The flowering of the medieval meme

What the florilegium can tell us about ourselves

A 13th-14th century manuscript containing a florilegium, here showing a ‘table of contents’ organised by themes, Porrentruy, Bibliothèque cantonale jurassienne, Ms. 21

At least once, we’ve all shared a quote, a striking one-liner, something that felt instantly profound, only to realise later we couldn’t quite remember where it came from, or worse, that w…