Today at St Albans Cathedral, one of the Parker Library's finest manuscripts is on display in the Lives and Legacies Exhibition, part of the Cathedral's Medieval Summer celebration. MS 007, the Chronicale and Register of Benefactors of the Monastery of St Albans, will be on display until 3 September.

The exhibition features the fascinating stories of the individuals who visited and invested in the Abbey over six centuries.

The Lives and Legacies Exhibition explores the rich tradition of gift-giving and benefaction evident in the Chronicle and Register of the Benefactors of the Monastery. This stunning 15th century manuscript – loaned to the Cathedral by the Parker Library – records the gifts given to the Abbey by men and women of both high and low status.

"Marvel at the colourful, illuminated portraits in its pages, and learn about the monks, royalty, townspeople, and pilgrims who lived and worshipped in this place." - St Albans Cathedral

CCCC MS 7, which dates from c. 1400-25, contains the Chronica maiora and its continuations by the St Albans chronicler Thomas Walsingham (c. 1370-c. 1422), together with an incomplete copy of his Gesta abbatum Sancti Albani. In addition, the manuscript contains a finely illustrated copy of Walsingham's Liber benefactorum Sancti Albani in an abridged version, and the Annales Ricardi II et Henrici IV attributed to William Wintershill. Numerous illustrations represent the benefactors, a few as full figures but mostly as busts or heads. The gatherings of the manuscript are in a confused condition, the volume having been found in William Wintershill's cell in St Albans Abbey after his death (c. 1435) 'in quaternis derelictum' and rebound at that time or shortly afterwards.

The manuscript was delivered by hand to the Cathedral by Landsberg Sub-Librarian Dr Alex Devine.