Sebcam Sa
Swee
4-14-99
PERIODS
5th CENTURY
A. D.
(400 - 499)
6th CENTURY
(500 - 599)
7th CENTURY
(600 - 699)
8th CENTURY
(700 - 799)
9th CENTURY
(800 - 899)
10th CENTURY
(900 - 999 A. D.)
11th CENTURY
(1
(1000-1099 A. D.)
12th CENTURY
(1100 - 1199 A. D.)
13th CENTURY
(1200 - 1299 A. D.)
14th CENTURY
(1300 - 1399 A. D.)
15th CENTURY
(1400 - 1499 A. D.)
Illuminated Manuscript.
Miniature.
Vellum.
Historiated Initials.
Square Capitals.
Lions
7
4
A38
HISTORIC AND CULTURAL EVENTS
Alaric, Gothic chief, sacks Rome; Roman Britain abandoned, 410 A.D.
Rise of barbarian chieftains in Roman politics: Stilicho, Alaric, etc.
Libraries suffer damage from barbarian invasions and civil wars.
Invasion of Gaul and Italy by Huns.
Attila, Christian Hun, spares Rome at request of Pope Leo, 452 A. D.
Period of general cultural stagnation. Increased prestige of the organized church.
St. Patrick brings Christian religion to Ireland, about 450 A. D.
Initial letters opening paragraphs come into use in manuscripts.
Works of Boethius, Roman philosopher and scholar.
Cassiodorus organizes literary work of scriptorium at Calabria in southern Italy. St. Benedict
founds order of monks at Subiaco.
Pope Gregory sends missionaries to England.
Clovis, political and military leader of the Franks, embraces Christianity. City of Paris founded.
Codification of Roman law in Easter Empire under Justinian.
Bishop Ulfilas translates Scriptures into the Teutonic.
St. Columbia and monks work in Ireland. St. Augustine leaves Rome and establishes seat at
Canterbury.
Lombards invade Italy.
Christianity spreads in Germany through efforts of St. Boniface.
Rise of Christianity in Spain and Portugal. Mohammedanism or Islam spreads in Egypt and
N. Africa. Popular in Arabia.
Irish monks enter Great Britain. Books produced at Lindisfarne.
Roman civilization and influence practically obliterated by Saxons and Danes by this period.
In the East, successors to Justinian reject Latin language and theology, cultivate only Greek.
Charles Martel crushes Moslems at Tours; saves Christianity in Western Europe.
Alcuin promotes learning of the classics at court of Charlemagne, grandson of Charles Martel.
Charlemagne helps pacify Italy; crowned Emperor of the West in the year 800. Roman-
Teutonic-Christian cultural synthesis.
Moslems overrun Spain and Portugal.
Papermaking reaches Western World through conquest of Samarkand by Arabs. Secret of craft
revealed by Chinese prisoners of war.
Emperor Leo III repulses Arabs and Moslems at Constantinople; saves Roman culture.
Charlemagne's successors too weak to hold Empire together.
Alfred the Great rules England. Revives classical learning. Court becomes literary center.
Earliest of manuscripts of Anglo-Saxon Chronicle executed under Alfred.
Moslem culture flowers in Southern Spain.
Byzantine culture and religion extended to Bulgaria, Southern Russia and the Crimea.
Earliest use of paper in Spain, 950 A. D.
Arabs and Vikings ravage Sicily. Monasteries continue development.
French coasts raided by Vikings. Feudal system emerges. New dynasty founded by Hugh
Capet, 917 A. D.
Otto of Hohenstaufen revives Roman-Teutonic State by founding the Holy Roman Empire.
Moslems rule Egypt, Syria, and Palestine.
Rise of powerful Italian towns and cities. German emperors involved in Italian politics; Popes
and German emperors struggle for power.
Normans invade Sicily.
William of Normandy conquers Britain. The Domesday Book, a census of England, completed
1 1006
Moors introduce paper-making into Europe through Spain and Sicily.
Moslem pressure forces Byzantine Emperor to beg aid from Western Europe. First Crusade pro-
claimed by Pope Urban II; launched in 1096.
Peter Abelard lectures in shadow of Notre Dame Cathedral. Paves way for establishment of the
University of Paris.
Kingdom of Naples created. Sicily united with Apulia.
