Children's doodles and drawings discovered in medieval manuscript

The drawings depict a horse or cow, a human figure and possible images of the devil. Credit: University of Pennsylvania

A series of doodles and drawings discovered in the margins of a medieval manuscript were probably made by children, a historian has revealed.

Dr Deborah Thorpe from the University of York enlisted the help of child psychologists to identify the drawings found in the pages of a 14th Century book from a Franciscan convent in Naples.

The drawings depict a horse or cow, a human figure and possible images of the devil.

They were probably drawn by children a couple of centuries later as the book found its way into the hands of the children who took to sketching in the margins.

Dr Thorpe said she came across the drawings by chance while carrying out research on a separate project.She said:

The drawings were discovered in a 14th Century book from a Franciscan convent in Naples. Credit: University of Pennsylvania

Dr Thorpe enlisted the help of child psychologists who confirmed they were probably drawn by children aged four to six years old.

Psychologists confirmed they were the work of children from the way they had been drawn, for example elongated shapes. Credit: University of Pennsylvania