A well-preserved masterpiece

The Theology Faculty’s Maurits Sabbe Library at the K.U.Leuven contains an impressive collection of manuscripts, most of which originate from the Episcopal Seminary in Mechelen. The show-piece of the library collection is the fourteenth-century Anjou Bible. After peregrinations in royal circles, in 1509 the codex ended up on Brabantine soil where it has remained to this day. During the course of those 500 years, this unique manuscript fell into oblivion. But recently all that changed. On March 10th 2008 the bible was officially recognized by the Flemish Community as a “Masterpiece” and that same year a major project was launched which involved researching and conserving the book and making it accessible to the public.