Claire Breay

Last updated

Claire Breay
Born
Mary Claire Breay

(1968-10-18) 18 October 1968 (age 56)
NationalityBritish
Education Institute of Historical Research
OccupationCurator
Years active1998–present
Employer British Library
Notable workAnglo-Saxon Kingdoms: Art, Word, War

Claire Breay, MBE FRHistS (born 18 October 1968) is an English manuscript curator and medieval historian. She is the Head of Ancient, Medieval and Early Modern Manuscripts at the British Library, where she specializes in Western medieval manuscripts in the Department of Collections. [1] [2]

Contents

Education

Breay studied history and classics for her bachelor's degree at Newnham College, Cambridge, [3] after which she proceeded to do a one-year archival work experience post at the Borthwick Institute for Archives in York, and then trained as an archivist at Aberystwyth University. [4] She did a PhD in medieval history at the Institute of Historical Research in London.

Career

Breay started her career as an archivist at Lambeth Palace Library for two years after her PhD. She joined the British Library in 1998 as a curator of medieval historical manuscripts. She became the head of the medieval manuscripts section of the Library in 2006. While working in the section, she was in charge of the Codex Sinaiticus Project (2002–2010). She also worked on the acquisition of the St Cuthbert Gospel (2010–2012) and was a co-investigator for the AHRC-funded Magna Carta Project (2012–2015). Breay was lead curator of the 2018 exhibition, Magna Carta: Law, Liberty, Legacy and also the lead curator of the exhibition, Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms: Art, Word, War [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] which is the largest ever exhibition on the history, literature and culture of Anglo-Saxon kingdoms spanning six centuries – from the eclipse of Roman Britain in the 5th century to the Norman Conquest of 1066, as at the time of the exhibition in October 2018. [10] [11] She jointly supervised an AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Partnership student (2015–2018) with Professor Joanna Story of the University of Leicester. She is a Committee member of the Association for Archives and Manuscripts in Research Collections and the Cathedral Libraries and Archives Association. [2]

Awards and recognitions

In 2017, Breay was awarded an MBE for her services to medieval history. [12] [13]

In 2019, she received the Longman-History Today Trustees' Award for the promotion of history. [14] She was elected a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society in 2024. [15]

Publications

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Magna Carta</span> English charter of freedoms made in 1215

Magna Carta Libertatum, commonly called Magna Carta or sometimes Magna Charta, is a royal charter of rights agreed to by King John of England at Runnymede, near Windsor, on 15 June 1215. First drafted by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Cardinal Stephen Langton, to make peace between the unpopular king and a group of rebel barons who demanded that the King confirm the Charter of Liberties, it promised the protection of church rights, protection for the barons from illegal imprisonment, access to swift and impartial justice, and limitations on feudal payments to the Crown, to be implemented through a council of 25 barons. Neither side stood by their commitments, and the charter was annulled by Pope Innocent III, leading to the First Barons' War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lindisfarne Gospels</span> 8th-century illuminated manuscript

The Lindisfarne Gospels is an illuminated manuscript gospel book probably produced around the years 715–720 in the monastery at Lindisfarne, off the coast of Northumberland, which is now in the British Library in London. The manuscript is considered one of the finest works in the unique style of Hiberno-Saxon or Insular art, combining Mediterranean, Anglo-Saxon and Celtic elements.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Book of Kells</span> Illuminated 9th-century Gospel book

The Book of Kells is an illustrated manuscript and Celtic Gospel book in Latin, containing the four Gospels of the New Testament together with various prefatory texts and tables. It was created in a Columban monastery in either Ireland or Scotland, and may have had contributions from various Columban institutions from each of these areas. It is believed to have been created c. 800 AD. The text of the Gospels is largely drawn from the Vulgate, although it also includes several passages drawn from the earlier versions of the Bible known as the Vetus Latina. It is regarded as a masterwork of Western calligraphy and the pinnacle of Insular illumination. The manuscript takes its name from the Abbey of Kells, County Meath, which was its home for centuries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Cuthbert Gospel</span> Early 8th-century Anglo-Saxon pocket gospel book

