A psalm written out on f. 83v by two different individuals

Beyond teaching children, psalters were used in educating those who aspired to enter a religious vocation, such as the priesthood. Those hoping to enter a monastery would be tasked with memorizing the psalms, as they were a crucial part of the Divine Office, which figures of religious authority would be required to know. After memorizing the passages, the individual would proceed to learn Latin as a language. Many psalters contain notes in the margins, as well as annotations and glosses that were added by owners and students who used the text for educational purposes. The psalter included in our exhibit was very likely used to educate children, as a faded alphabet can be found on the bottom of f. 14. There is also evidence of someone attempting to write out a psalm on f. 83v. There are two different styles of writing below the original text: the first is large and contains several spelling and grammatical errors, making it likely that the author was a student of Latin. The second is a more expert hand that continues the psalm in neater writing until the end of the page.