Page from a Textbook from a Parisian University, Ca. 1309-1316, Made for Francis Caracciolo of Naples, Chancellor of Paris to give to King Robert of Naples, Written in Latin, Gothic Script Medium: Parchment, 405 x 290 mm, British Library, Burney MS 275 http://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/Viewer.aspx?ref=burney_ms_275_f001r Background The above manuscript is a page from a personal schoolbook utilized at a Parisian University. The artifact is evidence of texts being more frequently used for secular, scholastic purposes during the High and Late Middle Ages. It is noteworthy that the text is written entirely in Latin, and therefore exclusionary of those who were not highly educated. The language probably has to do with the text’s patron—King Robert of Naples; the prestige of the Latin language matched the nobility of the owner of the textbook. It is noteworthy that the script is Gothic, a successor of the Carolingian Minuscule script. By comparing this artifact to those earlier in the exhibit, one can see an evolution of script styles (meant for ease of reading) during the Middle Ages. More Information: Literacy and Scholasticism in the Middle Ages Personal, chartered textbooks were a frequent phenomenon for the wealthy and royal during the High Middle Ages—this is the class for which secular scholasticism and literacy was most popular at the time. It became popular during the beginning of the High Middle Ages for teachers to commission paid scribes (called stationarii) to write down the content they wished to teach. This allowed professors to focus on teaching rather than writing down their own textbooks. This particular “textbook” includes information on the humanities, like rhetoric and grammar. It also includes sections about math (geometry), music, and medieval understandings of astronomy. These components of the education of an upper class, literate man harken back to the classical Roman education of rhetoric, logic, and grammar (called the Trivium.) In this text, therefore, one can see a holdover of Roman values mixed with the principles of medieval scholastic literacy. The pupils that would have been exposed to this type of well-rounded education during the High Middle Ages would have been men. Therefore, in terms of the textbook above and ones like it, we would be discussing literacy in terms of male, secular scholasticism. Textbooks, like the artifact above, would have been made for some type of educated man: a noble, a professional scholar, a professor, or most likely someone who was all three. At the beginning of the High Middle Ages, a class would have one textbook that would be read aloud by the professor to his pupils; therefore, orality, as we discussed in terms of the first artifact, remained an important part of medieval literacy after the Early Middle Ages. Towards the end of the High Middle Ages, after the production of the book above, it became more and more common for pupils to commission their own textbooks. Therefore, the education of students became increasingly focused on the written word. This is not to say that education became completely devoid of orality. Professors would lecture as pupils would follow along on the text in front of them. They would try to memorize what the professor was saying, as well as what they were reading at the same time. As such, we still see medieval literacy being tied to both oral tradition and memory. Textbooks, like the one above, would include many different texts on the classic subjects (following the model of a Roman education.) However, commentaries of these texts were equally as important in a medieval education. Therefore, as can be seen in the manuscript above, a textbook page would have two columns running side-by-side: one for the original text and one for the commentary. There would be a large space next to the two columns, which would be meant for marginalia and other scribbles; this can be seen on the right-hand side of the above manuscript page. Textbooks of this kind, as well as the set-up of the medieval classroom, made for a complex new way of both reading and digesting a text for knowledge. Bibliography Baldzuhn, Michael. "Schoolbooks." In Transforming the Medieval World: Uses of Pragmatic Literacy in the Middle Ages, edited by Franz Arlinghaus, Marcus Ostermann, Oliver Plessow, and Gudrun Tscherpel, 259-287. Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols Publishers, 2006. "The British Library Burney MS 275." The British Library: Catalogue of Illuminated Manuscripts. Accessed June 20, 2018. http://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/Viewer.aspx?ref=burney_ms_275_f001r.
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“The Passion” from Manuscript Add 37049, Late 15th century, Northern England, Possible Carthusian Origin (Lincolnshire or Yorkshire Monastary,) Written in N. English Dialect, Gothic Cursive, 270 x 200 mm, British Library Additional 32049 f.23 https://www.bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts/ILLUMIN.ASP?Size=mid&IllID=13270 Background
In the first artifact of this exhibit, we saw a monastic text written entirely in Latin from the Early Middle Ages. The artifact above is also a monastic text, but it was written in the Late Middle Ages and entirely in an English vernacular. This text provides evidence of a complete transformation of the way religious texts were read and the audiences that they reached. The artifact, most likely from a monastery in northern England, provides Christ’s inner thoughts during the Passion and Crucifixion. It is a “Complaint of Christ” text, which is a genre that became popular during the Late Middle Ages. In “Complaint of Christ” texts, authors wrote as though they were Jesus lamenting his own unfortunate end. It is important that these texts were typically produced in a vernacular language, not in Latin; the vernacular allowed readers to more deeply understand Jesus’s thoughts and to empathize with