214 manuscripts of the former Cathedral Library are still kept in Wuerzburg. The oldest of these manuscripts date back to the 5th century and are of international relevance. Among the most uncommon items is e.g. a Latin commentary of Jerome on the book of Ecclesiastes, presumably of Italian origin, that reached Wuerzburg via England. Or, furthermore, there is a palimpsest from Luxueil with parts from the Pentateuch and the Prophets as first writing and Augustine’s commentary on the psalms as second writing. The collection includes highly prestigious manuscripts which are closely connected with the history of the bishopric in Wuerzburg, such as the Gospel Book of St. Kilian or the so-called ‘Fulda Gospels’ with their exquisite bindings, adorned with ivory reliefs which were integrated into the books’ front covers. And there are singular text traditions, such as the treatises of the Spanish theologian Priscillian, who was executed as heretic in the year 385, or the Old Irish commentaries on the Pauline epistles, which were the basis of the reconstruction of the early Irish language in the 19th century. Some showpieces of other manuscript collections did formerly also belong to the Würzburg Cathedral Library. One of them is the famous Breviarium Alarici, dating from the 6th century and today stored in the Bavarian State Library in Munich.

The provenances of the early medieval manuscripts are spread all over Europe: The Cathedral Library manuscripts hail from Lorsch, Fulda, Mainz and from the Reichenau, from St. Gallen, Rome or Luxeuil, from France, Italy, Ireland and England – and of course from local Würzburg scriptoria proper. Most of the manuscripts dating from the High and Late Middle Ages have a more regional accent, referring for example to liturgy and administration in Würzburg.