Bernard of Clairvaux, French monk, preaches Second Crusade.
Thomas a Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, murdered.
England, Germany, Italy join France in Third Crusade.
First use of paper in Constantinople, Sicily, France.
Appearance of the Guilds. Rise of Hanseatic League in Germany.
Emergence of the English legal system. Oxford and Cambridge.
Religious enthusiasm gives impetus to development of Gothic architecture. Paid scribes take
place of monks in copying manuscripts.
Soldiers of the Fourth Crusade capture Constantinople. Set up "Latin Empire" in place of
Byzantine Empire.
First paper mill in Italy. Height of Papacy. Innocent III and Frederic II. Feud between Guelfs
and Ghibellines, political factions of Germany and Italy.
Reign of Louis IX; Children's Crusade. Weakening of Feudalism.
Decline of Hohenstaufen dynasty. Earliest use of paper in Germany.
Magna Carta signed, 1215 A. D.
Invasion and conquest of Russia by Tartars. Decline of Byzantine influence in Russia, Greece
and Crete.
Roger Bacon (1214-1295) rejects Aristotelian authority for experimental science. Rise of
Hapsburg dynasty.
First use of paper in England and Holland.
Art of paper-making introduced into Germany and France.
Hostility between Popes and Germany continues.
Venice, Florence and Genoa emerge as powerful cities. Italian Renaissance. Works of Petrarch
and Dante. Dante banished from Florence by Guelfs. Power of the Popes declines.
John Wyclif and the Lollards make first full translation of the Bible into English, 1382 A. D.
Outbreak of Hundred Years War.
Works of Goeffrey Chaucer and William Langland.
Paper-making introduced into Switzerland, Poland, England, Austria and Bohemia.
Execution of John Huss in Bohemia. Hussite Wars.
Constantinople falls to the Turks, 1453.
First copper engravings made in Germany.
Erasmus, Dutch scholar and theologian, influential in intellectual circles.
History of the modern book begins when the Forty-two Line Bible is completed at Mainz, begun
by Gutenberg, least doubtful of all claimants to invention of printing in Europe. Sack of
Mainz, 1462, sends many printers into exile; spread of printing craft over Europe begins.
CLASSICAL AND CHRISTIAN MANUSCRIPTS
The term: Classical and Christian are used to refer to works
produced by pagan and Christian authors at a much earlier
period than the 5th century. As these works were produced
in the various scriptoria during the medieval period, certain
characteristics became associated with each. For example,
the work of pagan authors were written in rustic capitals on
vellum which was sometimes rolled. Two extant manuscripts
which represent the Classical School are Vergil's Georgics,
in the Vatican Library and the Iliad, in the Ambrosian Li-
brary. Both were executed in the 4th or 5th century, A.D.
P
A handwritten book adorned or lighted up with colors, gold, silver, with elaborate flourishes and miniatures.
A small painting in colors.
Originally a thin calf or lamb gut, prepared through a special process for use as parchment or for receiving
writing; now a fine-grained kid, calf, or lamb skin prepared for this purpose.
3
The manuscripts dealing with Christian writings were writ-
ten in an uncial hand of the 4th or 5th century. They were
in codex form, written on vellum. Examples of this School
are the Quedlinburg Italia, an old Latin version of the Bible,
and the Cottonian Genesis, in the British Museum.
Initial letters adorned with figures having significance. Initials divided into compartments, each with a small
picture. Found in English illuminated manuscripts of the 13th century.
Both Christian and Classical or pagan influences may be de-
tected in the Joshua Roll, a Byzantine manuscript of the 10th
century.
(Described in column labeled Byzantine School).
Traditional capital letters written to resemble the old monumental inscriptions. Sometimes called Majuscule
writing.
Allanta
ji
Rustic Capitals.
Cursive Style.
Uncial Writing.
PANORAMIC CHART OF THE MANUSCRIPT PERIOD IN BOOKMAKING (5th to the 15th CENTURIES)
SOURCES CONSULTED
Harry Elmer Barnes. Intellectual and Cultural History of the Western World. N. Y., Reynal & Hitchcock, 1941.
Helen Gentry and David Greenhood. Chronology of Books and Printing. N. Y., Macmillan, 1936.
