Any of the picture books illustrating Biblical events and usually containing a short text, used primarily in the Middle Ages for purposes of religious instruction; literally, "Bible of the poor": "The Biblia Pauperum series commonly consisted of forty or fifty pages and each page was divided into nine sections. The four corners were used for explanatory texts while the central pictures represented scenes from Christ's life, arranged chronologically.

Also, above and below the Biblia Paupera were pictures of prophets and on each side were scenes from the Old Testament, all of which resulted in a concordance of the Old and the New Testament events in human salvation.

The Biblia Pauperum was one of the first books printed by block printing (a single woodcut for each page) and the simpler versions were probably used by the clergy as teaching aids for those who could not read, which included most of the populations.