Learning from medieval texts

Students in MARS/ENGL 4P01 Sources and Methods of Medieval and Renaissance Studies got up close and personal with source material on Monday, Feb. 28. The class, taught by Associate Professor Leah Knight, joined David Sharron, Head of Archives and Special Collections, for a special viewing in the Rankin Family Pavilion of the Archives’ oldest items, including a 14th-century psalm from a church reader, the 13th-century Clopton Charter, a 1579 letter of King James VI of Scotland, and John Gerard’s herbal encyclopedia from 1597. Here, Sharron shows students an image of Niagara Falls from the 1698 book A new discovery of a vast country in America by Louis Hennepin. While some of the items have been brought to classes before, this was the first time all these materials have been collectively presented to students outside of Archives and Special Collections.