A fragile 13th century manuscript fragment, hidden in plain sight as the binding of a 16th-century archival register, has been discovered and deciphered in Cambridge and revealed to contain thrilling medieval stories of Merlin and King Arthur from an exceptionally rare work of literature. The manuscript, first discovered at Cambridge University Library in 2019, has now been identified as part of the Suite Vulgate du Merlin, a French-language sequel to the legend of King Arthur. The story was part of the Lancelot-Grail cycle, a medieval best seller (but precious few copies now remain). There are less than 40 surviving manuscripts of the Suite Vulgate du Merlin, with each one unique since they were individually handwritten by medieval scribes. This latest
