700-year-old Bible 'dictionary'

de bene esse: literally, of well-being, morally acceptable but subject to future validation or exception

A priceless 700-year-old Bible 'dictionary' with unique insight into the lifestyle of nuns has gone on display for the first time. The Expositiones Vocabulorum Biblie by the 12th century clergyman William Brito - sometimes known as Guillaume le Breton - is written entirely in Latin.

It is one of a few monastic documents still in its original location after surviving the Dissolution of the Monasteries under Henry VIII in the 1530s when the monarch disbanded monasteries, priories, convents and friaries in England, Wales and Ireland and seized their assets and income.

Artefact: A 14th century copy of an early Bible dictionary is one of very few monastic books to survive the Dissolution of the Monasteries under Henry VIII in the 1530s

Many treasures were lost under Henry VIII's Dissolution of the Monasteries. The book has gone on display for the very first time and has been at the abbey for over 700 years

The hand written parchment book is thought to have helped nuns decipher parts of the Bible and contains explanations and the origins of difficult words and is now on display at Lacock Abbey, Wiltshire, where the nuns lived after it was recently bought in an auction by the National Trust.

Sonia Jones, house and collections manager at Lacock said the 14th century book gave insight into how the nuns lived during their time in the abbey. She said: 'We know little about the everyday lives of the nuns at Lacock Abbey.

Remnant: The book is a priceless survivor from the days when the nuns lived at Lacock Abbey in Wiltshre

Living history: The front cover of the 700-year-old hand written manuscript Bible dictionary

Written in Latin, it was part of the abbey library and even has earlier 13th century financial accounts of the abbey pasted into the binding

'This one book gives us a remarkable rare glimpse, a short glance into how they might have lived their lives.

'It tells us that they studied the Bible closely and most would have been literate.
'There is scrap parchment in the bindings which are part of the accounts of the abbey, recycled when the book was bound.

'Those fragments let us see just a little of some of the business side of the abbey, selling wool to provide an income.
'It is a special and important book, but to have it in Lacock and to be able to put it on display in the abbey, in its original home is simply priceless.'

Craftsmanship: A clasp mark on the book, which has a wooden cover

Treasure: The book was recently bought in an auction by the National Trust

It is also not known whether books such as the dictionary were ever written at Lacock or where this copy was laboriously hand written elsewhere.

The book was already known to the Trust and had passed down through generations of the Talbot family who lived at the abbey.

It was put up for sale and was bought by the National Trust at auction at Christie's.

Sanctuary: The alcove in which the Bible dictionary would have been kept at Lacock Abbey in Wiltshire