90552 - Palaeography Latin (1) (LM)

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course students know the most important script typologies and the main stages of the history of Latin writing, from Roman times to Humanism; they also know the main features connected to the production of manuscripts, both in books and in documents, in Latin and in vernacular. They acquire skills that allow them to read, interpret, transcribe, date a manuscript. Moreover, students can not only critically use the main tools for the study and interpretation of manuscripts, but also methodically set up the problems related to the critical edition of handwritten sources.

Course contents

The critical study of handwritten sources: problems, method, potentialities and perspective. The course aims at introducing students to the critical study of manuscripts, allowing them to understand the importance of a direct approach to the sources and to know the potentialities of paleographical approach for historical, philological, diplomatistic studies and more generally for cultural studies.

1) Basics principles. It will be examined the general basics of the discipline through the analysis of different types of script, from the origins to XVII cent.; students will also start studying the abbreviation system, in order to provide the basic tools to read, interpret, transcribe and date handwritten texts. The course will develop through the reading, the paleographic examination and the contextualization of some case-studies discussed in class and taken from both handwritten books and documents, of various ages and backgrounds, useful to illustrate some fundamental stages in the history of Latin writing and some of the main themes and problems in the history of handwritten books and documents.

2) Problems of attribution. It will be also illustrated the complexity of the problems of attribution, dating and authenticity that the handwritten sources can pose.

3) Critical edition of handwritten sources. Special attention will be also paid to the contribution of paleography to the critical edition of the handwritten sources, and in particular to diplomatics (documents and charters) and to philology (books and codices).

Readings/Bibliography

1) ATTENDERS

• G. Cencetti, Paleografia latina, Roma 1978
• P. Cherubini, A. Pratesi, Paleografia latina. L'avventura grafica del mondo occidentale, Città del Vaticano 2010, only the section: "L'età umanistica" (pp. 549-615)
• Instructional materials provided during the course (for frequent attendees only)
  

2) UNATTENDERS

2.1 P. Cherubini, A. Pratesi, Paleografia latina. L'avventura grafica del mondo occidentale, Città del Vaticano 2010

2.2 Two essays of your choice from the following:

• C. Aimi, M. Modesti, A. Zuffrano, Il frammento bolognese del De civitate Dei di s. Agostino: un nuovo palinsesto goto-latino. Considerazioni paleografiche e cronologiche, edizione e analisi filologica del testo, in «Scriptorium», 67 (2013), fasc. 2, pp. 319-359;
• M. Modesti, «Prudentissima» Lucrezia. Gli autografi al duca Ercole I d’Este, in Volti e voci di e per Lucrezia, a cura di Loredana Chines, Giacomo Ventura, Roma, Bulzoni editore, 2021 [«Europa delle Corti». Centro studi sulle società di antico regime. Biblioteca del Cinquecento, 164], pp. 81-100
• S. Ammirati, Per una storia del libro latino antico: i papiri latini di contenuto letterario dal I sec. a.C. al Iex.IIin. d.C. , in «Scripta», 3 (2010), pp. 29-45
• S. Ammirati, Per una storia del libro latino antico: osservazioni paleografiche, bibliologiche e codicologiche sui manoscritti latini di argomento legale dalle origini alla tarda antichità, in «Journal of Juristic Papyrology» 40 (2010), pp. 55-110
• P. Fioretti, Sul paratesto nel libro manoscritto (con qualche riflessione sui 'titoli' in età antica), in Nel segno del testo. Edizioni, materiali e studi per Oronzo Pecere, a cura di L. Del Corso, F. De Vivo, A. Stramaglia, Firenze 2015, pp. 179-202;
  
• L. Iannacci, M. Modesti, A. Zuffrano, La misteriosa scrittura grande dei papiri ravennati tra prassi documentaria pubblica e legislazione, in «LR Legal Roots. The International Journal of Roman Law, Legal History and Comparative Law», 1 (2012), pp. 89-119;
• M. Modesti, La paleografia di Giorgio Cencetti attraverso le carte bolognesi, in Giorgio Cencetti, l’attualità di un maestro, a cura di M. Giansante, Bologna, Pàtron Editore, 2023, [Documenti e Studi della Deputazione di Storia Patria per le Province di Romagna, XLV] pp. 45-66, ISBN: 9788855535915
  
• C. Solidoro, Fenomenologia dei frammenti di manoscritti, in Décrire le manuscrit liturgique. Méthodes, problématiques, perspectives, a cura di L. Albiero, E. Celora, Turnhout 2021, pp. 73-93
• R. Napoletano, L'Archivio Arcivescovile di Bologna e i frammenti manoscritti di Mons. Luigi Breventani, in «Teca. Testimonianze, editoria, cultura, arte», 10 (2020) (vol. miscellaneo The Vertigo of the Archive / La vertigine dell’archivio. Arte, collezionismo, poetiche. Atti del convegno internazionale (Bologna, 5-7 giugno 2019), pp. 87-99
• A. Petrucci – C. Romeo, Scrivere «in iudicio» nel «Regnum Italiae», in «Scriptores in urbibus». Alfabetismo e cultura scritta nell’Italia altomedievale, Bologna 1992, pp. 195-236;
• E. Condello, La Bibbia al tempo della Riforma gregoriana: le Bibbie atlantiche, in Forme e modelli della tradizione manoscritta della Bibbia, a cura di P. Cherubini, Città del Vaticano,BAV, 2005, pp. 347-372
  
