04358 - Latin Palaeography and Diplomatics

Learning outcomes

The course has as its objective the knowledge of book and documentary writing in the Latin alphabet and of documentary typologies between the Middle Ages and the early modern age. At the end of the course the student is able to orient himself in the dating and evaluation of the areas of production of manuscripts in Latin and in the vernacular, he can read and recognize the main book and documentary writings, distinguish document types and know the editing methods typical of diplomatics. He knows how to orient himself in bibliographic tools and research methods.

Course contents

This course aims to provide an in-depth understanding of both the subject matter and methodological tools of Latin Palaeography and Diplomatics. These two disciplines are closely interlinked: they share, at least in part, the same objects of study and together form key avenues into the cultural and social history of the Roman world as well as that of medieval and early modern Europe.

The thematic thread chosen to explore and highlight the continuity and contiguity between these fields is the legal document. For nearly two millennia, across the ancient and medieval Latin civilisations, the legal document has served as the perfect point of convergence between writing and legal formality, between graphic shapes and juridical formulae.

The methodological tools of palaeography and diplomatics will thus prove to be essential guides in uncovering a specific historical narrative: that of the social conventions which, beginning in the Roman world and continuing through to early modernity, consolidated the relationship between the written sign—carrying with it symbolic and metacommunicative significance—and the legal formulae necessary to express the authenticity and genuineness of inscriptions, graffiti, tablets, papyri, parchments, and charters. These texts served as foundational supports for the legal and patrimonial relationships that governed the societies which produced and used them.

The course will revolve around a pre-defined corpus of 15 documents:

1. The Lapis Niger or Black Stone of the Roman Forum

2. The Emptio pueri (from Seleucia Pieria, 166 AD)

3. Travel pass for Theophanes (Hermoupolis, shortly before 330 AD)

4. The Butinus papyrus from the comes sacri stabuli under Justinian (Ravenna, mid-6th century)

5. Royal diplomas of Clotaire II (Etrépagny, between 14 June and 16 July 626) and of Childebert III (Compiègne, 22 December 694)

6. Diploma of Carloman for the Abbey of Novalesa (Breumath, 28 June 770)

7. Privilege granted by Pope Paschal I to Archbishop Petronax of Ravenna (Rome, 11 July 819)

8. The Placiti cassinesi (Teano, March 960)

9. The three oldest documents for San Leucio of Todi:

   a. Sale contract notarised by judge and notary Franco for Abbot Dominicu (Todi, late 10th century);

   b. Papal privilege of Leo IX for Abbot Giovanni (11 October 1051);

   c. Imperial diploma of Frederick Barbarossa for Abbot Lorenzo (Assisi, 17 December 1177)

10. Autograph note from Brother Francis of Assisi to Brother Leo (c. 1220)

11. Executory letter from Pope Innocent IV to the authorities of Milan concerning the murder of Brother Peter of Verona (Perugia, 18 May 1252)

12. Notarial document of publica fides by Brunetto Latini (Arras, 24 September 1263)

13. The oldest surviving municipal statute of central Italy (Todi, 1275)

14. Administrative documentation in register form: the Vatican registers of Innocent III and the canonisation trial of Clare of Montefalco (1308–1316)

15. Judicial documentation in register form: witchcraft trials of Matteuccia di Francesco da Ripabianca (Todi, 20 March 1428) and Bellezza Ursini of Collevecchio (Rome, 1527–1528)

The analytical study of these sources will highlight:

A. their graphic value, in line with palaeographic method, whereby the scripts of these documents will serve as keys to investigate—according to clearly defined chronological sequences—the dominant graphic models and practices used in books, inscriptions, and the varied and complex world of private and informal writing;

and

B. their formal value, as understood through the interpretative categories of diplomatics, which will allow for a nuanced appreciation of the extrinsic and intrinsic features that transform the formal qualities of each document into the legal-patrimonial substance intended by its creators. This type of investigation will thus aim chiefly to connect these forms and signs—whether physical, graphic, or textual—to the generative process of each document, retracing its various stages of elaboration.

Among the thematic nodes to be addressed, particular attention will be given to:

• Jean Mabillon and the birth of palaeography and diplomatics as the critical study of the legal document

• Defining the document, between genesis and function

• The document as a meeting point of legality and script

• Law, legal practice, and historical context

• The document as a source of law in the Roman world (from the Twelve Tables to the late antique codifications)

• Dispositive and evidentiary functions in Roman and medieval documents

• Action and documentation in the Middle Ages: public and private documents

• The “authors” of medieval documentation: chanceries, tabelliones, judges and notaries

• The stages in the production of public documents

• Extrinsic features of public documents: writing supports, scripts, special signs, seals, chancery notes

• Intrinsic features of public documents: breaks and continuities in the legacy of imperial (4th–10th c.) and papal (10th–14th c.) documents

• Time and its reckoning in medieval documents (and in the medieval worldview)

• From early medieval formularies to the artes notariae of late medieval Italy

• Documents in books, between function and authenticity: the case of papal registers

• The critical edition of documents in accordance with current scholarly standards.