THE BYZANTINE SCHOOL
کا معانا و عروس
B
Byzantine School originated in Byzantine Empire with Con-
stantinople as center. The school was characterized by mag-
nificent illuminations; the writing was uncial. The miniatures
were vivid drawings of intricate and grotesque designs. Gold,
silver and other colors used on purple dyed vellum. Bindings
were elaborate. Example of manuscript of this period is the
Vienna Genesis in the National Library, Vienna.
Byzantine School continued to flourish throughout 6th and
7th centuries. The Four Gospels in Syriac in the Lauren-
tian Library, Florence, was produced in a monastery in the
year 586. It is interesting to students of Christian art be-
cause here appears the crucifixion in illumination for the
first time. Eusebian Canons appear in decorated borders.
Dioscorides of Vienna in National Library, Vienna, is also
of this period. Is ancestor of herbals and bestiaries of me-
dieval times.
Byzantine methods extend Westward.
The pomp and splendor of Byzantine court life is reflected
in the manuscripts which appeared during the height of By-
zantine influence. In addition to the lavish use of gold, sil-
ver, and colors, Byzantine miniatures were characterized by
the presentation of successive scenes in the narrative in one
picture without any division.
School becomes fixed in movement and development. The
Sermons of Saint Gregory Nazianzen, in the Bibliotheque Na-
tionale, is a valuable document for the study of 9th century
illumination.
Byzantine School declines.
Two interesting Byzantine manuscripts of the 10th century
are the Joshua Roll, in the Vatican Library, and the Paris
Psalter, in the Bibliotheque Nationale. The text in both is
written in 10th century minuscules. The Joshua Roll com-
bines a Christian text with pagan art; it is written on vellum
with continuous drawings depicting the deeds of Joshua. The
Paris Psalter is believed to have the earliest known miniature
of David with a harp inspired by Melody, a picture dupli-
cated many times in later manuscripts and printed books.
Dard Hunter. Papermaking. N. Y., Knopf, 1943.
Douglas C. McMurtrie. The Book: the Story of Printing and Bookmaking. N. Y., Oxford University Press, 1943.
Falconer Madan. Books in Manuscript. N. Y., Empire State Book Company, 1927.
Berthold Louis Ullman. Ancient Writing and Its Influence. N. Y., Longmans, Green & Company, 1932.
Columbia University. School of Library Service. Syllabus for the Study of the History of Books and Printing. N. Y., School of Library Service, Columbia University, 1939.
THE CELTIC SCHOOL.
With the introduction of Christianity into ireland came the
art of writing. The art of making copies of the gospels and
service books was diligently pursued in the nonasteries which
sprang up all over Ireland. A distinct Irish calligraphy de-
veloped which was formal uncial and half-uncial. Where
Classical and Byzantine illuminations were pictorial for the
most part, Celtic illuminations were purely ornamental.
Some of the characteristics of the ornamentation used in
manuscripts of this period were the use of plaited and knot-
ted ribbons as frames or arranged in patterns of red dots.
Use was also made of grotesque animal des gns called lacer-
tines, birds, dragons, serpents, etc., intertwined with tongues,
and tails extended into ribbons. Initial letters were made
from interweaving of ribbons and designs. No gold was used
and the colors were usually red, violet, ye low and brown.
Rich, black ink used for lettering.
The Book of Durrow written between 687 A.D. and 721
A.D. is one of the earliest examples of Celti: School. Is now
in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin.
Celtic School spread from Ireland to England during this cen-
tury. Two styles of writing developed: a formal broad type
or round hand, and a compressed type or pointed hand.
The Lindisfarne Gospels, written by Eadfrith, Bishop of the
Lindisfarne Monastery in England, is part Celtic and part
Byzantine in design.
The Book of Kells produced in the Columbin Monastery of
Kells, is considered the finest example of Celtic illumination.
Some authorities ascribe it to an earlier and some to a later
period. The Celtic influence in ornamentation was felt
throughout the Continent from this period on, and hardly
any of the writing hands were free from Celtic influence after
this century.
The Insular hand was written not only in Ireland and Eng-
land but also on the Continent as a consequence of mission-
ary activity of Irish and English monks. Though Insular hand
did not last long in Continental centers, it affected writing
at those places where they founded monasteries and thus con-
tributed to the evolution of the Carolingian hand. Most en-
during contribution of Insular to Continental script was its
system of abbreviation, inherited from ancient sources which
had been neglected by Continental scribes.