him. The fact that the religious manuscript above was written entirely English is demonstrative of the rising prestige of and respect for vernacular languages by the Late Middle Ages. More Information: Individual Devotion by the End of the Middle Ages The above manuscript is from the late 15th century, and as the final artifact in this exhibit, it leaves us with a lasting impression of what literacy meant by the end of the medieval era. It is fitting that we started with a monastic text and are ending with a monastic text. This text, written in the vernacular and with Christ as the narrative protagonist, demonstrates how personal reading and religious devotion had become by the end of the Late Middle Ages. Even compared to Charles the Bold's Prayer Book, which was made towards the beginning of the Late Middle Ages, this artifact represents a completely new way that medieval Christians read and worshipped. The individualization and self-inspection that became coupled with reading during the Late Middle Ages is embodied within this text. The combination of poetry and prose within the manuscript mirrors the secular, vernacular literature that had become popular by this time. Christ, as the main character of the work, examines his own experience and feelings as he goes through the Passion; writing the text in this way, the author models how the individual should inspect his own life and faith while reading/worshipping. As we have seen with previous artifacts, literacy became more and more about a personal reader experience with individual results in the Late Middle Ages. In many respects, religious worship mirrored this transition; a renewed focus on the study of Christ and a rising acceptance of individual worship/religious interpretation developed during this period. While our very first artifact in this exhibit was simply a copy of a section of the gospel, this manuscript is the same story reimagined. Instead of writing down the Bible, the author of this text made himself Jesus's voice, using his imagination to completely rewrite the story that had been worshipped for centuries. The graphic depictions of Christ also aid in the reader's personal connections with and interpretations of the text; as we have seen, iconography became an integral part of medieval literacy in the Late Middle Ages. The involvement of such creativity, artistic license, and individual interpretation in a text that was still meant to be treated as divine was a novel way of approaching religious literacy. Through this one artifact, as a creative, religious text written in a vernacular language, we can see how literacy and the power of the written word had completely transitioned by the Late Middle Ages; texts like the one above paved the way for the artistic innovations of the Renaissance. When we began our journey, reading and writing had two main purposes: religious and administrative. Those who could read Latin (the highly-educated nobility or clergy) were the only ones who had access to important documents. By the end of the medieval era, the power of Latin as a language had diminished as the use of vernacular languages gained legitimacy. Although the majority of the peasantry was still excluded from the advantage of reading, vernacular writing widened the accessibility of texts. Reading as an activity was revitalized as its purpose moved towards scholasticism, individual discovery, truth-seeking, and finding a personal relationship with God. Writing became an even more powerful tool than when the Middle Ages started--the popularization of artistic expression through vernacular literature, music, and poetry allowed wider audiences to be moved by the written word. The Middle Ages were no "dark" time for literacy and writing; the evolutions in reading, writing, and the authority of language that occurred during this period set the foundation for the ways we access, appreciate, and interpret literature today. Bibliography Salter, Elisabeth. "Evidence for Devotional Reading in Fifteenth-Century England: A Comparative Analysis of One English Poem in Six Manuscript Contexts." In Vernacularity in England and Wales, C. 1300-1550, edited by Elisabeth Salter and Helen Wicker, 65-97. Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols Publishers, 2011. Rosenwein, Barbara H. "Popular Religious Movements in England and Bohemia." In A Short History of the Middle Ages, 302-303. 4th ed. Toronto: University of Toronto, 2014. Wight. "Additional 37049." The British Library: Catalogue of Illuminated Manuscripts. August 25,2005.AccessedJune23,2018. https://www.bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts/ILLUMIN.ASP?Size=mid&IllID=13270. Manscript of Motet “Quant en moy / Amour et biauté / Amara valde,” Taken from William of Machaut, Poems: Judgment of the King of Bohemia, called Judgment of the King of Behaigne (1-22v), Remedy of Fortune (23-58v), said of Alerion (59-92v), Dit du Verger (93- 102v), Dit du Lion (103-120v), Praise of the Ladies (120v-148v), Lais, motets, ballads, rondeaux and virelais (148v-225), Written by Guillaume de Machaut, Ca. 1350-1355, Paris, France, French and Latin, Bibliotheque Nationale de France, Identifiant: ark:/12148/btv1b8449043q, http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b8449043q/f325.item Background A large subset of literacy during the High Middle Ages was the development of musical literacy and musical notation. During the High Middle Ages, it became common for clergy and minstrels to become literate in the sense that they could read both musical notation and lyrics (which were often times poems set to music.) These elements are the basis for modern musical literacy today. Poet and composer Guillaume de Machaut wrote the above artifact in the 14th century. Machaut was famous for his motets and ballads, which told both religious and secular stories in his French vernacular. This particular motet, however, was a love song/poem written in three parts. The lyrics of two of