 2025.

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