ABSTRACT
In England after the Conquest the impact of Norman reforms stimulated intellectual energy in the monasteries, creating a demand for patristic and other texts.1 Scribal activity increased, especially at Christ Church Canterbury, where the monks also had to replace books that had been lost in the fire of 1067.2 At Malmesbury Dom William (the historian) organized and supplemented the community’s collections of books, and his handwriting appears alongside that of other scribes in eight manuscripts, as well as in a working copy of one of his own works.3 At Worcester the scribal activity which began in the time of Wulfstan II (1062-95) persisted until the mid twelfth century, when scribes produced copies of scientific and historical texts as well as patristic ones. One scribe, identified as Dom John of Worcester, appears in seven manuscripts including a copy of the chronicle attributed to him.4 The handwriting of Dom Symeon of Durham appears in two manuscripts at Durham.5
