Inkwell from the Brethren of the Common Life fraternity house

• Clay
• Rostock
• around 1500

The Brethren of the Common Life arrive in Rostock at the end of the 15th century, settling in St Michael's Monastery on the south-east side of Schwaansche Strasse. Here, from 1476 on, they operate north Germany's second oldest print shop for books. An archaeologically validated, larger basin with a rounded shape, recovered from the fraternity house, may have been used to manufacture paper. Besides a complete book cover, the digs uncovered 20 clay inkwells, which confirm that the monks were skilled in reading and writing.