Introduction to Medieval Palaeography (HISM401)
Staff | Dr Helen Foxhall Forbes - Convenor |
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Credit Value | 15 |
ECTS Value | 7.5 |
NQF Level | 7 |
Pre-requisites | Those of entry to the MA programme |
Co-requisites | |
Duration of Module | Term 1: 6 weeks; |
Module aims
This module will focus on practical skills. The main aims of this module are to introduce students to the study of manuscripts, palaeography and codicology, and to provide them with the basic skills needed for reading, using and understanding medieval manuscript material. To this end, the module aims to teach students how to read and to understand the technical descriptions of manuscripts in catalogues, and to direct students towards the key bibliography on medieval scripts, facsimiles, and manuals of abbreviation. It aims to teach students the basic principles of palaeography, including the rules for transcription, the main types of script and their development, and systems of abbreviation; and to introduce students to basic codicology.
ILO: Module-specific skills
- 1. At the end of the module students should be able to recognise the letter-forms of the main varieties of medieval script, to know how to decode abbreviations and ligatures, to understand the rules of transcription and to begin to transcribe from reproductions with some accuracy; and to know the basic principles of manuscript descriptions
ILO: Discipline-specific skills
- 2. Students should demonstrate the ability to read and transcribe a variety of script forms using appropriate bibliographical aids.
ILO: Personal and key skills
- 3. Capacity for independent critical study and thought
- 4. The ability to apply key bibliographical skills (including the use of on-line finding aids).
- 5. The ability to follow bibliographical leads and to use dictionaries and lists of abbreviations as appropriate
- 6. Students should have the capacity to work as an individual and to work with a tutor and peers in an independent, constructive and responsive way (e.g. lead a group discussion or task).
Syllabus plan
Week 1: Introduction; Capital scripts
Week 2: Insular scripts; Caroline minuscule
Week 3: Romanesque minuscule
Week 4: Gothic formal script
Week 5: Informal script (Gothic and earlier)
Week 6: Humanistic script; codicology
Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)
Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities | Guided independent study | Placement / study abroad |
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12 | 138 | 0 |
Details of learning activities and teaching methods
Category | Hours of study time | Description |
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Scheduled learning and teaching activities | 12 | seminars |
Guided independent study | 138 | Private study and preparation |
Summative assessment (% of credit)
Coursework | Written exams | Practical exams |
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100 | 0 | 0 |
Details of summative assessment
Form of assessment | % of credit | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
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Portfolio | 100 | 4000 words | 1-6 | Individual feedback through personal tutorials |
Indicative learning resources - Basic reading
Michelle P. Brown, A Guide to Western Historical Scripts from Antiquity to 1600 (London: British Museum Publications, 1990)
Bernard Bischoff, Latin Palaeography. A Bibliographical Introduction, transl. D. Crinn and D. Ganz (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990)
A Palaeographer's View: Selected Writings of Julian Brown, ed. J. Bately, M. Brown and J. Roberts (London: Harvey Miller,1993)
The Cambridge history of the book in Britain. Vol. 1, c.400-1100, ed. Richard Gameson (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011)
S. Harrison Thomson, Latin Bookhands of the Later Middle Ages, 1100-1500 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1969)
The Cambridge history of the book in Britain. Vol. 2, 1100-1400, ed. Nigel Morgan and Rodney M. Thomson (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008)
M. B. Parkes, English Cursive Bookhands 1250-1500 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1969)
Module has an active ELE page?
Yes
Available as distance learning?
No