The St Cuthbert Gospel, also known as the Stonyhurst Gospel or the St Cuthbert Gospel of St John, is an early 8th-century pocket gospel book, written in Latin. Its finely decorated leather binding is the earliest known Western bookbinding to survive, and both the 94 vellum folios and the binding are in outstanding condition for a book of this age. With a page size of only 138 by 92 millimetres, the St Cuthbert Gospel is one of the smallest surviving Anglo-Saxon manuscripts. The essentially undecorated text is the Gospel of John in Latin, written in a script that has been regarded as a model of elegant simplicity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Book of Durrow</span> Medieval illuminated manuscript gospel book

The Book of Durrow is an illuminated manuscript gospel book dated to c. 700 that contains the Vulgate Latin text of the four Gospels, with some Irish variations, and other matter, written in Insular script, and richly illustrated in the style of Insular art with four full-page Evangelist symbols, six carpet pages, and many decorated initials.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cotton library</span> Collection of manuscripts held by the British Library

The Cotton or Cottonian library is a collection of manuscripts that came into the hands of the antiquarian and bibliophile Sir Robert Bruce Cotton MP (1571–1631). The collection of books and materials Sir Robert held was one of the three "foundation collections" of the British Museum in 1753. It is now one of the major collections of the Department of Manuscripts of the British Library. Cotton was of a Shropshire family who originated near Wem and were based in Alkington and employed by the Geneva Bible publisher, statesman and polymath Sir Rowland Hill in the mid 16th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Insular script</span> Medieval writing system common to Ireland and England

Insular script is a medieval script system originating in Ireland that spread to England and continental Europe under the influence of Irish Christianity. Irish missionaries took the script to continental Europe, where they founded monasteries, such as Bobbio. The scripts were also used in monasteries, like Fulda, which were influenced by English missionaries. They are associated with Insular art, of which most surviving examples are illuminated manuscripts. It greatly influenced modern Gaelic type and handwriting.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Initial</span> Oversized first letter in a text block

In a written or published work, an initial is a letter at the beginning of a word, a chapter, or a paragraph that is larger than the rest of the text. The word is ultimately derived from the Latin initiālis, which means of the beginning. An initial is often several lines in height, and, in older books or manuscripts, may take the form of an inhabited or historiated initial. Certain important initials, such as the Beatus initial, or B, of Beatus vir... at the opening of Psalm 1 at the start of a vulgate Latin. These specific initials in an illuminated manuscript were also called initia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carpet page</span> Page of geometrical illumination in a manuscript

A carpet page is a full page in an illuminated manuscript containing intricate, non-figurative, patterned designs. They are a characteristic feature of Insular manuscripts, and typically placed at the beginning of a Gospel Book. Carpet pages are characterised by mainly geometrical ornamentation which may include repeated animal forms. They are distinct from pages devoted to highly decorated historiated initials, though the style of decoration may be very similar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Insular art</span> Post-Roman British and Irish style of art

Insular art, also known as Hiberno-Saxon art, was produced in the post-Roman era of Great Britain and Ireland. The term derives from insula, the Latin term for "island"; in this period Britain and Ireland shared a largely common style different from that of the rest of Europe. Art historians usually group Insular art as part of the Migration Period art movement as well as Early Medieval Western art, and it is the combination of these two traditions that gives the style its special character.

Comoere or Wulsige Comoere was a medieval Bishop of Cornwall.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">British Library</span> National library of the United Kingdom

The British Library is a research library in London that is the national library of the United Kingdom. It is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British Library receives copies of all books produced in the United Kingdom and Ireland, including a significant proportion of overseas titles distributed in the United Kingdom. The Library is a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old English Hexateuch</span>

The Old English Hexateuch, or Aelfric Paraphrase, is the collaborative project of the late Anglo-Saxon period that translated the six books of the Hexateuch into Old English, presumably under the editorship of Abbot Ælfric of Eynsham. It is the first English vernacular translation of the first six books of the Old Testament, i.e. the five books of the Torah and Joshua. It was probably made for use by lay people.

Janet Moira Backhouse was an English manuscripts curator at the British Museum, and a leading authority in the field of illuminated manuscripts.

