libraries 445The Song of Leweswas a LATINpoem written after the
battle to publicize Simon’s desire to limit monarchical
authority and improve royal competence.
Further reading:C. L. Kingsford, ed., The Song of
Lewes(Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1890); David Carpenter,
The Battles of Lewes and Evesham, 1264/65(Staffordshire:
Mercia, 1987); Margaret Wade Labarge, Simon de Montfort
(Toronto: Macmillan, 1962).
liberal arts SeeSEVEN LIBERAL ARTS.
Liber pontificalis(pontifical book) The Liber pontifi-
caliswas a chronicle of variable trustworthiness of the
Roman pontiffs, starting with Saint Peter. It originated as
a set of papal biographies produced in the entourage of
the popes; yet it never had a strictly official character.
The text of the Liber pontificaliswas composed in
stages in edited layers of redaction. The first redaction
dated from the pontificate of Hormisdas (r. 514–523),
was probably composed by a single author, and it
extended to the tenure of Pope Silverius (r. 536–537).
Thereafter followed an interruption of some 40 years
with gaps and errors that work against the idea that
contemporary authors could have written it. Descrip-
tions resumed with the reign of Pope Pelagius II (r.
579–590) and continued until 870 in the pontificate of
Hadrian II (r. 867–872). The authors of this section
probably worked during the lifetimes of the pontiffs and
finished their work after the death of the popes
described, though there is much evidence of later emen-
dation of the texts.
Short lists and entries were included for popes up to
Pope URBANII. They contained names, lengths of pon-
tificates, and sometimes geographical and family ori-
gins. It probably was written in the second half of the
11th century in ROME. A mid-12th-century revision
incorporated the lives of Pope PASCHALII, Gelasius II
(r. 1118–19), Calixtus II (r. 1119–24), and Honorius II
(r. 1124–30).
See alsoPAPACY.
Further reading:Raymond Davis, trans., The Book of
Pontiffs (Liber pontificalis): The Ancient Biographies of the
First Ninety Roman Bishops to AD 715 (Liverpool: Liver-
pool University Press, 1989); Raymond Davis, trans., The
Lives of the Eighth-Century Popes (Liber pontificalis): The
Ancient Biographies of Nine Popes from AD715 to AD 817
(Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 1992); Raymond
Davis, trans., The Lives of the Ninth-Century Popes (“Liber
pontificalis”): The Ancient Biographies of Ten Popes from AD
817 to AD 891 (Liverpool: Liverpool University Press,
1995); Louise Ropes Loomis, trans., The Book of the
Popes: “Liber pontificalis” (1916; reprint, New York:
Octagon Books, 1965); Jeffrey Richards, The Popes and the
Papacy in the Early Middle Ages,476–752 (London: Rout-
ledge and Kegan Paul, 1979).
libraries Medieval libraries for Christianity, Islam, and
Judaism were places where manuscripts were stored, but
they were often also centers of culture, where original
and older texts were written, copied, read, studied, and
circulated. These centers or homes for books often coin-
cided with scribal workshops or scriptoria.Up to the 12th
century, libraries concentrated on the BIBLEand patristic
and liturgical works. From the 12th to the 14th century,
libraries concentrated on theological and Scholastic
works, including glosses on the Bible, commentaries on
legal and theological texts, and SERMONSand homiletic
material with a few VERNACULARtexts. In the 15th cen-
tury, libraries began to collect works on person spiritual
development and texts from classical antiquity. The tastes
and needs of owners, institutions, or individuals also
changed in accordance with these preferences and guided
library development.
The religious institutions such as the PAPACY, cathe-
dral schools, mendicant teaching schools, and colleges
and universities collected what they needed for their mis-
sions or interests. Monarchs and towns built library col-
lections that concentrated on the LAW and political
thought. Individuals also started libraries in the later
Middle Ages. These were personal and utilitarian, con-
taining canon law manuscripts for clerics, books on civil
law for lawyers, and recopied manuscripts of the classics
for those with a taste for antiquity.
Over time all these libraries of collecting individu-
als and institutions amalgamated. The histories of
libraries followed cultural changes and educational aspi-
rations. They required management, care, and conserva-
tion with differing levels of accessibility for those
aspiring to conduct research in them. Some of these
libraries also collected and preserved archival material
appropriate to the institution or individual doing the
collecting. Manuscripts of the Bible, for instance, or of a
philosophical interest would be kept with CHARTERS
showing ownership or letters of particular institutional
interest.
See alsoARCHIVES AND ARCHIVAL INSTITUTIONS;CAR-
OLINGIANRENAISSANCE;CASSIODORUS,SENATOR; CODICOL-
OGY; PALEOGRAPHY: VIVARIUM.
Further reading:Rita Schlusemann, J. M. M. Her-
mans, and Margriet Hoogvliet, eds., Sources for the His-
tory of Medieval Books and Libraries (Groningen: E.
Forsten, 1999); David N. Bell, What Nuns Read: Books
and Libraries in Medieval English Nunneries(Kalamazoo,
Mich.: Cistercian, 1995); John Willis Clark, Libraries in
the Medieval and Renaissance Periods (Chicago: Arg-
onaut, 1968); Karl Christ, The Handbook of Medieval
Library History, trans. Theophil M. Otto (Metucheh,
N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1984); N. R. Ker, Books, Collec-
tors, and Libraries: Studies in the Medieval Heritage,ed.
Andrew G. Watson (London: Hambledon Press, 1985);
N. R. Ker, Medieval Libraries of Great Britain: A List of
Surviving Books,Supplement to the 2d ed., ed. Andrew