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[German version] Greek script type of the 2nd half of the 13th cent. to the beginning of the 14th cent. (contemporary with the first Paleologi Period) that is characterized by a striking contrast between the small, rounded and often crooked core of most letters and the oversized curves of omikron, sigma, beta, ypsilon, alpha and omega as well as by the inscribing of small letters into omikron, ypsilon and omega and in this way best represents the complete crumbling of the ancient minuscule canon (…

[German version] Greek script of the 14th and first half of the 15th cent., named for the Hodegon monastery in Constantinople, a cursive, calligraphic, archaizing minuscule ( Archaic script) with pronounced letter structure, relatively large body, a balanced contrast between large and small letters and some angular forms; the curved strokes occasionally are split at the ends. Usually, manuscripts produced in the Hodegon monastery are written on  p…

[German version] A. Characteristics In Byzantine art history, Macedonian Renaissance (MR) usually refers to the classicist revival that took place mostly during the Macedonian dynasty (867-1056). It takes its name from its founder emperor Basilius [5] I (867-886), who was born in the thema…

[German version] A quire of papyrus or (usually) of parchment is part of a codex or book. It consists of a specific number of sheets folded together and sewn along the crease; as a rule each hair side of a parchment sheet faces a flesh side. Quires are closely linked to the format of a codex: as early as Martial there is talk of notebooks of parchment quires ( membranae or pugillares membranei, e.g. Mart. 1,2,3; 14,184 and 186). Further mention of membrana can be found in Horace (Ars P. 386-390; Sat. 2,3,1-2), Persius (3,10 f.) and Quintilian (Inst. 10,3,31). The earliest codices probably cons…

[German version] Two 9th/10th-century Latin liturgical codices, not rediscovered until the beginning of the 1960s in the library of the Monastery of Saint Catherine in Sinai, exhibit a remarkably strong similarity to the Visigothic script and influences from Arabic and Byzantine bibliology. They presumably originate from one and the same scriptorium , which was exposed to oriental influences but also maintained Latin traditions. It was probably situated in the Syro-Palestinian area; a location in the Sinai p…

[German version] Collective term for Greek scripts from the 2nd half of the 11th cent. AD, esp. on the island of Cyprus, as well as from Palestine.  These scripts did not fully develop their characteristic traits until the period between 1250 and 1300. One of these traits is…

[German version] In the palaeographic terminology of medieval MSS and papyri ductus is usually associated with the speed of execution of individual letterforms or ligatures. Sometimes (especially in French scholarship) the term refers to the number, sequence and direction of individual pen-strokes [1. 22]; that, however, is more a matter of the structure of the letters. Accordingly, the ductus can be described as ‘slow’ (calligraphic) or cursive, without excluding either calligraphic or cursive elements from some writing styles. In the first case, the…

[German version] The Greek Script of the Humanist period of the 15th and 16th cents. reveals a continuation of older trends and styles. Aside from Otrantine script ( South Italic script) which became rather insignificant even though it survived the Renaissance, other traditional types of script live o…

[German version] In the history of Greek and Latin palaeography attention has only lately focused on the inclination of writing. The first serious work on the subject and its definition was by J. Mallon [1]. His studies on the change in Latin writing in the 2nd cent. AD brought him to the assumption that the transition from majuscule to minuscule was due to an altered writing inclination (WI); he understood this to be the position of the writing implement relative to the intended line. Acco…

[German version] Alongside the Latin Beneventana, there also existed independent Italo-Greek scripts in the Middle Ages (often called south Italian minuscule in scholarly literature). Due to a lack of subscribed (Subscriptio) and localised MSS, the Italo-Greek origin is not easy to prove for Greek majuscule codices (Codex). One can assume an Italo-Greek origin only for certain Greek MSS executed in the Bible-majuscule (e.g. Cod. Claromontanus with St. Paul's Epistles, 5th cent. AD) and in pointed-…

[German version] Byzantine bookhand, developed in the 2nd half of the 10th cent., and perfected in its last decade. It is characterized by a combination of typically round letter-forms with more or less slanting ones.  The name PS refers to the st…

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[English version] From its beginnings, palaeography was regarded as an auxiliary discipline - useful and even indispensable for deciphering and dating manuscripts and documents. It was understood this way by Daniel Van Papenbroeck [8. I-LII] and Jean Mabillon [4], whose works, dealing mainly with diplomatics, mark the beginning of scholarly occupation with the history of the Latin writing system [2]. The term palaeography was coined by the Maurist Bernard de Montfaucon [7]. Soon enough, the new di…

In contrast to minuscules, majuscules are the scripts in which the letters of the alphabet are written between two often only imaginary horizontal lines. [German version] A. Greek script In Greek palaeography, majuscu…

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This item can be found on the following maps: Egypt | Pilgrimage | Egypt [German version] A. The city City in Middle Egypt, modern Al-Bahnasā; in Pharaonic times the capital of the …

[German version] A. Definition Lettering designed to highlight certain parts of a manuscript such as the title, subtitle, opening, scholia, lemmata, subscription, contents and initials; single sentences such as Biblical quotations from the surrounding text; and book and chapter numberings ( Scripts). Eleuteri, Paolo (Venice) [German version] B. Greek For Greek scripts it is usual, apart from rare examples in majuscule codices, to talk of display scripts only after the  minuscule became established, and to distinguish three styles (there are…

[German version] I. Greek The Greek  documents passed down on papyri ( Papyrus) and ostraka (  óstrakon…

[English version] The term palaeography was first used by the Benedictine Bernard de Montfaucon in his work Palaeographia graeca, which appeared in 1708 and opened the way for modern research into the history of Greek writing with its description of modes of operation as well as of methods. Yet Montfaucon initially received little recognition and it was not until approximately a century later that a work by Friedrich Jacob Bast [1] appeared with the actual analysis of Greek writing as its subject. For almost the …