Michelle P. Brown is Professor Emerita of Medieval Manuscript Studies at the School of Advanced Study, University of London. She was previously (1986–2004) Curator of Illuminated Manuscripts at the British Library. She has been a historical consultant and on-screen expert on several radio and television programmes. She has published books on Bede, the Lindisfarne Gospels, the Luttrell Psalter and the Holkham Bible.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wynflaed</span> Anglo-Saxon noblewoman

Wynflæd or Ƿynflæd was an Anglo-Saxon noblewoman and a major landowner in the areas of Hampshire, Somerset, Dorset and Wiltshire. Wynflæd is likely a widow vowess primarily connected to royal foundation at Shaftesbury Abbey, with further connections to royal nunnery at Wilton Abbey. There is ongoing debate if she was the mother of Aelfgifu of Shaftesbury and thus the grandmother of Kings Eadwig and Edgar the Peaceful.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joanna Story</span> British historian

Joanna Elizabeth Story is a British historian whose speciality is the history of and relationship between Anglo-Saxon England and Carolingian Francia.

<i>Magna Carta (An Embroidery)</i> 2015 embroidery artwork by Cornelia Parker

Magna Carta (An Embroidery) is a 2015 work by English installation artist Cornelia Parker. It is an embroidered representation of the complete text and images of an online encyclopedia article for Magna Carta, as it appeared on the English Wikipedia on 15 June 2014, the 799th anniversary of the document.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">D. H. Turner</span> English museum curator and art historian

Derek Howard Turner was an English museum curator and art historian who specialised in liturgical studies and illuminated manuscripts. He worked at the British Museum and the British Library from 1956 until his death, focusing on exhibitions, scholarship, and loans.

Rachel Moss is an Irish art historian and professor specialising in medieval art, with a particular interest in Insular art, medieval Irish Gospel books and monastic history. She is the current head of the Department of the History of Art at Trinity College Dublin, where she became a fellow in 2022.

References

  1. "Curating the Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms exhibition at the British Library". Bodleian Libraries. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
  2. 1 2 "Claire Breay, Head of Ancient, Medieval and Early Modern Manuscripts". The British Library. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
  3. "Newnhamites featured in New Year Honours List". Newnham College. 5 January 2017. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
  4. News (25 September 2018). "Curator of the Month: Claire Breay, British Library". Art Fund. Retrieved 28 January 2019.{{cite news}}: |last1= has generic name (help)
  5. Horton, Helena (17 October 2018). "Stop referring to Middle Ages as 'Dark Ages' because it was an 'enlightened era', British Library expert says". The Telegraph. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
  6. Brown, Mark (2 March 2018). "Domesday book lent to British Library for Anglo-Saxon exhibition Survey of England that William the Conqueror commissioned in 1085 to go on rare display". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
  7. Kelly, Mike (29 December 2018). "The North East book not seen in England since Anglo-Saxon times – 1,300 years ago". Chronicle Live. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
  8. McGreevy, Ronan (20 September 2018). "Book of Durrow is on its way to the British Library". The Irish Times. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
  9. Bentley, Cara (19 October 2018). "Oldest surviving complete Latin Bible goes on display in London". Premier. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
  10. Nolan, Emma-Louise (20 September 2018). "Trinity to Loan Book of Durrow to the British Library". University Times. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
  11. "University of Leicester academic takes leading role in major new exhibition on Anglo-Saxon England". le.ac.uk. 19 October 2018. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
  12. Glaze, Ben; Massey, Nina; Bloom, Dan; Wardle, Sally (31 December 2016). "New Year's Honours 2017: Full list of great and good awarded for services to Britain". Mirror. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
  13. "British Library's medieval expert Claire Breay gets MBE". British Library. 24 January 2017. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
  14. "Longman-History Today Awards 2019: The Winners". www.historytoday.com. History Today. 26 June 2019. Retrieved 26 June 2019.
  15. "Society elects 221 new Fellows, Associate Fellows, Members and Postgraduate Members". Royal Historical Society. 17 July 2024. Retrieved 18 July 2024.
  16. Patricia. "The St Cuthbert Gospel – new studies". www.patricialovett.com. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
  17. "Claire Breay - Manuscripts at Trinity". www.tcd.ie. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
  18. Callard, Sandra. "Anglo Saxon Kingdoms: Art, Word and War by Claire Breay, Joanna Story – Book Review". On Yorkshire Magazine. Retrieved 28 January 2019.