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'''Scriptorium''' (plural '''scriptoria''') comes from the [[medieval]] [[Latin]] ''script-'', ''scribere'' (to write), where ''-orium'' is the neuter singular ending for adjectives describing place. Thus, a scriptorium is literally "a place for writing".

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'Scriptorium' is commonly used to refer to a room in medieval European [[monasteries]] devoted to the copying of manuscripts by monastic [[scribes]]. Written accounts, surviving buildings, and archaeological excavations all show,  however, that contrary to popular belief such rooms rarely existed: most monastic writing was done in cubicle-like recesses in the cloister, or in the monks' own cells. References in modern scholarly writings to 'scriptoria' more usually refer to the collective written output of a monastery, rather than to a physical room. Scriptoria in the conventional sense probably only existed for limited periods of time, when an institution or individual wanted a large number of texts copied to stock a library; once the library was stocked, there was no further need for a room to be set aside for the purpose. By the start of the 13th century secular copy-shops developed; professional scribes may have had special rooms set aside for writing, but in most cases they probably simply had a writing-desk next to a window in their own house.                                        

''''Scriptorium'''' is commonly used to refer to a room in medieval European [[monasteries]] devoted to the copying of manuscripts by monastic [[scribes]]. Written accounts, surviving buildings, and archaeological excavations all show,  however, that contrary to popular belief such rooms rarely existed: most monastic writing was done in cubicle-like recesses in the cloister, or in the monks' own cells. References in modern scholarly writings to 'scriptoria' more usually refer to the collective written output of a monastery, rather than to a physical room. Scriptoria in the conventional sense probably only existed for limited periods of time, when an institution or individual wanted a large number of texts copied to stock a library; once the library was stocked, there was no further need for a room to be set aside for the purpose. By the start of the 13th century secular copy-shops developed; professional scribes may have had special rooms set aside for writing, but in most cases they probably simply had a writing-desk next to a window in their own house.                                  

The monastery built in the second quarter of the 6th century by [[Cassiodorus]] at Vivarium in southern Italy, contained a purpose-built scriptorium, because he was consciously attempting to collect, copy, and preserve texts.

The monastery built in the second quarter of the 6th century by [[Cassiodorus]] at Vivarium in southern Italy, contained a purpose-built scriptorium, because he was consciously attempting to collect, copy, and preserve texts.

The mother house of the [[Cistercian]] order at [[Cîteaux]], one of the best-documented high-medieval scriptoria, developed a "house style" in the first half of the twelfth century that spread with the order itself.<ref>Yolanta Załuska, ''L'enluminure et le scriptorium de Cîteaux au XIIe siècle'' (Brecht:Cîteaux) 1989. In 1134, the Cistercian order declared that the monks were to keep silent in the scriptorium as they should in the [[cloister]].  There is evidence that the existence of a separate scriptorium for communal writing was later untypical: in the 13th century, the Cistercians would allow certain monks to perform their writing in a small cell "which could not... contain more than one person".<ref>Geo. Haven Putnam, ''Books and their Makers During the Middle Ages'', (New York: Hillary House, 1962), 405

The mother house of the [[Cistercian]] order at [[Cîteaux]], one of the best-documented high-medieval scriptoria, developed a "house style" in the first half of the twelfth century that spread with the order itself.<ref>Yolanta Załuska, ''L'enluminure et le scriptorium de Cîteaux au XIIe siècle'' (Brecht:Cîteaux) 1989. In 1134, the Cistercian order declared that the monks were to keep silent in the scriptorium as they should in the [[cloister]].  There is evidence that the existence of a separate scriptorium for communal writing was later untypical: in the 13th century, the Cistercians would allow certain monks to perform their writing in a small cell "which could not... contain more than one person".<ref>Geo. Haven Putnam, ''Books and their Makers During the Middle Ages'', (New York: Hillary House, 1962), 405

==Further reading==

==Further reading==

* Diringer, David. ''The Book Before Printing: Ancient, Medieval and Oriental''. New York: Dover, 1982.

* Diringer, David. ''The Book Before Printing: Ancient, Medieval and Oriental''. New York: Dover, 1982.

* Lawrence, C.H. ''Medieval Monasticism: Forms of Religious Life in Western Europe in the Middle Ages'', Ed. 2. London: Longman, 1989.

* Lawrence, C.H. ''Medieval Monasticism: Forms of Religious Life in Western Europe in the Middle Ages'', Ed. 2. London: Longman, 1989.

* Maitland, Samuel Roffey. ''The Dark Ages''. London : J.G.F. & J.Rivington, 1844. [http://www.archive.org/details/a591588100maituoft.]

