Where were most classical works stored during the Dark Ages?

by vindictivecheese

Which specific institutions were known for storing and preserving classical works? What were their methods?

[deleted]

The institutions were monasteries, or to a lesser extent bishoprics, and their method was writing them down and sticking them in a corner. Or, simply acquiring a tome or scroll and sticking it in a corner. There may have been some preservation among the households of the nobility, but not to any considerable degree.

On a general scale, there wasn't much more to it than that.

Reading:

  • Brown, Warren, Marios Costambeys, Matthew Innes, and Adam J. Kosto, eds. Documentary Culture and the Laity in the Early Middle Ages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013.