The late medieval papacy's innovations with written records are well-known: this volume investigates another aspect of papal literacy, namely libraries and private book collections at the papal court. The papal library had a long history in the Middle Ages: John xxii founded a papal library in Avignon which continued to grow and eventually was transferred to the Bibliotheca Vaticana in Rome. The papal collections in Avignon were never consolidated into a single library but were kept in a number of places in the palace, intended for the various users and styles of reading. The main interests of this volume are the personal book collections of humanist popes and cardinals.

The collection is the product of a workshop in 2014 organised by the leaders of the extended project on papal libraries that was based at the Hugo von Sankt Viktor-Institut für mittelalterliche Quellenkunde. The programme took Pedro de Luna, the (anti-)pope Benedict xiii, as a case study for the relationship between popes and their libraries during and immediately after the schism. At the heart of this volume, therefore, is Annette Löffler's new catalogue of a selection of 162 surviving manuscripts from Benedict xiii’s libraries. Some of Benedict's books were left in the papal library of Avignon, and so were transferred to the BAV in Rome. He took another set of books with him when he fled to Peñiscola in 1417; these were divided into two collections, the general library and a transportable personal library for Benedict xiii. The Peñiscola books were acquired by Cardinal Peter of Foix after Gregory's death and the collection eventually found its way to the Bibliothèque Nationale de France. This catalogue includes books from both collections and aims to give an overview of Benedict's library, with a special focus on volumes of canon law and theology.

The first part of this volume consists of essays on personal book collections, the physical disposition of libraries and a culture of learnedness in the fifteenth-century papal court. The first section, on education and learning, includes papers by Patrick Zutshi on the book collection of the English cardinal, Adam Easton (d. 1397), which he donated to Norwich Cathedral Priory on his death. Davide Scotto analyses Juan de Segovia's decision to dedicate a volume of his writings on Islam to Enea Silvio Piccolomini in May 1458. Jessika Nowak investigates the importance of Piccolomini's reputation for learning as a factor in his election as pope in August 1458. The second section, on manuscript production, focuses in particular on scriptoria used by and near to Pedro de Luna at various stages in his career. Josefina Planas Badenas describes the production of illuminated manuscripts at the castle of Peñiscola during the schism. Anette Löffler analyses various codices containing selections of texts relating to the schism. Ángela Franco Mata discusses Spanish pontificals, while Marta Pavón Ramírez presents a document in which Benedict xiii carried out the final wishes of his nephew, the archbishop of Toledo, including the disposition of his library. The final section, on the physical disposition of libraries, includes papers by Paul Payan on the arrangement of the papal library in Avignon at the time of Benedict xiii and Christine Maria Grafinger on the transfer of the papal library from Avignon to Rome. Antonio Manfredi looks in more detail at Nicholas v, who initiated the transportation of books to Rome and founded the Bibliotheca Apostolica Vaticana. Finally, Nicolas Weill-Parot examines Cardinal Pedro Garsia's use of medieval texts in his refutation of Pico della Mirandola. Rainer Berndt introduces the collection with a survey of libraries (and papal libraries in particular) in the history of Western Christendom.