Entre Flandre et Hainaut: Godefroid de Naste (+ 1337) et ses livres

The inventory of personal effects made after the death of Godefroid de Naste contains a list of 24 books constituting one of the oldest aristocratic libraries of the Southern Low Countries. This well documented lord owned property in Imperial Flanders (the domain of Rode, until 1320) as well as in Hainaut (Naste, Hansuelles, Biévène, a mansion in Mons) and assiduously frequented the court of Hainaut. Delicate problems of interpretation arise in the reading of this document, especially in the identification of the works listed. It also raises more general questions. Does such an inventory represent all of its owner’s books ? How was this library formed ? Is it a reflection of the tastes of one individual or rather af an era or a milieu ? To what extent does accessability – used books, models that could be copied – play a role in the formation of such a collection ?]