One Answer:
The only libraries that existed were kept by monks. They collected books and also wrote books, but the general population couldn't read nor would they have used a library.
A Different Answer:
The most important library of the Middle Ages was the Library of Constantinople, which had been founded during the 4th century by Emperor Constantius II, who reigned from 337 to 361, and it continued operation until it was mostly destroyed in 1204 by crusaders. This library was state run. It was associated with an important scriptorium, where books were copied, and was intended, at least partly, as a place where books were preserved for copying. Since it was in the same city as the University of Constantinople, which opened in the year 425, it doubtless served that institution and its students as well.
Most monasteries had libraries, and copying the books was both an important work for monks and an important source of income for monasteries. Bibles were the books most commonly produced, primarily to be sold to churches, but the monasteries also copied a large number of other books, including secular books.
Monastic libraries also loaned books. In 1212, the Council of Paris issued a condemnation of any monasteries that failed to loan books because this was one of the most important acts of charity they could provide.
I see records of libraries that rented books out, but without any reference to the nature of the organization or person doing this. Since the records relate to books rented in cities where there were state run universities, I would assume that the renting libraries could have been commercial or private.
There was an active book trade copying and selling literature that might have included books never copied in monasteries, and these may have had libraries associated with them. Some of these shops might even have lent or rented books. The artist, Anastasia, worked for such trade, as did an unknown number of others. Christine de Pizan, the famous author, is also thought to have worked in such a shop as a copyist. Later, she had her own copyists working for her, though in her case, the books that were copied may all have been books she wrote.
Educated people, who might have been members of the royalty, nobility, or wealthy middle class, sometimes had their own libraries. I see prices of books at a rate about equal to a year's wages for a working man, 200 pence or so, so I would assume that the library of a wealthy man would have been very small by modern standards.
(Other important libraries may have existed in the Middle Ages, but not for a long time. The Vatican Library was established during the Middle Ages, but was not unified until 1448, when Pope Nicholas V collected the various books together from various places, including both Rome and Avignon. And the Alexandrine Library may have existed during the Middle Ages for a time. Some early sources say it was destroyed by a mob of fanatic Christians in the 4th century, but various Arab sources say it was destroyed by Muslims in the 7th century.)
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in medieval towns
Medieval castles.
medieval jobs
The medieval clothes laws are laws that address the issue of medieval clothes
they invented it in medieval times.
Mirella Ferrari has written: 'Medieval and Renaissance manuscripts at the University of California, Los Angeles' -- subject(s): Catalogs, Medieval Manuscripts, Renaissance Manuscripts, University of California, Los Angeles. Library
Diana Webb has written: 'Pilgrims and Pilgrimage in the Medieval West (International Library of Historical Studies)' 'Bill Buckets and the Magnificent Marrow (Hedgehogs)' 'Lily the Lollipop Lady (Hopscotch Books)' 'Pilgrims and pilgrimage in the medieval West' -- subject(s): Christian pilgrims and pilgrimages, History 'Saints and Cities in Medieval Italy (Manchester Medieval Sources)' 'Bill Buckets (Hedgehogs)'
N. R. Ker has written: 'William Hunter as a collector of medieval manuscripts' -- subject(s): Collectors and collecting, Medieval Manuscripts 'Facsimile of British Museum MS. Harley 2253' 'Medieval Manuscripts in British Libraries: Volume III' 'Fragments of medieval manuscripts used as pastedowns in Oxford bindings' -- subject(s): Bookbinding, Manuscripts, Pastedowns 'Records of All Souls College Library 1437-1600' -- subject(s): All Souls College (University of Oxford), All Souls College (University of Oxford). Library 'Books, collectors, and libraries' -- subject(s): Books, English Paleography, History, Irish Paleography, Libraries, Manuscripts, Latin (Medieval and modern), Medieval Manuscripts, Scriptoria 'The Winchester Malory'
Andrew G. Watson has written: 'Medieval manuscripts in post-medieval England' -- subject(s): Collectors and collecting, History, Intellectual life, Manuscripts, Medieval, Medieval Manuscripts, Private libraries 'Catalogue of dated and datable manuscripts c. 435-1600 in Oxford libraries' -- subject(s): Catalogs, Union, Facsimiles, Manuscript dating, Manuscripts, Medieval, Manuscripts, Renaissance, Medieval Manuscripts, Renaissance Manuscripts, Union Catalogs, Union lists 'Descriptive catalogue of the medieval manuscripts of All Souls College, Oxford' -- subject(s): All Souls College (University of Oxford), All Souls College (University of Oxford). Library, Catalogs, Manuscripts, Medieval, Medieval Manuscripts
Colin G. C. Tite has written: 'Impeachment and parliamentary judicature in early Stuart England' -- subject(s): History, Impeachments 'The early records of Sir Robert Cotton's Library' -- subject(s): British Library, British Library. Dept. of Manuscripts, Catalogs, Library, Manuscripts, Private libraries
Ross J. S. Hoffman has written: 'Medieval history' -- subject(s): Middle Ages, Lending library
Medieval is medieval because it is Latin for "the middle ages".
Paul Tombeur has written: 'Cetedoc library of Christian Latin texts' -- subject(s): CETEDOC, Christian literature, Latin (Medieval and modern), Databases
Medieval PeriodDark Age?Medieval times or the medieval era.
Norman Rufus Colin Cohn has written: 'Europe's inner demons' -- subject(s): Witchcraft, Demonology, Europe, Persecution 'The pursuit of the millennium ; revolutionary millenarians and mystical anarchists of the Middle Ages' -- subject(s): Church history, History of doctrines, Medieval Sects, Millennium, Sects, Medieval 'Histoire d'un mythe' 'Cosmos, chaos, and the world to come' -- subject(s): Comparative studies, Eschatology, Cosmology, Creation 'The pursuit of the millennium' -- subject(s): Christian sects, Medieval, Church, Church history, History of doctrines, Medieval Christian sects, Medieval Sects, Millennium, Millennium (Eschatology), Reformation, Sects, Medieval 'The pursuit of the millenium' -- subject(s): Church history, History of doctrines, Medieval Sects, Millennium (Eschatology), Sects, Medieval 'The pursuit of the millennium' -- subject(s): Church history, Sectas medievales, Medieval Sects, Lending library
You can read medieval books online for free through websites like Project Gutenberg, Internet Archive, and Google Books, which offer public domain works. Additionally, many universities and libraries provide access to digital archives that include a wide range of medieval texts.