The Bible as talisman

Poleg, Eyal

doi:10.7765/9781526110534.00013

“…On a smaller scale, many hand-held objects were made of materials of animal origin (antler, bone, amber, leather, skin, parchment, wool, silk, or even marble, which after all also consists of once-living material); such materials often last a long time, but sooner or later reveal signs of wear. 12 This study concerns the physical rituals that users employed with their books, and my methodology is conceptually congruous with my subject. Applying use-wear analysis extends my previous work, in which I used a densitometer to measure fingerprints and wear on individual pages to find out which pages of their prayer books votaries read and looked at, and which they ignored.…”

Section: A Haptic Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In fact, liturgical books increasingly received highly ornamented bindings, so that they could signify their importance from a distance without even being opened. 12 The liturgy itself changed over time-from the days of the early Church until the time of the Protestant Reformation-as well as changing regionally, with the papal city producing a Roman Rite, England celebrating according to a Sarum Rite, and the Dominicans developing their own distinctive service, to name but a few variants. Service books, which both drove and responded to changes, evolved accordingly.…”

Section: A Brief History Of the Missalmentioning

confidence: 99%

Touching Parchment: How Medieval Users Rubbed, Handled, and Kissed Their Manuscripts

Rudy

¹

2023

12

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The Medieval book, both religious and secular, was regarded as a most precious item. The traces of its use through touching and handling during different rituals such as oath-taking, is the subject of Kathryn Rudy’s research in Touching Parchment. Rudy presents numerous and fascinating case studies that relate to the evidence of use and damage through touching and or kissing. She also puts each study within a category of different ways of handling books, mainly liturgical, legal or choral practice, and in turn connects each practice to the horizontal or vertical behavioural patterns of users within a public or private environment. With her keen eye for observation in being able to identify various characteristics of inadvertent and targeted ware, the author adds a new dimension to the Medieval book. She gives the reader the opportunity to reflect on the social, anthropological and historical value of the use of the book by sharpening our senses to the way users handled books in different situations. Rudy has amassed an incredible amount of material for this research and the way in which she presents each manuscript conveys an approach that scholars on Medieval history and book materiality should keep in mind when carrying out their own research. What perhaps is most striking in her articulate text, is how she expresses that the touching of books was not without emotion, and the accumulated effects of these emotions are worthy of preservation, study and further reflection.

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“…These punishments could befall the false oath-swearer immediately, but it was morely likely that they would appear later, at the Last Judgment. 12 Therefore, the effectiveness of oaths rested on the parties' credulity-in this case, in a Christian afterlife.…”

Section: Swearing On Relics and Gospelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…24 Staring at the four openings with the author portraits with a soft focus reveals that the edges have been darkened from this type of use (Fig. 12;Fig. 13;Fig.…”

Section: Swearing On Gospelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

2. Ways of Touching Manuscripts

Rudy

¹

2023

Touching Parchment: How Medieval Users Rubbed, Handled, and Kissed Their Manuscripts

0

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I am touched by the generosity of individuals and institutions that made this study possible. A Major Research Grant from the Leverhulme allowed me to read, write, travel, play idea-generating games, and most importantly, to take some risks. Several institutions have granted me fellowships that have afforded me opportunities to develop ideas about touching manuscripts in conversation with their members. Back in 2000 at the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts in Washington, DC, Barry Flood and Zoë Strother first coaxed these ideas from their kernel. The ideas then developed during residencies at the Internationales Kolleg für Kulturtechnikforschung und Medienphilosophie (IKKM) at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, where Lorenz Engell and Bernhard Siegert created a stimulating and edgy atmosphere. They encouraged me to think about objects as a series of operations. In Weimar I had particularly fruitful conversations with Moritz Hiller and Katharina Rein. Meanwhile, my former research assistant, Leif Weitzel, not only scraped hundreds of images of missals for me (from the internet, not with a blade), but also helped build an enormous loom in my office in the Palais Dürckheim.I am grateful to the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study in Amsterdam, which not only provided access to scholars and libraries, but also hosted my fiftieth birthday party. At the Institut für Realienkunde des Mittelalters und der frühen Neuzeit in Krems an der Donau (Austria), Isabella Nicka, Thomas Kühtreiber, and Heike Schlie provided emulable models of collegiality and taught me the art of the coffee break. Serving as the Wanley Fellow at the Bodleian Library in Oxford gave me access to some of the greatest minds and filthiest books in the world. I am grateful for joyous exchanges with

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“…67). 12 The incipit announces: "The following is the schedule of who is responsible to fulfill the role of steward, to clothe and serve in the Church of St Salvator in Bruges, beginning with the Mass of St Jan in the summer, and finishing at year's end." Written in 1457, the text is furnished with headings for each day of the half-year, which the Master Steward would fill in.…”

Section: Last Judgment Imagery For Reinforcing Obligationmentioning

confidence: 99%

4. Kissing

Rudy

¹

2023

Touching Parchment: How Medieval Users Rubbed, Handled, and Kissed Their Manuscripts

0

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

I am touched by the generosity of individuals and institutions that made this study possible. A Major Research Grant from the Leverhulme allowed me to read, write, travel, play idea-generating games, and most importantly, to take some risks. Several institutions have granted me fellowships that have afforded me opportunities to develop ideas about touching manuscripts in conversation with their members. Back in 2000 at the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts in Washington, DC, Barry Flood and Zoë Strother first coaxed these ideas from their kernel. The ideas then developed during residencies at the Internationales Kolleg für Kulturtechnikforschung und Medienphilosophie (IKKM) at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, where Lorenz Engell and Bernhard Siegert created a stimulating and edgy atmosphere. They encouraged me to think about objects as a series of operations. In Weimar I had particularly fruitful conversations with Moritz Hiller and Katharina Rein. Meanwhile, my former research assistant, Leif Weitzel, not only scraped hundreds of images of missals for me (from the internet, not with a blade), but also helped build an enormous loom in my office in the Palais Dürckheim.I am grateful to the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study in Amsterdam, which not only provided access to scholars and libraries, but also hosted my fiftieth birthday party. At the Institut für Realienkunde des Mittelalters und der frühen Neuzeit in Krems an der Donau (Austria), Isabella Nicka, Thomas Kühtreiber, and Heike Schlie provided emulable models of collegiality and taught me the art of the coffee break. Serving as the Wanley Fellow at the Bodleian Library in Oxford gave me access to some of the greatest minds and filthiest books in the world. I am grateful for joyous exchanges with

show abstract

The Bible as talisman

Cited by 11 publications

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Touching Parchment: How Medieval Users Rubbed, Handled, and Kissed Their Manuscripts

Touching Parchment: How Medieval Users Rubbed, Handled, and Kissed Their Manuscripts

2. Ways of Touching Manuscripts

4. Kissing

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