Illuminated manuscripts are, as their name suggests, hand-made books illumined by gold and silver ink. They were produced in Western Europe between c. 500 and c. 1600 CE and their subject matter is usually Christian scripture, practice, and lore. The books are elaborately illustrated and their illumination comes from the use of brightly-colored inks painted on top of or ornamented by gold and silver ink.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original content at https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1185/twelve-greatest-illuminated-manuscripts/.