Experts shocked by ancient King Arthur manuscript found tucked inside book: 'Survived the centuries'

Historians recently unveiled a rare 13th-century document depicting the tales of King Arthur and Merlin - and its survival is considered a miracle.

The discovery was announced by the University of Cambridge on March 25. The manuscript is part of the Suite Vulgate du Merlin, a French-language rendering of the story of King Arthur.

Arthur has been depicted as a legendary Briton king for several centuries, though his existence has been doubted by most historians. 

Thanks to modern technology - including multi-spectral imaging, computed tomography and 3D modeling - experts were able to scan and create a virtual image of the manuscript without risking any damage to it.

"Using mirrors, prisms, magnets and other tools, the team at CHIL [Cultural Heritage Imaging Laboratory] carefully photographed each section of the fragment," the university said. 

"By manipulating the digital images, the team could simulate what the document might look like if it were physically opened."

Each copy of the Suite Vulgate du Merlin was unique, as they were individually handwritten by medieval scribes, and fewer than 40 copies are known to exist. 

The Cambridge copy was written between 1275 and 1315. 

"The text is written in Old French, the language of the court and aristocracy in medieval England following the Norman Conquest," the news release said. 

"This particular fragment belongs to the genre of Arthurian romances [that] were intended for a noble audience, including women."

The university added that the manuscript "tells two key episodes from the end of the Suite Vulgate du Merlin."

"The first part recounts the victory of the Christians against the Saxons at the Battle of Cambénic," the statement reads. "It tells of the fight of Gauvain (with his sword Excalibur, his horse Gringalet and his supernatural powers), his brothers, and his father King Loth, against the Saxon Kings Dodalis, Moydas, Oriancés and Brandalus."

"While they were rejoicing in the feast, and Kay the seneschal brought the first dish to King Arthur and Queen Guinevere, there arrived the most handsome man ever seen in Christian lands," the passage read. "He was wearing a silk tunic girded by a silk harness woven with gold and precious stones which glittered with such brightness that it illuminated the whole room."

"As every manuscript of the period was copied by hand, it means each one is distinctive and reflects the variations introduced by medieval scribes," the British university said.

"The way the manuscript has been carefully executed, with decorated initials in red and blue, gave further clues to its origins and helped indicate that it was produced between the end of the 13th and the beginning of the 14th century."