What is a “manuscript marginalia”?

The story behind the answer

Marginalia are the informal annotations, glosses, and sketches placed in the side or bottom spaces of manuscript pages. They might come from the original scribe or later readers, offering commentary, cross-references, or playful images. Unlike planned illumination, these additions sit outside the main text block and interact with it.

In the Middle Ages, they ranged from serious scholarly glosses (like the Glossa Ordinaria around biblical text) to whimsical scenes—snail-fighting knights, rabbits with lances, even cat pawprints. Such additions reveal how people read, taught, joked, and corrected themselves long before printing, providing a lively window into medieval learning, devotion, and humor.