Round hand disappears in both England and Ireland. Pointed
hand continues in use for much longer period and may still
be seen in the Gaelic writing of the present day.
The Carolingian script of France supplants the pointed hand
of England in the writing of Latin during the 10th century
while Anglo-Saxon continues to be written in the pointed
style. The two hands were used side by side in the same
manuscript for the two languages.
In England the nointed hand disanneare of or the Norman
conquest. Except for the Norman invasions the pointed hand
might have lasted indefinitely as it did in Ireland.
Letters which are thinner and somewhat more elongated than Square Capitals. Used throughout manuscript period in
many localities for fine copies of the works of pagan authors.
Writing formed with the strokes joined and the angles often rounded, in contradistinction to the square and rustic capi-
tals or to a set book hand. In print, a kind of type resembling handwriting. Developed circa 100 A. D. Made straight
lines of the capitals into curved lines; ascenders and descenders (strokes which extend above and below the line of writing)
developed.
Traditional Roman capital letters which had become more cursive by the 4th century A. D. Uncial letters were exag-
gerated in size through broadening. The style prevailed until the 8th or 9th century and was used in Christian manu-
scripts. Its decline was due to the difficulty in reproduction by scribes less skillful than the monks.
1
P
DEFINITIONS
Half-Uncial.
Charlemagne, King of the Franks, decided to revive past
glories of the Roman Empire; so encouraged and developed
at his court a revival of classical art combined with Byzan-
tine and Celtic elements. Palace school conducted by Alcuin,
theologian and scholar from England. Period of artistic and
intellectual activity which came to be called the Carolingian
renaissance. Byzantine influence shown in frequent use of
dyed purple vellum and gold lettering, in inclusion_of_por-
traits of Evangelists, and in arcades enclosing Eusebian
Canons.
Celtic influence on Carolingian School shown in use of
simpler forms of plaited and knotted ribbon work and in the
use of birds and animals as terminals. Carolingian writing
characterized by two features: (1) distinction of different
styles for different purposes, and (2) the imitation of the
script of older models. Alcuin stimulated greater activity in
copying the Bible manuscripts and classical Latin literature.
THE CAROLINGIAN SCHOOL
Carolingian script spread rapidly through France, Germany,
and Northern Italy. Many classical Latin authors known to
us only in manuscripts written in Carolingian or later script.
The Carolingian renaissance was responsible for preserving
many of the ancient works which might have disappeared.
Manuscripts of the works of Plautus, Caesar, Cicero, Horace
Ovid, Livy and many others were written in Carolingian
script from the 9th to the 12th centuries.
1
Specimens of illuminated manuscripts which reveal the char-
acteristics of the Carolingian School are the Gospels, in the
Schatzkammer, in Vienna, the Alcuin Bible, in the British.
Museum, the Golden Gospels of St. Medard, in the Biblio-
theque Nationale, the Four Gospels in Latin and the Golden
Gospels of Henry VIII, in the Morgan Library, New York.
Period of transition from Carolingian to Gothic script in
Western Europe.
Minuscule Writing.
Insular Script.
THE ROMANESQUE SCHOOLS
Romanesque Schools flourished in England, and various lo-
calities on the Continent. The new tendency, which began
in France and England in the 10th and 11th centuries, was
to draw by line or outline rather than by mass. The Utrecht
Psalter of the 10th century has free hand pen drawings in
dark brown ink, with many figures crowded together in a
landscape setting; no borders or suggestions of pattern or
color. Believed to have been executed in England.
The manuscripts containing outline drawings have remained
valuable for the evidences they afford of English life of the
period. The Ceedman MS. in the Bodleian Library, Oxford
contains drawings in outline. The manuscript was executed
for Abbot Aelfwin at Newminster in the 11th century. It
contains Anglo-Saxon poems treating the fall of Satan, the
Creation, and various incidents in early Bible history.
