The purpose of the five-year project (2008–2013) was to carry out a comprehensive codicological, palaeographic, liturgical and art historical classification of the Bernward psalter. Some 60 other manuscripts were used to reconstruct the history of St Michael’s library as far back as the late Middle Ages and to establish what its relationship was with the Dombibliothek (Cathedral Library) in Hildesheim. Scholars analysed the magnificent manuscripts, liturgical texts and writings from classical antiquity as well as theological and contemporary scholastic treatises to determine the monastery’s place in spiritual and intellectual history. A comparative approach was used in order to determine the role of the manuscripts in their contemporary historical context.

Funding: Niedersächsisches Ministerium für Wissenschaft und Kultur (Lower Saxony Ministry of Science and Culture, MWK)
Project participants: Monika E. Müller (team member), Dr Christian Heitzmann (contact)