Readings/Bibliography

1. Latin Palaeography:

FP. Cherubini, A. Pratesi, Paleografia latina. L'avventura grafica del mondo occidentale, Città del Vaticano: Scuola Vaticana di Paleografia, Diplomatica e Archivistica, 2010 (Littera Antiqua, 16) [selected chapters]

** Non-attending students will add a text of choice from the following:

– A. Bartoli Langeli, Tra Alcuino e Gigliola Cinquetti. Discorsi di Paleografia, Padova: Libreriauniversitaria.it Edizioni, 2020

– G. Cavallo, Scrivere e leggere nella città antica, Roma: Carocci Editore, 2019 (Frecce, 285), capp. 3, 4

– A. Petrucci, Lezioni Spoletine, Spoleto: Fondazione «Centro italiano di studi sull’alto medioevo», 2021 (Lezioni Spoletine, 3)

2. Diplomatics:

– A. Pratesi, Genesi e forme del documento medievale, Roma: Jouvence, 1999 (Guide, 3)

– G. Nicolaj, Lineamenti di diplomatica generale, in «Scrineum — Rivista», 1 (2003), pp. 5-112

** Non-attending students will add a text of choice from the following:

– A. Petrucci, C. Romeo, Scriptores in urbibus. Alfabetismo e cultura scritta nell’Italia medievale, Bologna: Il Mulino, 1992 (Il Mulino Ricerca)

– A. Bartoli Langeli, Notai. Scrivere documenti nell’Italia medievale, Roma: Viella Libreria Editrice, 2006 (I libri di Viella, 56)

– T. Frenz, I documenti pontifici nel Medioevo e nell’età moderna, Città del Vaticano: Scuola Vaticana di Paleografia, Diplomatica e Archivistica, 2008 [seconda edizione] (Littera Antiqua, 6)

– P. Cammarosano, Italia medievale. Struttura e geografia delle fonti scritte, Torino: La Nuova Italia Scientifica, 1995 [settima e ultima ristampa: Roma, Carocci Editore, 2016 (Aulamagna)]

– A. Petrucci, Scrittura, documentazione, memoria. Dieci scritti e un inedito (1963-2009). Con una premessa di A. Bartoli Langeli, Roma, 2019

As preliminary preparation on the topics of anthropology and sociology of writing, reading a text of choice from the following is warmly recommended:

– G. R. Cardona, Antropologia della scrittura, Torino: Loerscher editore, 1981 (Loescher Università. Monografie)

– A. Petrucci, La scrittura: ideologia e rappresentazione, Torino: Giulio Einaudi Editore, 1986 () [ristampa con introduzione di N. Barker, Roma, LUISS University Press, 2021 (Kairós)]

– H. J. Martin, Storia e potere della scrittura, Roma-Bari: Editori Laterza, 1990 (Storia e società)

– J. Assmann, Scrittura, ricordo e identità politica nelle grandi civiltà, Torino: Giulio Einaudi Editore, 1992 (Biblioteca Einaudi, 2)

– A. Petrucci, Le scritture ultime. Ideologia della morte e strategie dello scrivere nella tradizione occidentale, Torino: Giulio Einaudi Editore, 1995 (Saggi, 798)

– M. Bettini, Roma, città della parola. Oralità Memoria Diritto Religione Poesia, Torino: Giulio Einaudi Editore, 2022 (Saggi, 1025)

– L. Godart, I custodi della memoria. Lo scriba tra Mesopotamia, Egitto ed Egeo, Torino: Giulio Einaudi Editore, 2023 (Saggi, 1040)

Teaching methods

Frontal lessons; educational visit in Archives and Libraries; practice sessions: various types of handwritten sources from the 4th to the 15th century CE will be explored and interpreted.

Further study materials and additional resources can be accessed on the course's Virtual page, with the password available upon request from the teacher.

** For regularly attending students: The teacher may assign a project, which will be the initial topic discussed during the exam.

Assessment methods

Class attendance is recommended to achieve a good result. All those who cannot attend the course for demonstrable reasons of work are required to agree their syllabus in advance during the lecturer’s office hours.

The exam will be an oral discussion where students can choose a topic or discuss an assigned research project from class. Evaluation will consider how well students know and understand the topics covered in lectures and the recommended readings, their ability to communicate effectively using the specialized language of the discipline, their skills in summarizing and analyzing themes and concepts, and their overall critical, methodological, and interpretative abilities.

Any gaps in knowledge, the use of inappropriate language, or a lack of engagement with the course materials will be assessed negatively.

Teaching tools

Practical activities:

- Annotated projection of various types of handwritten sources spanning from the 4th to the 15th century CE.

- Commented projection of specimens extracted from biblical manuscripts of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages;

- Commented projection of late antique or medieval legal documents (with particular attention to public documents, placita and sentences, fiscal, and judicial documents) related to the specific case studies presented.

In the 'Virtual teaching resources' section - which can be accessed with a password that the teacher will communicate at the beginning of the lessons - the basic teaching material will be available from the start of the course (exemplary and in-depth Keynotes, links to videos and handouts provided by the teacher).

Please note that initiatives (educational visits, seminars, conferences, book presentations...) indicated and/or organized by the teacher are to be considered supplementary to the teaching and will be recognized during the exam.

======================

All student who are affected by learning disability (DSA) and in need of special strategies to compensate it, are kindly requested to contact Prof. Bassetti, in order to be referred to the colleagues in charge and get proper advice and instructions.

https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en/for-students

Office hours

See the website of Massimiliano Bassetti