Our Mission
FIRST: To preserve, restore, educate and advance access of primary source documents relating to historical, genealogical and other significant data during the 5th – 15th century known as the Medieval Period of Europe. Our concentration will begin with the fall of the Western Roman Empire merging into the Renaissance and Age of Discovery with a focus in the broadest sense of the events and geographic regions of Medieval Europe to include, but not limited to, the Eastern Roman and Holy Roman Empires, the Nordic countries, Kingdom of the Franks, Iberian Peninsula, Kievan Rus, Hungary, Poland, Lombard, and British Isles.
SECOND: To perpetuate knowledge and honor the lives, accomplishments, and contributions of outstanding medieval women who were born into a world dominated by men, yet disregarded society’s precept to pursue their own aspirations and exigency influencing the arts, medicine, religion, government and politics of their time.
THIRD: To inspire patriotism and loyalty to our country, to recognize acts of merit and acknowledge contributions and achievements when present.
FOURTH: To further implement all of the foregoing by the establishment of grants to professionals, archives, museums, or institutions that conserve artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical or scientific importance, specializing in the field of medieval history.
SECOND: To perpetuate knowledge and honor the lives, accomplishments, and contributions of outstanding medieval women who were born into a world dominated by men, yet disregarded society’s precept to pursue their own aspirations and exigency influencing the arts, medicine, religion, government and politics of their time.
THIRD: To inspire patriotism and loyalty to our country, to recognize acts of merit and acknowledge contributions and achievements when present.
FOURTH: To further implement all of the foregoing by the establishment of grants to professionals, archives, museums, or institutions that conserve artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical or scientific importance, specializing in the field of medieval history.
Possible Donation Opportunities
Preservation: Hereford Cathedral Chained Library: https://www.herefordcathedral.org/chained-library closes each January for a through cleaning of the 229 medieval manuscripts including the most important 8th century Hereford Gospel, noting any book repair or maintenance needed as funds are available.
Primary Reference Sources: Dr. Joan Ferrante, Professor Emeritus of English & Comparative Literature, Columbia University: https://epistolae.ccnmtl.columbia.edu/about. Epistolae is a free, online repository of the collection of letters to and from women dating from the 4th to the 13th century AD. These letters from the Middle Ages, written in Latin, are presented with English translations and are organized by the women participating with some 800 letters of the over 2000 that have so far been collected are now available online.
Restoration: Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, as one of several facilities able to offer the highest level expertise in the field of conservation on early medieval manuscripts. (recently completed rebinding a 600 year old illuminated medieval manuscript): www.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/