these parts are written in French, and the third part is written in Latin. This mixture of vernacular and Latin poetry included in this work signifies the transition towards vernacularism during the Middle Ages while maintaining elements of the old Roman foundations of medieval society. This artifact also presents a new facet of secular medieval literacy, which would be the love song. To hear a recording of the song, click on this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77t_bjYSDKA More Information: Medieval Music and Literacy The first version of medieval musical literacy, and the predecessor to the notation used in Machaut's motets, was the Gregorian chant. This type of monastic music developed during the Carolingian Renaissance, around the same time as Carolingian minuscule. Prior to this development, music had been passed down orally and by memory. By creating the first basic musical notation, monks were able to streamline the learning of music by writing down exact notes and rhythms. By combining orality with written literacy, monks were able to learn and share music in a uniform way for the first time. Gregorian chants were monophonic, meaning that there was only one melody and one voice part. The content of these chants was purely religious, as they were sung by monks as a part of their worship. Taking all of this into consideration, an examination of Machaut's motet, "Quant en moy / Amour et biauté / Amara valde,” shows us just how drastically music and musical notation evolved from the Early Middle Ages to the Late Middle Ages. The motet was a genre of music that developed in the 14th century. Unlike Gregorian chants, motets were written in many different parts with their own distinct melodies (making them polyphonic.) As mentioned above, the motet built upon Gregorian chant notation to bring about musical notation that much resembles the way people write and read music today. The genre of the motet introduced the idea of written-down (instead of improvised) harmonies; having three or more harmonizing lines changed the way in which people went about reading a new piece of music and expanded the possibilities of musical composition. Machaut was a champion of the motet, writing 23 of them himself. Although most of his motets (17) were written French, and four were written entirely in Latin, two were written in a mix of both languages. The above artifact is one of the two mixed motets, and it truly exemplifies Machaut's literary genius, as well as his willingness to go against typical conventions of medieval literature. The biggest thing distinguishing a motet from the music of the Early Middle Ages is its secular content. As we saw in the Prose Lancelot Grail section of the exhibit, a new branch of literacy developed during the Late Middle Ages that was secular, imaginative, and written in the vernacular. Both Machaut's poems and his music fit into this new subset of medieval literature. Most of his compositions focused on courtly love instead of religious themes; the fact that his music was still read, sung, and admired (although it did not directly praise God) is demonstrative of a shift in the value people placed upon secular, non-Latin texts towards the end of the medieval era. Machaut, with his combination of French prose, Latin chants, and secular themes, helped to create an entirely new genre of music. Motets, and secular love ballads in general, remained popular throughout the Renaissance. As seen in the past artifacts from the Late Middle Ages as well, new genres of poetry, prose, and music began to pop up and really take hold. Machaut, and authors/composers like him, greatly contributed to this literary revolution. Their secular, vernacular literature made the act of reading more enjoyable, personal, and accessible for wider audiences. Bibliography "Guillaume De Machaut." Encyclopædia Britannica. March 22, 2016. Accessed June 19, 2018. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Guillaume-de-Machaut. "Guillaume De Machaut, Poésies: Jugement Du Roi De Bohème, Dit Jugement Du Roi De Behaigne (1-22v), Remède De Fortune (23-58v), Dit De L'Alérion (59-92v), Dit Du Verger (93-102v), Dit Du Lion (103-120v), Louange Des Dames (120v-148v), Lais, Motets, Ballades, Rondeaux Et Virelais (148v-225)." Gallica. Accessed June 19, 2018. http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b8449043q/f325.item. Leone, F. D. "Machaut's Messe De Nostre Dame : An Overview." Musica Kaleidoskopea. March 03, 2017. Accessed June 19, 2018. https://fdleone.com/2015/11/20/machauts-messe-de-notre-dame-an-overview/. Rosenwein, Barbara H. "The Carolingian Renaissance." In A Short History of the Middle Ages, 105. 4th ed. Toronto: University of Toronto, 2014. Rosenwein, Barbara H. "The Motet." In A Short History of the Middle Ages, 268. 4th ed. Toronto: University of Toronto, 2014. Image of Lancelot and Guinevere, Manuscript of the Prose Lancelot Grail (St. Omer of Tournai), c. 1315-1325, 400 x 290 mm, Written in the Picard Dialect, Catalogue of Illuminated Manuscripts, British Library, MS. 10293, f. 349 Flanders, France https://www.bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts/TourArtProse.asp#ENTIRE Background A new genre of literacy developed during the middle to late medieval period-- that of "literature" literacy, or fictional literacy. The above manuscript is a version of the Prose Lancelot Grail, categorized as a "grail romance." Grail romances were successors of the tradition established by authors of artifacts like the "Roman de Brut," who wrote histories of Britain that incorporated Arthurian legend. Arthurian literature became very popular during the Late Middle Ages, and the Prose Lancelot Grail was the most popular among the French Arthurian texts. Every copy of the Prose Lancelot Grail contained a cycle of five common Arthurian stories: "The Story of the Holy Grail," "The Story of Merlin," "The Lancelot," "The Quest for the Holy Grail," and "The Death of