* Maitland, Samuel Roffey. ''The Dark Ages''. London : J.G.F. & J.Rivington, 1844. [https://www.archive.org/details/a591588100maituoft.]

* McKitterick, Rosamond. "The Scriptoria of Merovingian Gaul: a survey of the evidence." In ''Books, Scribes and Learning in the Frankish Kingdoms, 6th-9th Centuries'', VII 1-35. Great Yarmouth: Gilliard, 1994. Originally published in H.B. Clarke and Mary Brennan, trans., ''Columbanus and Merovingian Monasticism'', (Oxford: BAR International Serries 113, 1981).

* McKitterick, Rosamond. "The Scriptoria of Merovingian Gaul: a survey of the evidence." In ''Books, Scribes and Learning in the Frankish Kingdoms, 6th-9th Centuries'', VII 1-35. Great Yarmouth: Gilliard, 1994. Originally published in H.B. Clarke and Mary Brennan, trans., ''Columbanus and Merovingian Monasticism'', (Oxford: BAR International Serries 113, 1981).

* McKitterick, Rosamond. "Nun's scriptoria in England and Francia in the eighth century". In ''Books, Scribes and Learning in the Frankish Kingdoms, 6th-9th Centuries'', VII 1-35. Great Yarmouth: Gilliard, 1994. Originally published in ''Francia 19/1'', (Sigmaringen: Jan Thornbecke Verlag, 1989).  

* McKitterick, Rosamond. "Nun's scriptoria in England and Francia in the eighth century". In ''Books, Scribes and Learning in the Frankish Kingdoms, 6th-9th Centuries'', VII 1-35. Great Yarmouth: Gilliard, 1994. Originally published in ''Francia 19/1'', (Sigmaringen: Jan Thornbecke Verlag, 1989).  

* Sullivan, Richard. "What Was Carolingian Monasticism? The Plan of St Gall and the History of Monasticism." In ''After Romes's Fall: Narrators and Sources of Early Medieval History'', edited by Alexander Callander Murray, 251-287. Toronto: U of Toronto Press, 1998.  

* Sullivan, Richard. "What Was Carolingian Monasticism? The Plan of St Gall and the History of Monasticism." In ''After Romes's Fall: Narrators and Sources of Early Medieval History'', edited by Alexander Callander Murray, 251-287. Toronto: U of Toronto Press, 1998.  

* Vogue, Adalbert de. ''The Rule of Saint Benedict: A Doctrinal and Spiritual Commentary''. Kalamazoo: Cistercian, 1983.

* Vogue, Adalbert de. ''The Rule of Saint Benedict: A Doctrinal and Spiritual Commentary''. Kalamazoo: Cistercian, 1983.

* [https://www.newyorkcarver.com/scriptoria3.htm#Scriptorium New York Carver: Scriptorium]

* [[Manuscript culture]]

* [https://www.hrc.utexas.edu/exhibitions/permanent/gutenberg/html/2.html Etchings of scriptoria and an example of a manuscript]

* [https://www.osb.org/gen/robling/05script.html Fr. Landelin Robling OSB"The Order of Saint Benedict : Monastic Scriptoria"]

* [https://christdesert.org/Seeking_God/Scriptoria/index.html History of Scriptoria]

 

* [http://www.newyorkcarver.com/scriptoria3.htm#Scriptorium New York Carver: Scriptorium]

* [http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/exhibitions/permanent/gutenberg/html/2.html Etchings of scriptoria and an example of a manuscript]

* [http://www.osb.org/gen/robling/05script.html Fr. Landelin Robling OSB"The Order of Saint Benedict : Monastic Scriptoria"]

* [http://sunsite.lib.berkeley.edu/Scriptorium/index.html The Digital Scriptorium]: a visual catalog, an image database of dated and datable medieval and Renaissance manuscripts that forms a repertory of scriptorium styles

* [http://www.christdesert.org/noframes/script/history.html History of Scriptoria]

* [https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/cdwright/www/msscat.html "Manuscript catalogues": Charles D. Wright's on-line bibliography covering medieval libraries and scriptoria.]  

* [https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/cdwright/www/msscat.html "Manuscript catalogues": Charles D. Wright's on-line bibliography covering medieval libraries and scriptoria.]  

* [http://www.stgallplan.org/index.html St. Gall Monastery Plan]

* [https://www.stgallplan.org/index.html St. Gall Monastery Plan]

* [http://www.standrews-scriptorium.org The St. Andrews Scriptorium]

* [https://www.standrews-scriptorium.org The St. Andrews Scriptorium]

[[Category:General Reference]]

[[Category:General Reference]]