The British Museum has three illuminated MSS, which date
from the 12th century. The Life of St. Edmund, Bede's Life
of St. Cuthbert and the Life of St. Guthlac. The latter, in the
form of a roll, show important events in the lives of the
Saints. The St. Edmund and St. Cuthbert manuscripts have
unrealistic figure drawing, scrolls of foliage and human,
animal and monster forms in the initial ornaments. The
Guthlac Roll is a long strip of vellum with beautiful outline
drawings.
Monasteries at Reichenau, Hildesheim, and Ratisbon became
famous for book production in 10th and 11th centuries and
many of the finest early Ottonian books were produced at
Reichenau. By the twelfth century a definite style with well-
developed decorative features grew out of these schools and
prepared the way for the 13th century Gothic art of France
and the Low Countries. English illumination also came under
the influence of the Gothic movement in this century and is
very similar to the French.
Books became smaller in size; a clear, small, neat minuscule
developed. Many historiated initials in English manuscripts
which reached height of development in 14th century. Script
of Germany, England, Northern France, and the Low Coun-
tries was influenced by the Gothic style. For the first time,
German manuscripts were written in the vernacular. Two
famous examples are the Great Heidelberg 14th century
manuscript or Codex Manesse which is most comprehensive
collection of Minnesinger material; the MS. Nibelungenlied.
Borders which were usually extensions of initials, tails of
animals, birds, etc., become wholly detached in this period;
borders sometimes the work of a different hand. England did
not use outline drawings in manuscripts after the Norman
Conquest but Germany, which lagged behind the rest of
Western Europe in art, continued to use pen and ink out-
line drawings in 15th century manuscripts. Had distinct in-
fluence on the illustrations used in early printed books.
Half-uncial writing grew out of uncial and was an informal compromise between the bookish uncial and the cursive
script of the period and place using it. It shows the beginnings of a tendency to run certain letters together into
combinations or ligatures. Half-uncial was the informal book hand which was carried to Ireland in the 5th century
by St. Patrick and other missionaries.
Probably developed in Ireland from half-uncials. Was the forerunner of our small letters. Characterized by ascend-
ers, descenders and ligatures. Used widely during 8th and 9th centuries.
Term used to refer to the national hands of England, Scotland, and Ireland. Did not develop from cursive but from
half-uncial, under the influence of uncial writing. Spread from Ireland to England in 7th century and stopped the
independent development of the uncial writing which had been introduced by the first missionaries from Rome.
Two styles of Insular script developed: a formal, broad type or round hand, and a compressed or pointed hand. The
pointed hand resembled closely the gothic script which developed later.
+
4
GOTHIC AND RENAISSANCE SCHOOLS
Jorr
The beginnings of gothic tendencies in writing were discern-
ible in the 11th century. The rounded Carolingian script was
broken into shortened, pointed lines. The script, however,
aniere in upp Siance according to different periods and
places. The Otonian Renaissance of the 10th and 11th cen-
turies occurred in Germany as result of the marriage of Otto
II and a Byzantine princess. Greek books, arts, and art ob-
jects, as well as scholars, accompanied the princess to Ger-
many.
The 12th century represents a period of transition from
the Carolingian to the Gothic script. Gothic architecture has
great influence' on both calligraphy and illumination, France
is the great exponent of both Gothic architecture and Gothic
script. Medieval scholars called the script fractura because
of its broken and angular appearance. The term Fraktur is
still used for the: gothic script by Germans of the present day.
Gothic illumination was characterized by architectural back-
grounds, gothic interiors, quatre-foil windows, pinnacles, and
more graceful and natural figures. The Psalter of St. Louis,
in the Bibliotheque Nationale and the Bible Moralisee, in the
Morgan Library, are examples of 13th century gothic illu-
mination. The latter was a picture book designed for the
use of those unable to read the Latin text.
The Flemish School of illumination flourished in the Nether-
lands, Belgium, and Burgundy in the 13th century. The
placement of figures in a natural setting gradually developed.
Work of this School is hardly distinguishable from French
work of the period because many Flemish artists worked in
France for the Duke of Berry and other French patrons.
In the 14th century the cursive hand with its many flourishes
attracted attention; in the 15th century cursive and semi-
cursive hands, which were hard to read, were numerous. The
older, more formal script became artificial; paper instead of
parchment was used for writing so the script became free.
Gothic script became model for type face used in first printed
books.
Anglo-Saxon.
Merovingian.
Beneventan.
Visigothic.
Carolingian Minuscule.