King Arthur." These stories are the foundation of the legend of King Arthur, and were written many times over in different languages, narratives, and texts during the Middle Ages. More Information: Vernacular Literature and Personal Readership This particular manuscript of the Prose Lancelot Grail was written in the Picard dialect, giving it a wider readership than if it was written in Latin. Vernacular literature became more and more common towards the Late Middle Ages, as evidenced by the writings of semi-contemporary authors like Geoffrey Chaucer and Dante Alighieri. Readers were meant to use romance and allegorical literature as a basis for philosophical discussion and internal inspection. Thus, writing in the vernacular allowed readers to access the text at a deeper and more personal level. The shift to vernacular writing is significant, as authors were able to place importance upon languages that had been previously deemed below the prestige of Latin. Gothic script, a descendant of Carolingian minuscule, was even easier to read than its predecessor. Therefore, the script of this text also added to its readability. This new sort of vernacular literature drew upon popular philosophy of the time, giving words of poetry and prose more power and influence over the individual mind than ever before. Due to this novel way of incorporating philosophy into legend, the fable genre became exceedingly popular. The entire purpose and act of reading experienced an evolution in the Late Middle Ages-- the act of reading began to be tied to discovering oneself and finding truth. People read texts like the Prose Lancelot Grail in order to learn something about the world and about their own beliefs. This cycle itself reads as a history of the Holy Grail, including the search for the grail, using the stories of King Arthur, Lancelot, and Guinevere to guide the plot. Although much of the content is secular, the text is considered an overarching allegory for the search for religious enlightenment. In one section of "The Quest for the Holy Grail" part of the cycle, the author writes, " This Quest is not a quest for earthly things, but is to be the search for the deep secrets and confidences of Our Lord and for the great mysteries which the High Master will show openly to that fortunate knight whom he has elected among all the other knights of earth to be his servant" (Comfort 27). In many ways, the quest for the Holy Grail is representative of both a quest for religious truth and also of the reader's search for truth within the text. Therefore, vernacular literature did not eliminate religious literacy-- it simply utilized philosophy, fable, and legend to make devotion through literacy more complex. Previously in this exhibit, the main purposes of writing and literacy have been religious devotion, the law, and attainment of power. Towards the Late Middle Ages, authorship and readership became more personal. Reading in the Late Middle Ages laid the foundation for the modern way in which readers connect to texts that they read for education or personal enjoyment. Clearly, both pragmatic and religious literacy still exited in the Late Middle Ages, and still exists today. However, it is the introduction of literature and personal readership of literature into medieval society that marks the fourteenth century as extremely significant in the transformation of medieval literacy and the power that the written word had on an individual. Knowledge and the act of reading became conflated with creativity and allegory, not just religion and the classics. With the addition of this sort of literacy to society, the vernacular literature of the Late Middle Ages paved the way for the Renaissance and much later on, the modern novel. Bibliography Comfort, W. W., trans. The Quest of the Holy Grail. Old French Series. Cambridge, ON: In Parentheses Publications, 2000. Moulton, Ian Frederick. Reading and Literacy: in the Middle Ages and Renaissance. Turnhout: Brepols, Abingdon, and Marston, 2004. Rosenwein, Barbara H. "Vernacular Literature." In A Short History of the Middle Ages, 267. 4th ed. Toronto: University of Toronto, 2014. Wight. "Arthurian Manuscripts in the British Library: The French Tradition." The British Library: Catalogue of Illuminated Manuscripts. August 25, 2005. Accessed June 13, 2018. https://www.bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts/TourArtProse.asp#ENTIRE. Page from the Prayer Book of Charles the Bold, Made by: Vienna Master of Mary of Burgundy, Lievan van Lathem, and Nicolas Spierinc (Flemish artists and scribes), Created in Belgium, Illuminated in Antwerp, 1469, 12.3 x 9.2 cm, Medium: “Tempera colors, gold leaf, gold paint, silver paint, and ink on parchment bound between wood boards covered with purple velvet” (description from Paul J. Getty Museum), Language: Latin Paul J. Getty Museum, MS. 37 http://www.getty.edu/art/collection/objects/1511/vienna-master-of-mary-of-burgundy-and-workshop-lieven-van-lathem-and-workshop-and-nicolas-spierinc-prayer-book-of-charles-the-bold-flemish-and-french-1469-about-1471-and-about-1480-1490/ Background