• I. Ceccherini, La genesi della scrittura mercantesca, in Régionalisme et internationalisme: problèmes de palèographie et de codicologie du Moyen Âge, édités par O. Kresten et F. Lackner, Wien 2008, pp. 123-138
• S. Bertelli, La tradizione grafica dei canzonieri della lirica italiana delle Origini, in Scriptoria e biblioteche nel basso medioevo (secoli XII-XV), Spoleto, CISAM, 2015, pp. 151-178
• S. Bertelli, La "Commedia" di Dante alla corte degli Este (con una scheda paleografica su Anicio Bonucci falsario), in «La Bibliofilia», 120 (2018/3), pp. 377-398
  
• E. Condello, Tradizione e innovazione: la produzione libraria dentro e intorno alla cancelleria pontificia nel XIV secolo, in I luoghi dello scrivere da Francesco Petrarca agli albori dell’età moderna, Spoleto, CISAM, 2006, pp. 135-162
  
• S. Zamponi, La scrittura umanistica, in «Archiv für Diplomatik», 50 (2004), pp. 467-505

 

Teaching methods

Lectures will be accompanied by practical exercises in reading, transcribing, and analysing manuscript texts, based on reproductions of original sources drawn from both book and documentary contexts. Students will be encouraged to participate actively in the analysis of the sources and in the discussion of the problems presented.

Regular attendance and active participation in class are therefore required.

During the course, educational visits are planned to one or more local cultural heritage institutions, such as the State Archive, the Archiepiscopal Archive, and the University Library.

The course will begin on 3 February and is expected to end around 5 March 2027.

Assessment methods

1) Attenders (Students who attend at least 75% of the lessons are considered to be attending): the exam consists in an oral test divided in two parts:

a) one or more general questions about the history of Latin writing, on the basis of the manuals;

b) the reading and the paleographical analysis of an handwritten source similar to those seen during the course, with particular regard to potential problems of transcription, edition, dating and attribution that it presents, and using the methods and the critical tools acquired during the lessons. There will be especially evaluated the critical abilities demonstrated in the reading, above all in the cases of problematic points in the texts.

2) Unattenders: the exam consists in an oral test divided in two parts:

a) one or more general questions about the history of Latin writing, on the basis of the manuals. It will be evaluated the knowledge and the comprehension of the main steps of the History of the Latin writing and of the fundamental principles and method of the discipline.

b) one or more specific questions about the two articles chosen by the student. Special attention will be given to the critique abilities of the student, who will have to demonstrate to be able to orient himself into the world of manuscript sources, handing the tools and the method of Paleography.

In the both cases (attenders and unattenders) the achievement of a systematic and complete comprehension of the basic principles of the discipline, joined with their critical use, in addition to the demonstration of owning the competence of the specific language, will be evaluated with excellence marks. A mechanical and/or mnemonic knowledge of the subject, bad structured analysis abilities and/or a correct but not always appropriate language will lead to decent evaluations; formative lacks or an inappropriate language – even if in a context of basic knowledge of the exam material – will lead to marks that will not go beyond sufficiency. Formative lacks, inappropriate language, scarcity of orientation in the bibliography offered during the course will be evaluated in a negative way.

a) one or more general questions about the history of Latin writing, on the basis of the manual. It will be evaluated the knowledge and the comprehension of the main steps of the History of Latin writing and of the fundamental principles and method of the discipline.

b) one or more general questions about the basic principles of Diplomatics, on the basis of the manual;

c) one or more specific questions about the articles chosen by the student. Special attention will be given to the critique abilities of the student, who will have to demonstrate to be able to orient himself into the world of manuscript sources, handing the tools and the method of Paleography and Diplomatics.

In the both cases (attenders and unattenders) the achievement of a systematic and complete comprehension of the basic principles of the discipline, joined with their critical use, in addition to the demonstration of owning the competence of the specific language, will be evaluated with excellence marks. A mechanical and/or mnemonic knowledge of the subject, bad structured analysis abilities and/or a correct but not always appropriate language will lead to decent evaluations; formative lacks or an inappropriate language – even if in a context of basic knowledge of the exam material – will lead to marks that will not go beyond sufficiency. Formative lacks, inappropriate language, scarcity of orientation in the bibliography offered during the course will be evaluated in a negative way.

3) Students with SLD or temporary or permanent disabilities. It is necessary to contact the relevant University office (https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en ) with ample time in advance: the office will propose some adjustments, which must in any case be submitted 15 days in advance to the lecturer, who will assess the appropriateness of these in relation to the teaching objectives.

Exam sessions are scheduled for the following months of the academic year:

-march

-may

-june

-july

-september

-november

-december

Teaching tools

During the course, reproductions and facsimiles of manuscripts, transcriptions and editions of sources, as well as information on the main digital tools in the field of palaeography, will be made available through the VIRTUALE platform. This applies to attending students only.

Students with specific learning disorders or temporary or permanent disabilities are strongly advised to contact the relevant University office in good time. The office will propose any necessary adaptations for the students concerned. These adaptations must in any case be submitted to the lecturer for approval at least 15 days before the exam date; the lecturer will assess their suitability also in relation to the learning outcomes of the course.

 

Office hours

See the website of Maddalena Modesti