Think labyrinths are just for walking? In the Middle Ages, they also appeared in manuscripts—drawn with ink instead of carved in stone. Medieval scribes created intricate mazes that challenged the mind and stirred the soul. Thanks to recent research and digital archives, many of these centuries-old puzzles are now just a click away. But can you trace their winding paths—and uncover the meanings hidden within?

Recent scholarship by Jill K. H. Geoffrion and Alain Pierre Louët has helped uncover and catalogue dozens of these manuscript labyrinths—many of which were previously unknown or unrecognized. Thanks to digital libraries and persistent research, scholars have now identified over 90 labyrinths in medieval European manuscripts, dating from the 8th to the 16th centuries. Here are ten fascinating things these researchers discovered about medieval manuscript labyrinths:

1. The Chartres Labyrinth Has Predecessors

While the labyrinth embedded in the floor of Chartres Cathedral (from around 1200) is the most famous medieval example, it turns out it wasn’t entirely unique. Geoffrion and Louët catalogued over 30 manuscript labyrinths with the same eleven-circuit design—or close variants—predating or paralleling the cathedral version. These manuscript designs were circulating decades, even centuries before the cathedral floor was laid.

2. Labyrinths Were Found in a Wide Range of Manuscripts

These intricate designs didn’t appear only in theological or liturgical texts. They show up in works on philosophy, law, medicine, astronomy, poetry, alchemy, and grammar. Some accompany biblical commentaries, others sit next to classical texts like those of Cicero or Boethius. One even appears beside astrological diagrams.

3. They Weren’t Always Peaceful Symbols

Modern interpretations often associate labyrinths with meditation and serenity, but in medieval thought, the centre of the labyrinth was more often a place of danger and confrontation. Several manuscript designs place the Minotaur at the centre, harkening back to the original Greek myth. Others include warriors or animal-like figures engaged in combat.

4. The Number Eleven Was Not Random

Why eleven circuits? In medieval number symbolism, eleven was seen as a transgressive number, one step beyond ten (the number of commandments) and one short of twelve (the number of apostles). A journey through an eleven-circuit labyrinth may have symbolized an encounter with moral disorder or spiritual testing.

5. Some Were Text-Based or Musical

One labyrinth includes musical notation set into its winding path, blending visual design with sonic instruction. Another takes the form of a textual grid, with Hebrew letters embedded in the design—a kind of scriptural labyrinth.

6. They Were Placed All Over the Page

There was no standard position for labyrinths within manuscripts. Some are tucked into margins, others are inserted between columns of text, while still others occupy entire folio pages. They might be found at the beginning of a manuscript, as a kind of intellectual challenge, or at the end, perhaps as a capstone of reflection.

7. You’ll Find Labyrinths Across Religious Traditions

While most of the known manuscript labyrinths were created in Christian Europe, several appear in Jewish and Islamic contexts. These show that the labyrinth was a cross-cultural symbol, adaptable to many cosmologies.

8. Some Labyrinths Feature Highly Unusual Centres

Among the most distinctive examples is a labyrinth with a woman’s head at the centre. Its presence invites questions: Is she a Virgin Mary figure? A poetic muse? A symbol of temptation? The meaning remains uncertain, but the image is unforgettable.

9. There’s More Than One “Labyrinth Style”

Geoffrion and Louët adopt Hermann Kern’s typology, identifying Cretan, Chartres-style, Otfrid, Jericho, and complex or modified types. Some labyrinths are symmetrical and perfect, others flawed or asymmetrical. A few seem unfinished or scribbled, suggesting experimentation or personal doodling rather than formal inclusion.

10. Some Labyrinths May Have Served as Mental or Visual Puzzles

Rather than being meant to walk or even trace with a finger, many manuscript labyrinths likely functioned as intellectual exercises—a kind of visual riddle. Their placement in manuscripts with computus (calendar calculation), riddles, or grammatical texts suggests they were sometimes intended to train the mind, not the body. One labyrinth even includes errors in construction, which may have been deliberate—to provoke thought or illustrate imperfection. In this sense, medieval readers didn’t just observe the labyrinth—they were meant to engage with it, solve it, and interpret its deeper meaning.

As labyrinths once invited medieval readers to contemplate their moral path or reflect on divine mystery, they now challenge modern viewers to untangle their historical, artistic, and spiritual meanings. Whether you’re looking to walk a mental pilgrimage or just admire some astonishing manuscript art, these labyrinths have much to offer.

So: can you navigate the medieval labyrinths?

Jill K. H. Geoffrion and Alain Pierre Louët have published two studies focusing on labyrinths in medieval manuscripts. The first, “Medieval Marvels: Fifty-Three Eleven-Circuit Manuscript Labyrinths”, was published in Caerdroia: The Journal of Mazes & Labyrinths, issue 49 (2020). The second, “Keeping Kern Current: Locating ‘Lost’ Labyrinths in Medieval Manuscripts”, also appears in Caerdroia 50 (2021).

You can also visit Jill Kimberly Hartwell Geoffrion’s website to learn more about medieval labyrinths.