The prayer book above was commissioned by Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, during the very tail-end of the medieval period. During the Late Middle Ages, it became somewhat of a common practice for wealthy nobility to commission authors and artists to create illuminated texts. Charles the Bold's father, Phillip the Good, made many such commissions. After his death, Charles the Bold maintained this practice. His prayer book, and many like it, is demonstrative of religious literacy as practiced not just by clergy, but by high-born laymen towards the end of the Middle Ages. In such texts, the ornamental decorations are equally, if not more, important as the writing within. As evidenced above, the illuminated illustrations often took up more of the page than the text itself. These pictures, however, did more than just increase the worth of the manuscript. Pictures were an important facet of medieval literacy, as they aided one's reading of the text and were meant to help the reader interpret whatever passage or prayer was being illustrated. Therefore, the above manuscript is also representative of the increasing emphasis put on the materiality of texts that occurred during the Late Middle Ages More Information: Prayer Books and Individual Devotion As seen in the last artifact, The Prose Lancelot Grail, the private reading experience of the individual became increasingly important in the Late Middle Ages. This spread beyond vernacular literature to personal devotionals as well. Prayer books, like the artifact featured above, were called "Books of Hours," and they contained calendars, illustrated excerpts from the gospels, and daily prayers. As you can tell by examining the prayer featured on the artifact, this particular Book of Hours is written in Latin; Latin, although limiting, was still considered the language of God in the fourteenth century. However, as aforementioned, the illustrations in the book increased the accessibility of the text and were meant to aid individual interpretation of the text. This is similar to how fables were meant to help readers find truth in vernacular literature. Often times, the patrons of prayer books had the illustrations personalized, sometimes even having their own visages featured. Illustrations were one more way in which reading was personalized during the Late Middle Ages. Prayer books were introduced to and popularized within medieval society throughout the fourteenth century. By the fifteenth century, the time during which the above artifact came into existence, they were a common facet of Christian devotion (especially for the wealthy and educated.) Prayer books represented a unique subset of religious texts, as they allowed the lay reader to also become a writer. Blank pages at the end of Books of Hours allowed for patrons to add their own prayers, illustrations and other musings as they saw fit. Prayer books that were passed down within a family gained new additions with each generation; the prayer book, therefore, represented a new genre of the ever-evolving text. Individual readers became invested in the prayer books that they helped create, and as such Books of Hours contributed to reading as an increasingly person act. Just as we saw in the The Prose Lancelot Grail, the Late Middle Ages represented a time during which readers were able to more closely connect to texts and to their own faith. The search for knowledge of the self, of philosophy, and of God caused medieval readers to strive for readership that was deeply personal. Aspects of late medieval literature, like personal anecdotes, illustrations, and powerful poetry, allowed for them to do so. In the Late Middle Ages, the sentimental and intimate nature of new genres of texts gave individualized power to both the written word and the ability to read it. Bibliography "Prayer Book of Charles the Bold (Getty Museum)." The J. Paul Getty Museum. Accessed June 14, 2018. http://www.getty.edu/art/collection/objects/1511/vienna-master-of-mary-of-burgundy-and-workshop-lieven-van-lathem-and-workshop-and-nicolas-spierinc-prayer-book-of-charles-the-bold-flemish-and-french-1469-about-1471-and-about-1480-1490/. Grebe, Anja. "Book Illumination." In Transforming the Medieval World: Uses of Pragmatic Literacy in the Middle Ages, edited by Franz Arlinghaus, Marcus Ostermann, Oliver Plessow, and Gudrun Tscherpel, 89-101. Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols Publishers, 2006. Lentes, Thomas. "Prayer Books." In Transforming the Medieval World: Uses of Pragmatic Literacy in the Middle Ages, edited by Franz Arlinghaus, Marcus Ostermann, Oliver Plessow, and Gudrun Tshcerpel, 239-158. Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols Publishers, 2006. Moulton, Ian Frederick. Reading and Literacy: in the Middle Ages and Renaissance. Turnhout: Brepols, Abingdon, and Marston, 2004. Background The text above, named BN lat. 4404 by medieval historians, is one of many Carolingian law books made during the Carolingian Renaissance. In our previous artifact, we saw the effects of Charlemagne's call for monastic scholarship reform. Along with this call, there was also a push in the Carolingian empire to write down legislative codices and histories to be referenced and studied.This push represented the secular side of the Carolingian literacy reforms. The law texts, in particular, contained a mix of Roman and Germanic law. Roman law, which was the law of the Church, was considered to be an extremely important part of national law. However, by aiming to have more and more Carolingian law codes put down in writing,Charlemagne aimed to insure that Germanic law was respected as well. In practice, Roman law became more of the theoretical backbone of Carolingian justice, while the Germanic codes became the law that was acted upon. Law texts that contained both types of law, like BN lat. 4404, were studied by pupils at law schools and were cited during the actual practice of administering justice in the Carolingian Empire. As a result, the authority provided to codified law and the written word increased during this period. More Information on the Text: Looking Deeper into Carolingian Legislation BN lat. 4404, in particular, probably belonged to a magnate in the south-east part of the Carolingian Empire. Therefore, it falls under the subset of law books of the time that were actually referenced while practicing the law. The text, therefore, represents secular and pragmatic literacy during the early Middle Ages. The frontispiece above depicts Roman Emperor Theodosius II holding a law book. Consequently, the text also draws upon the Roman Empire as legitimization behind the law written on its pages. Roman influence, as we saw in the formation of Carolingian minuscule, characterized early medieval literacy in both the religious and