THE ITALIAN SCHOOL
Medieval Italy begins in this century. Writing in Northern
Italy was a mixture of cursive, half-uncial and uncial with
numerous ligatures.
Those Lombards who went to Southern Italy were isolated
from northern influences thus their cursive writing was not
affected by the Carolingian reform for many centuries. The
Lombardic or South Italian script remained distinctive evolv-
ing into the Beneventan.
During this period in Northern Italy, the Carolingian hand
dominates the writing style. In Southern Italy, the develop-
ment of the Beneventan script continues.
Monastery of Monte Cassino, founded in the 6th century,
became one of the greatest Italian centers for the production
of manuscripts. The handwriting had been greatly refined
and became known as Beneventan in this century.
Bono pentan-script fellly developed. Characterized by heavily
shaded writing slanting to the right. Has broken appearance,
many ligatures; rounded letters joined together.
Manuscripts produced in Italy were very large in size with
miniatures, elaborately decorated initial letters and reflected
the Byzantine influence in their rich coloring. The initial
letters present a mixture of Celtic, Lambardic and Ottonian
influences in their ornamentation. Feeling for color is the
distinguishing feature of Italian work.
Liturgical books produced in the 13th century show the same
sweetness and simplicity that is characteristic of the early
Italian school of art. Conventional border ornaments, which
were a part of Italian illuminated manuscripts through the
14th century, had developed in this period.
Decline of Beneventan script.
The manuscripts of the 14th century were noted for the bor-
der ornaments which were thin wands or rods, either straight
or knotted and twisted, long and pointed leaves which spread
from the initial letters or twined around them, beads threaded
on stems and grotesque animal or human figures used in
unusual ways.
Giotto, Duccio and others produced great masterpieces of art
in this century but very few of these were engaged in manu-
script illumination.
The Italian Renaissance, which began in the preceding cen-
tury, was full blown in the 15th. More copying was done by
scholars than by scribes. A simplified, rapid gothic script
developed into the scrittura umanistica or humanistic hand.
Great interest shown in works of classical scholars and au-
thors. The Medicis, the Sforza and Farnese families become
the great patrons of the manuscript producing centers.
Imitation of the humanistic hand by the printers who settled
in Italy in the 15th century was responsible for the ultimate
triumph of roman over gothic letters.
EXPLANATION
The Chart is the outgrowth of an assigned project in the Book Arts Course at the Atlanta University School of Library Service. The assignment was made with the hope that it would
result in a graphic presentation which would enable students to acquire an awareness of cultural relationships and cultural flow; which would indicate the influence of historic events or "acci-
dents" on the Arts, and which would highlight the leavening influence of the individual scholar on the intellectual achievement of his period.
PERIODS
The compilation was done by a Committee of students composed of Mr. Beverly Booth, Miss Evelyn DeBerry, Miss Clarice Jones, and Mrs. Mary Spradling. The work was supervised and
edited by Mrs. Hallie Beachem Brooks, Instructor. The Committee is grateful to Dr. Melvin D. Kennedy of the Department of History, Morehouse College, for his helpful criticism.
Spring Semester 1948
5th CENTURY
(400 - 499 A. D.)
6th CENTURY
(500 - 599 A. D.)
7th CENTURY
(600 - 699 A. D.)
8th CENTURY
(700 - 799 A. D.)
9th CENTURY
(800-899 A. D.)
10th CENTURY
(900 - 999 A. D.)
11th CENTURY
(1000 - 1099 A. D.)
12th CENTURY
(1100 - 1199 A. D.)
13th CENTURY
(1200 - 1299 A. D.)
14th CENTURY
(1300 - 1399 A. D.)
National hand of England, 7th to 11th centuries.
National hand of France, 7th to 12th centuries.
National hand developed in Southern Italy, 8th to 12th centuries.
National hand of Spain, 8th to 11th centuries.
Writing style developed by Alcuin at Court of Charlemagne. Influenced the national hands of England, France,
Germany, Italy, and Spain from 9th through 11th centuries. Was basic model of modern uniform writing and
print.
15th CENTURY
(1400 - 1499 A. D.)
Library Scienca
Z
4
A88
Atlanta University. School of Library Service
Panoramic chart of the manuscript period
bookmaking.

in