UC to bring 600-year-old treasure to the world 
 
 UC academics and students to bring 600-year-old treasure to the world 
 
 University of Canterbury staff and students are working to translate and digitise a unique medieval manuscript to make it accessible to the world, and a team of British scientists is visiting Christchurch in January to reveal hidden information about the 600-year-old scroll's origins. The 15th-century English manuscript, known as the Canterbury Roll, is the only genealogocial scroll in the whole southern hemisphere, making it an extremely unique and prized artefact. The “Canterbury Roll Project” is designed to make the unique scroll more accessible, medieval historian UC Senior Lecturer Dr Chris Jones says. “Once owned by the original Nurse Maude, Sybilla Maude, the Canterbury Roll is the most significant and substantial medieval artefact in New Zealand. For 100 years, UC has been the guardian of this unique 600-year-old treasure, which tells the history of England from its mythical origins to the late Middle Ages,” he says. “No-one has anything like this in New Zealand or Australia. And it’s utterly bonkers that no-one really knows we have it, because it’s magnificent!” 
 
 The ancient document dates back to the Wars of the Roses, a series of English civil wars fought for control of the throne of England, which were the inspiration for George RR Martin’s Game of Thrones. The full digitised Roll will be available to the public in 2018, with stage one of the digital version already accessible on the university’s website. A British scientific research team will visit UC in the second week of January to carry out in-depth testing of the Roll to look for ‘hidden’ writing and any other features. “The UK scientific team will be carrying out a series of tests on the Roll with specialised equipment,” Dr Jones said. “The science itself is new: it’s groundbreaking work that has never before been applied to this type of manuscript.” 
 
 In order to make the scrolls secrets more accessible, UC staff and students are working to translate and digitise the medieval manuscript, with the efforts known as the “Canterbury Roll Project”. “The Wars of the Roses are what Games of Thrones is based on, and this is the Wars of the Roses laid out across a 5-metre, visually spectacular document,” Dr Jones said. “It features contributions from both the key players in the Wars of the Roses — it was originally drawn up by the Lancastrian side in the conflict but it fell into Yorkist hands and they rewrote part of it.” 
 
 The final secrets harboured in the ancient text could soon be revealed, as the British scientific research team prepares to visit the university in Christchurch next week to carry out in-depth testing of the Roll. “People have released ‘digital’ rolls in the UK and the US but they tend to be static photos. This is a fully scrolling, online and zoomable text,” he said. “It’s considerably more sophisticated than anything that exists in the world today.” 
 
 Many important aspects of the project, such as the Latin transcription and English translation, have been spearheaded by students at the University of Canterbury. “The digitisation project is a showcase for UC students: The Latin transcription is the work of current and former UC students; the translation is the work of a current UC Master of Arts student.
– A 600-year-old scroll describing the wars that inspired Game of Thrones might not be done making its mark on history. For the first time, the Canterbury Roll—detailing England's history until the Middle Ages—is being published online, making it accessible to the world, reports News.com.au. (The first stage is here, and the rest should be out in 2018.) As New Zealand's University of Canterbury celebrates 100 years since it acquired the 16-foot genealogical scroll, British scientists will begin studying the 15th-century manuscript next week in the hope of discovering hidden features. Using specialized equipment, they'll complete “ground-breaking work that has never before been applied to this type of manuscript,” according to a release. Researchers have so far gathered that the manuscript dates to the Wars of the Roses, a series of wars fought for England's throne by two noble families: the Lancasters and Yorks, who became the Lannisters and Starks in George RR Martin's Game of Thrones, per Mental Floss. Created by the Lancaster side, the "visually spectacular" scroll then "fell into Yorkist hands and they rewrote part of it," says researcher Chris Jones. He notes the University of Canterbury acquired it in 1918 from a Canterbury nurse named Sybilla Maude, whose family claimed to have been keeping it since the Middle Ages, per Radio New Zealand. It's now "the most significant and substantial medieval artifact in New Zealand," Jones says, adding that the public can "interact directly with the manuscript." Check out how here.