One of the major current medieval historians, Marco Mostert, retired from his post as Head of the Department of History in Utrecht in 2024. The present book is the Festschrift dedicated to him on this occasion (by now, two years too late), and it is obvious from beginning to end how much the honoree has deeply influenced generations of young and old medievalists, developing and shaping the entire field of literacy in the Middle Ages. With literacy is meant the ability and willingness to write, hence an intellectual process in clear contrast to orality. This entails a purely historical or documentary approach which has nothing to do with the history of literature, and the contributors followed suit, regularly engaging in one or the other way with Mostert's previous studies on their own subject matters, always medieval manuscripts.

The book, richly and beautifully illustrated, is divided into two parts, first dealing with manuscripts, texts, and communities in early medieval Europe, then with the social history of writing in late medieval Europe. There are eighteen studies altogether included which focus on a wide range of topics, themes, and materials. Only occasionally do we discover that two articles address the same documents, but there was no exchange among the contributors and the editors, as far as I can tell. To compensate for this desideratum, the editors provide in their introduction brief remarks on each study, which are, however, difficult to follow. Nevertheless, most authors make considerable efforts to help their readers, clearly structuring their papers with the use of sub-headings and concluding remarks. Throughout, we immediately recognize how much the authors have closely engaged with the relevant research literature, which is mentioned in abbreviated form in the footnotes and then listed fully in the bibliography. The volume concludes with a Tabula gratulatoria, but there is no index, which is really regrettable because of the wide range of topics, manuscripts, writers, and events covered throughout.

As all scholars confirm, closely following Mostert's lead, writing was of supreme importance for the cultural, legal, political, religious, and economic development, and this already since the early Middle Ages, as Rosamund McKitterick, Rob Meens, David Ganz, Bart Jaski, Mayke de Jong, Anne-Marie Helvétius, Irene van Renswoude and Mariken Teeuwen, Ad van Els, and Els Rose confirm in their respective investigations contained in the first part. For instance, McKitterick studies the Utrecht Psalter (ca. 830-850) and its central use of the Te Deum to confirm the Chalcedonian orthodoxy, and later Jaski returns to the difficult question of the psalter's dating. David Ganz surveys the extant early medieval manuscript copies of classical texts, especially of Suetonius's De Vita Caesarum, which apparently deeply influenced famous Einhard's Vita of Charlemagne. De Jong investigates the Epitaphium Arsenii, a funeral oration for Abbot Wala of Corbie by Paschasius Radbertus, as to its reflection on the monks' social relationship with the outside world, such as when they were asked to carry out diplomatic services. Helvétius (in French) discusses hagiographical sermons as political communications, but the evidence presented seems to be rather thin. Van Renswoude and Teeuwen return to the manuscripts in the library of Fleury, following Mostert's lead, now held in the Leiden University Library and describe them in detail. Other contributions bring to light further written documents from across medieval Europe.

In the second part, the perspective widens, turning to a variety of written documents from the late Middle Ages. Most interesting seems to be the study by Mark Vermeer on written documents by and for peasant communities in Eindhoven and Cranendonck (1532-1547) which indicate that even there a growing literacy could be observed and that the social and economic structures in the villages were rather diverse. Anna Adamska discusses manuscripts in late medieval rural Poland, while Agnieszka Bartoszewicz considers charters issued for peasants also in Poland, whereas Kasper H. Andersen, Jeppe Büchert Netterstrom, and Bjørn Poulsen examine such manuscripts in late medieval Denmark. Katalin Szende and Anna Kinde introduce late medieval manuscripts in Hungarian cathedral cities, whereas Carlo Tedeschi brings to our attention graffiti in church buildings in Abruzzo. Fascinating also proves to be Carine van Rhijn's investigation of the wide dissemination of the trope of Abraham's Eye, a magical charm to track down a thief, and this already since the eleventh century, which builds an intriguing bridge to ancient Egypt.

The textual margins are unusually wide, and the font size of the footnotes is extremely small (perhaps 8 pts.). It is a dignified Festschrift, and this review cannot do full justice to the many studies included, but the reader's eyes can get quickly tired. The introduction covers Mostert's major publications, but a simple bibliography either using the alphabet or the chronology as a structuring principle would have been much preferable. The introduction is marred by a number of errors and even a duplication of words of thanks. Otherwise, however, the editors have taken good care of the entire book manuscript and have assembled a solid body of new research on medieval and early modern literacy in many different countries.

Albrecht Classen