A selection of documents from the medieval archive is available online, with images, notes and some partial transcriptions. The documents were chosen to support a taught course in palaeography and diplomatic and this is reflected in many of the notes. But they represent a wide range of examples from one of the most important medieval archives within the British Isles, from a writ of 1090 to a lease of 1539.
Examples of medieval seals from this collection are available online, with brief descriptive text and photographs. The seals chosen are grouped by category, including a broken knife used to authenticate a gift of Lowick tithes in the 1170s, the earliest surviving seals of the Scottish kings from the 1090s, a papal bull of Martin IV, the stunningly executed seal of Richard Bury, bishop of Durham 1333-1345, and a rare example of a seal impression that includes an image of another seal.
Durham possesses the finest collection of medieval manuscripts of any English cathedral. Durham University, in partnership with Durham Cathedral, is engaged in an ambitious project to digitise Durham Priory Library - the books owned and used by the Benedictine monastery of Durham and its dependent cells.
