All three episodes of Illuminations: The Private Lives of Medieval Kings are currently available on the BBC iPlayer. But to whet your appetite, and for those of you outside the United Kingdom, here are some clips from the series, featuring some of the British Library's finest manuscripts: the Alphonso Psalter (Additional MS 24686); the Mirror for Princes or Secretum Secretorum (Additional MS 47680); and Henry VII's indenture for Westminster Abbey (Harley MS 1498).

For the best viewing experience, click on Play and then select the full-screen function.

Visitors to London can see these beautiful books in our exhibition Royal Manuscripts: The Genius of Illumination (until 11 March 2012).