New Minster Liber Vitae facts for kids
The New Minster Liber Vitae is a special book made in Winchester, southern England, in the year 1031. Its name, Liber Vitae, means "Book of Life" in Latin. It was a type of confraternity book, which means it recorded the names of people who visited or supported the New Minster, Winchester monastery.
This amazing old book also contains a picture of King Cnut the Great and his second wife, Queen Emma of Normandy. You can see this image on the right.
Today, the original manuscript is kept safe at the British Library in London. It's known there as Stowe MS 944. The New Minster Liber Vitae and the Durham Liber Vitae are the only two "Books of Life" that have survived from the Anglo-Saxon period in England.
Who Was Added Later?
Later on, someone added more names to the book on page 29. These names include King Edward the Confessor, Queen Edith, and Edgar the Aetheling.
A historian named Tom Licence recently suggested that this list shows Edgar was considered the rightful heir to King Edward before Edward passed away in 1065. This gives us a peek into who might have been expected to rule England next!
