A 600-year-old scroll describing the wars that inspired Game of Thrones might not be done making its mark on history. For the first time, the Canterbury Roll—detailing England's history until the Middle Ages—is being published online, making it accessible to the world, reports News.com.au. (The first stage is here, and the rest should be out in 2018.) As New Zealand's University of Canterbury celebrates 100 years since it acquired the 16-foot genealogical scroll, British scientists will begin studying the 15th-century manuscript next week in the hope of discovering hidden features. Using specialized equipment, they'll complete “ground-breaking work that has never before been applied to this type of manuscript,” according to a release.
Researchers have so far gathered that the manuscript dates to the Wars of the Roses, a series of wars fought for England's throne by two noble families: the Lancasters and Yorks, who became the Lannisters and Starks in George RR Martin's Game of Thrones, per Mental Floss. Created by the Lancaster side, the "visually spectacular" scroll then "fell into Yorkist hands and they rewrote part of it," says researcher Chris Jones. He notes the University of Canterbury acquired it in 1918 from a Canterbury nurse named Sybilla Maude, whose family claimed to have been keeping it since the Middle Ages, per Radio New Zealand. It's now "the most significant and substantial medieval artifact in New Zealand," Jones says, adding that the public can "interact directly with the manuscript." Check out how here. (More New Zealand stories.)
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