secular realms. In commonality with many of the law texts created at the time, BN lat. 4404 is actually a compilation of many different popular law codes. The text contains the Breviarium Alarici, the Lex Salica, the Lex Ribuaria, and and the Leges Alemannorum. The two most important law codes were the Breviarium and the Lex Salica. The Breviarium was an extremely common, condensed version of Roman law codes. The Lex Salica, on the other hand, was its Germanic counterpart. Together, they represented the two sides of Carolingian law. Although one cannot tell by the frontispiece, on the pages of BN lat. 4404, there are only annotations and notes written on the Breviarium Alarici sections of the manuscript, not on any of the Germanic law codes (Lex Salica, Lex Ribuaria, and Leges Alemannorum.) Therefore, it has been suggested that the magistrate who owned this particular manuscript had jurisdiction in a part of the empire that was under church law. However, the vast depth to which BN lat. 4404 delves into Germanic law, paired with the extravagance of the manuscript itself, suggests that the owner was a magistrate who cared deeply about his job and about administering the law correctly. The text, including the Germanic codes, is written entirely in Latin. This provides readers with the sense that, even when discussing the Germanic elements of society, the prestige of Latin dominated over the vernacular language. At this time, Latin was considered the language one used when writing about anything of consequence. Therefore, the only people who could read the most important texts of the time were the highly educated and the wealthy. BN lat. 4404 was also written using Carolingian minuscule, and therefore is evidence for the practice of writing with this new script on both religious manuscripts (like the previous artifact) and secular ones. Thus, the manuscript embodies pragmatic literacy not only in its content, but also in the readability of its script. No doubt that the use of Carolingian minuscule made learning from and referencing law books much easier than if scribes had used Merovingian cursive. In this one manuscript, we can see a convergence of Roman and Germanic culture, an example of pragmatic, secular literacy in the Early Middle Ages, the predominance of the Latin language in early medieval literature, and the use of Carolingian minuscule as a literary innovation of the Carolingian Renaissance. BN lat. 4404, although only one law text, provides great insight into the ways in which people in early medieval Europe created, compiled, and utilized secular texts. The manuscript is also a fantastic example of the new-found authority that the written word was developing during the Early Middle Ages. As you follow the rest of the exhibit, look for how the authority and accessibility of texts grow and change throughout the entire span of the Middle Ages. Bibliography McKitterick, Rosamond. Books, Scribes and Learning in the Frankish Kingdoms, 6th-9th Centuries. Aldershot: Variorum, 1994. "Paris, Bibliotheque Nationale, Lat. 4404." Bibliotheca Legum, 2018. Accessed June 13, 2018. http://www.leges.uni-koeln.de/en/mss/codices/paris-bn-lat-4404/. Rosenwein, Barbara H. "The Carolingian Renaissance." In A Short History of the Middle Ages, 103-05. 4th ed. Toronto: University of Toronto, 2014. Background
The top image is a real cover to a French writing tablet. The bottom image is a replica of what the wax tablet on the inside would have looked like, complete with a wedge writing stylus. The wax tablet, although used beginning in ancient Rome, was an important piece of technology for medieval literacy and writing practices. As originally a piece of Roman technology, it also marks the transfusion into and admiration of Roman thought in medieval life. Wax tablets were often used in literacy education during the Middle Ages, as they could easily be melted and erased. Wax tablets were often used for note taking and government documents, usually equated with texts that demand vernacular reading and writing. Although the owner of the wax tablet above is unknown, the religious decoration of the tablet may suggest that it belonged to a member of the clergy. The fact that it is made of ivory also suggests that this tablet belonged to a wealthy person. In general, the wealthy and highly educated would be the ones to most likely own a wax writing tablet. Therefore, the technology is also a symbol of upper education in the Middle Ages. More Information: The Connection between Wax Tablets, Literacy, and Memory Writing tablets became important instruments of literacy education during the High Middle Ages. Students would learn grammar, spelling, Latin, and other languages using wax tablets; they presented a more cost-effective and reusable alternative to parchment. The downside to wax tablets being such an integral part of medieval education, especially primary education, is that we do not have records of what was written down (as they were easily melted and erased.) Wax tablets were akin to the small whiteboards used for literacy and writing education in schools today. This is not to say that writing tablets were only used by schoolchildren. They were also tools that were utilized by the well-educated. The wax tablets of the well to-do, like the one featured above, could be made out of many different materials. This particular artifact was made of ivory; however, tablets could be made of wood, animal bone, clay, or metal as well. The artifact above probably lasted longer because of the material it was made of; ivory is much more durable than wood, which disintegrates quickly. The wax part of the tablets would be made of a mixture of beeswax and resin, with black being the most common wax color (as evidenced by the replica above.) However, green, red, yellow, and clear wax tablets have also been found by archeologists. Wax tablets helped to support many writing practices beyond literacy education. As aforementioned, their uses could be clerical or administrative. Furthermore, many medieval authors, like Dante and Chaucer, used wax tablets to write drafts of their works. Authors would write a draft, memorize the draft, and completely erase it to keep working. Therefore, the erasable nature of wax tablets also became an exercise in medieval memory; in order to keep writing, authors needed to memorize and erase their drafts to make space. Like with previous artifacts, therefore, we can see how medieval literacy was tied to intense memorization. Bibliography Baldzuhn, Michael. "Schoolbooks." In Transforming the Medieval World: Uses of Pragmatic Literacy in the Middle Ages, edited by Franz Arlinghaus, Marcus Ostermann, Oliver Plessow, and Gudrun Tscherpel, 259-287. Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols Publishers, 2006. Brown, Michelle P. "The Role of the Wax Tablet in Medieval Literacy: A Reconsideration in Light of a Recent Find from York." The British Library Journal20, no. 1 (Spring 1994): 1-16. https://www.jstor.org/stable/42554375. Background This image comes from a set of three texts called La Trotula, and it depicts the texts' original author, Trota di Salerno. La Trotula began circulating in Salerno, Italy in the 12th century. The fact that this manuscript comes from the 14th century is significant; the text was clearly important enough to be read and reproduced two centuries after its creation. La Trotula is a book of medicine for females, marking it as quite the unique text. It was a sort of instruction manual for midwives and other women pursuing a medical career in the field of women's medicine. Not only does it prove the existence of female literacy in the Middle Ages, but female literacy for the purposes of education and not of religious devotion. Another significant characteristic of La Trotula was that it was written in the vernacular of Southern Italy, not Latin. Consequently, not only did the text provide women access to secular, medical discourse, but it also provided women who were not educated in Latin with this information. La Trotula, therefore, proves itself to be a fascinating specimen in the study of medieval literacy. More Information: La Trotula and Female Literacy in the Middle Ages To understand La Trotula's impact on medieval literacy, it is first important to understand its author and its origin. Although the above manuscript was circulating in France during the 14th century, the original book was written much early (around 1100.) La Trotula was originally written as three different medicinal textbooks: De Passionibus Mulierum Curandarum (About Women's Diseases,) De Ornatu Mulierum (About Women's Cosmetics,) and Liber de Sinthomatibus Mulerium (Book on the Conditions of Women.) The cycle of texts became known as La Trotula; the books were revised, combined, and edited into different versions of the cycle for centuries after their completion. As aforementioned, the original author (pictured in the artifact above) of these works was Trota de Salerno, the first female medical professor. She was a professor at La Schola Medica Salernitana in Salerno, Italy. This medieval medical university was unique in the fact that it allowed females to be both teachers and students of midwifery. The texts were used by medical professionals for hundreds of years, only being replaced in the 1600s when conceptions of modern medicine and science changed. Trota di Salerno changed the face of medieval female medicine and became a huge icon for literate, learned, and professional women during the High and Late Middle Ages. In the Early Middle Ages, the only access women had to literacy and education was through the convent. Women could become nuns, who could consequently become religious scribes at convent scriptoriums. At this time, therefore, female literacy was tied with Christianity and religious piety. During the High Middle Ages, however, females began gaining access to secular literacy by means of midwifery education. La Trotula comes out of this tradition. Unlike other medicine books of its time, the texts that make up La Trotula focus more on anatomy and surgery than they do on religion. However, as progressive as the texts are, they still operate within the confines of the rigid gender norms of the time. In a passage of the Book on the Conditions of Women about women who cannot give birth, these women are labeled "unnatural women." Their husbands, on the other hand, are described as "husbands that are stronger and more valuable" than their infertile wives (Green, The Trotula.) These assertions are not surprising, as they fit into the conceptions of the roles of men and women in medieval society. Although La Trotula provides insight into huge steps for women and secular education in the Middle Ages, it also represents the obstacles that women faced. Female literacy, at this time, was still gendered (and would be for centuries thereafter.) Although women were no longer confined to the convent to become literate members of society, they were still limited to literacy through the midwife profession-- an all-female profession at the time. Female access to literacy, therefore, was much more constricting than male literacy. It is important to keep in mind, however, that both male and female literacy were confined to the upperclass, nobility, and clergy. Peasantry, at this time, were still left illiterate with little to no access to education. Bibliography Cavallo, P., M. C. Proto, C. Patruno, A. Del Sorbo, and M. Bifulco. "The First Cosmetic Treatise of History. A Female Point of View." International Journal of Cosmetic Science30, no. 2 (2008): 79-86. doi:10.1111/j.1468-2494.2007.00414.x. Green, Monica H., ed. The Trotula: An English Translation of the Medieval Compendium of Women's Medicine. Translated by Monica H. Green. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2002. 2010. Accessed June 6, 2018. https://muse.jhu.edu/book/24644 Hellwarth, Jennifer Wynne. "I Wyl Wright of Women Prevy Sekenes: Imagining Female Literacy and Textual Communities in Medieval and Early Modern Midwifery Manuals." Critical Survey14, no. 1 (2002): 44-63. doi:10.3167/001115702782352187. McKitterick, Rosamond. Books, Scribes and Learning in the Frankish Kingdoms, 6th-9th Centuries. Aldershot: Variorum, 1994. Background
