Medieval Manuscripts from the Former Libraries of Dissolved Bohemian Women‘s Monasteries: Educational Sources for Girls and Young Women in the Middle Ages and at the Beginning of the Early Modern Period

SUMMARY: The processes of education in Bohemian women‘s monasteries during the Middle Ages and the early modern period are presented, based on extensive research of manuscripts, incunabula and other archi- val materials from former women‘s monastic libraries abolished at the end of the 18th century (reforms of Joseph II), preserved mainly in the National Library of the Czech Republic. The different stages of education are presented on the basis of this book heritage, from simple memorization of words to teaching of reading basic texts and reception of more demanding titles. The key differences and particularities of individual orders and religious houses are summarized. The surviving books are set within the development of book culture in medieval and early modern Kingdom of Bohemia, with particular reference to vernacularization.

KEYWORDS: education, convents, monasteries, Middle Ages, manuscripts, incunabula, Benedictines, Domi- nicans, Poor Clares, Premonstratensians, reading, breviaries, psalters, Bible, Kingdom of Bohemia, Bohemia, women, book culture, vernacularization, German, Czech