page_title: Scribe
section_title: Europe in the Middle Ages
hierarchical_section_title: Scribe / Europe in the Middle Ages
caption_attribution_description: Nederlands: Miniatuur uit het manuscript "Werken", vervaardigd door Jan van Ruusbroec te Bergen-op-Zoom. Gepubliceerd in 1480. English: Miniature from the manuscript "Werken", manufactured by Jan van Ruusbroec in Bergen-op-Zoom. Published in 1480.
context_page_description: A scribe is a person who serves as a professional copyist, especially one who made copies of manuscripts before the invention of automatic printing.
  The profession of the scribe, previously widespread across cultures, lost most of its prominence and status with the advent of the printing press. The work of scribes can involve copying manuscripts and other texts as well as secretarial and administrative duties such as the taking of dictation and keeping of business, judicial, and historical records for kings, nobles, temples, and cities. The profession has developed into public servants, journalists, accountants, bookkeepers, typists, and lawyers. In societies with low literacy rates, street-corner letter-writers may still be found providing scribe service.
caption: Monastic scribes copying manuscripts. Miniature from the manuscript "Werken", manufactured by Jan van Ruusbroec in Bergen-op-Zoom. Published in 1480.[20]
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