This is an illustration from a manuscript of Wace's Roman de Brut, or the History of Britain (written in 1155.) The particular image shown is the history of Stonehenge, and depicts Merlin constructing the famous site. Wace was a Norman cleric who was commissioned by King Henry II to re-write Geoffrey's Historia Regium Britannaie in Old French. This project was significant because it was one of the first times a history (even if it was a heavily fictionalized account) was written in the vernacular instead of Latin, the clerical language of the time. Wace, under the direction of Henry II, took a text that was previously unaccessible to much of the population and put it in their language. The transition from Latin to Old French, and the rise of vernacularity in general, marked a step in medieval literacy during the High Middle Ages. Now, more people in England where able to access and understand their own history-- not just the elite or the clergy (those educated in Latin.) This text is also significant because it is, for the most part, secular. It signifies a spread of literacy beyond religious purposes. More Information: Henry II, Wace, and A New Way of Writing The commission of Roman de Brut is an extremely important event in the timeline of medieval literacy, as it marks the first time that a king in medieval Europe commissioned an author to write a history in the vernacular. In order to understand King Henry II's motives in doing so, we must understand who he was as a monarch. King Henry II was the king of England, but he also had power over counties in northern France; as such, he was always focused on solidifying and expanding his political authority. He turned writing into a legitimization device for his own rule, adding to its purpose in medieval society. Much like Charlemagne, King Henry II began legal reforms, increasing written documentation of financial records and debts. The written word was essential to the maintenance and expansion of Henry II's empire; consequently, it would make sense that he would want written documentation of his history, and his people's history, in a text that would further glorify his own reign. In a stroke of brilliance, Henry had this history written in the vernacular, which only expanded the audience of Roman de Brut and allowed for King Henry II to gain more admirers. This is not to say that the history was completely accessible for peasant audiences; the English peasantry was for the most part completely illiterate in the traditional sense, although they probably listened to the text being read aloud. Writing Roman de Brut in Old French allowed for the text to reach a greater number of nobles and clerics than if it was written in Latin. These groups would have made up King Henry II's vassals, upon whose support his success as a monarch was dependent. The "history" genre at the time was much different than the modern sense of "history." Histories were highly fictionalized texts, as their purpose was not necessarily to relay facts but to exalt the king's dynasty. Wace, in particular, combined elements of the Arthurian legend into his knowledge of Anglo-Saxon history. This is why, in the above artifact, we see a depiction of Merlin building Stonehenge. Wace took the creation of Stonehenge, a part of British history that could not necessarily be explained, and used popular legend to fill in the gap. The inclusion of Arthurian Legend in his history of Britain works to legitimize the reign of King Henry II through the reign of King Arthur. Wace writes his history entirely in a mixture of French verse and prose, creating a new literary genre. This kind of writing is a far cry from the rigid law codes written down in Latin by the Carolingians. After Wace was fired, and King Henry transferred the commission to Benoit de Sainte-Maure, this genre was picked up and maintained. From Wace's work, a new genre of fictionalizing British history through vernacular poetry and prose became popularized and later known as the Brut Chronicles. This manuscript represents a huge transition in terms of vernacular literacy and medieval writing in general in the High Middle Ages. For one of the first times in medieval Europe, an important text was written in the vernacular, ever-so-slightly detracting from the authoritative power of Latin. Roman de Brut, therefore, was able to reach wider audiences than those before it. The fictionalized account of Britain's history was a step towards the fictional literature that arose in the Late Middle Ages. Writing, through the Roman de Brut, was used for legitimization of the king's power in a way that did not involve law or religion; this text opened up a whole new way of propagating authority through the written word. Bibliography Wight. "Le Roman de Brut." The British Library, August 25, 2005. Accessed June 07, 2018. https://www.bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts/TourArtEarly.asp#WACE. Rosenwein, Barbara H. "The Reforms of Henry II" In A Short History of the Middle Ages, 203-04. 4th ed. Toronto: University of Toronto, 2014. Urbanski, Charity. Writing History for the King: Henry II and the Politics of Vernacular Historiography. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press, 2013. Sample of Merovingian Cursive, Rental of the Abbey of St. Martin of Tours, 2nd Half of the 7th Century Tours, France Medium: Vellum, 23 x 19 cm, Language: Latin, The Schoyen Collection, MS 570, https://www.schoyencollection.com/palaeography-collection-introduction/latin-documentary-scripts/national-regional/merovingian-cursive/ms-570 Background
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