Exhibiting the Lindisfarne Gospels

Michelle Brown, curator of Illuminated Manuscripts at the British Library, discusses new interpretations of this treasure, and how this month visitors to the Library will be able to get closer to it than ever before.

The Lindisfarne Gospels give an invaluable insight into one of the formative periods of world history, when the implications of the demise of the Roman Empire were becoming increasingly apparent as successor states vied with one another for prominence. Patterns of conversion to the world faiths, territorial conquests and realignment of trade routes were reshaping the map and forming a legacy of East-West relations which is with us still. Britain was home to one of the most varied multi-cultural populations in its history, prior to the twentieth century, and the challenges of assimilation and the creation of a credible identity upon the world stage were being actively confronted.

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