A rare medieval Bible has been returned to its shelf in Canterbury Cathedral after it was removed from the cathedral’s library at the time of Reformation, some 500 years ago.
The Lyghfield Bible—named after the 16th Century monk who once owned it—was among the books scattered when Henry VIII raided the monastery community. It is the “only complete bible and the finest illuminated book known to have survived from the medieval collection,” reports The Guardian.
It is of the utmost significance to us to have here in our collections a copy of the core Christian text which was owned by one of the last monks of the medieval monastic community. —Cressida Williams, Head of cathedral archives
The cathedral bought the Lyghfield Bible from a private collector for $129,000 (£100,000). The National Heritage Memorial Fund (NHMF) donated almost $124,000 (£96,000) and the cathedral raised the rest to buy the 13th century bible.
The Canterbury Cathedral plans to organize an exhibiti