Study Estimates 60% of Medieval Chivalric Texts and 95% of Manuscripts Were Lost
Updated
Updated · Popular Science · Jul 11
Study Estimates 60% of Medieval Chivalric Texts and 95% of Manuscripts Were Lost
3 articles · Updated · Popular Science · Jul 11
Summary
Up to 60% of medieval chivalric texts and more than 95% of their manuscripts may have vanished, according to a new PNAS Nexus study modeling how works were copied from the 1100s onward.
Computer simulations reconstructed manuscript family trees and treated survival as a dynamic process, factoring in early copy numbers, copying errors, shifting popularity, and shocks such as wars and pandemics.
Researchers said the findings quantify long-held scholarly views that losses were severe and suggest the original versions of most chivalric works have likely disappeared.
The team plans to apply the method to older corpora including ancient Greek plays and to compare how text survival differed across medieval regions and languages.