Medieval manuscripts are those that originated before 1520; our collection consists of 230 volumes. The oldest (completely preserved) medieval manuscript is the Reichenauer Epistolar from the 1020s, which makes it about a thousand years old. Furthermore, the collection includes fragments that date back to when the diocese was established 1200 years ago.
Its contents are varied. They include such things as classical and humanistic works as well as writings on medicine and law.
The biggest part of these manuscripts has been described in a modern catalogue (s. publications). Some of the works that have not been thoroughly described as of now are: a 1478/80 scholastic treatise by the Hildesheim FVC; a psalter from the Hildesheim monastery of the Augustiner-Chorherren (Sültestift) (13./15. Century); a manuscript of the mystic treatise “Sieben Wege zur Ewigkeit” of Franciscan Rudolf von Biberbach (second half 14th century) that belonged to the monastery library of the Hildesheim Magdalene sisters.
We are currently working on composing an overview of these and other works that have not been indexed yet.
