Medieval archives contained a wide variety of texts and other objects. The family archives of the twelfth century might well have juxtaposed little booklets of crusade narratives with weapons and relics brought home from the Holy Land. This particular booklet shows the indelible mark of the spearhead that was once left rusting on it. Closely contemporaneous with the First Crusade, it was copied c. 1086, during William the Conqueror’s survey of his realm. It should have been recycled (to stuff the bindings of books, to insulate a garment or hat) but it was remarkably preserved and is now housed among other such libelli in the library of Exeter Cathedral (MS 3500).