It took a lot of time and effort to create everyday items in the Middle Ages. For example, if you need ink and have to make your own, it can take weeks before you can dip your quill into the inkwell.
We know of several ways people were able to make ink because people in the Middle Ages recorded instructions on how to make ink.You will find the following recipe Diverse technology (about various arts), written by Theophilus Presbiter in the early 12th century. Theophilus produced detailed descriptions of the techniques used in medieval art, with sections on paints and drawing materials, the making of stained glass, and finally metalwork. His book would have been a useful guide to any medieval artist who wanted to illuminate manuscripts, make glass cups, or build an organ.
Here’s the recipe for making Theophilus’ ink.
To make ink, cut your own hawthorn tree in April or May, before it has flowers or leaves. Collect them in small bunches and keep them in the shade for 2, 3 or 4 weeks until they are pretty good. Dead.
Next, take a mallet and hammer a bark into a hard piece of wood until the bark is completely removed, then immediately place it in a water-filled barrel. Fill 2, 3, 4, 5 barrels with bark and water and let stand for 8 days until the water has removed all the sap from the bark. Then put this water in a very clean pot or cauldron and put it on the fire to heat it. Occasionally, this bark is put into a pot, and if there is any sap left, it is allowed to simmer, heated slightly, removed, and more is added. .
Once this is done, boil down the remaining water to a third of its original volume and pour it from this pot into a smaller pan and continue to heat until it turns black and begins to thicken. Be especially careful not to add Water other than that mixed with sap. Once thickened, add 1/3 of the pure wine and place in a couple of new pans and continue heating until a crust forms on top.
These pots are then removed from the heat and placed in the sun until the black ink naturally decomposes from the red scum. Afterwards, prepare several small parchment bags, like carefully sewn bags, pour pure ink into them, and hang them in the sun until they are completely dry. When dry, take out as much as you need, mix with wine over fire, add a little iron vitriol and write. If, as a result of carelessness, the ink is not black enough, take an inch-thick piece of iron, set it on the fire until it is bright red, and then throw it into the ink.
This translation is from Theophilus: Various Arts, edited by CR Dodwell in 1961. Another translation was done in 1963 – Theophilus: About Divers Artsby JG Hawthorne and CS Smith.
More recipes on how to make medieval ink can be found at: This guide was produced by Yale University Libraries
Top image: Inkwell – Bibliothèque Nationale de France MS Latin 8850, fol. 123v.