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      • The New Series
        • 2019 Anniversary Symposium Program: The Roads Taken
        • 2019 Anniversary Symposium Registration
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You are browsing the Blog for Forgeries & Imitations

Fit to Be Tied

May 9, 2017 in Manuscript Studies, Photographic Exhibition, Uncategorized

1320 Letter of Berengarius
Concerning a Dispute at Calahorra

Or Not!

Single-Sheet Document
of Cardinal–Bishop Bérengar de Frédul
dated 13 July 1320
in Latin on Vellum
with Red Cord Tie
and Docketing on the Dorse in Spanish

Budny Handlist 21

Budny Handlist 21 Dorse of Document of Berengar Fredul of 1320 with red cord tie and Docketing in Spanish. Photography by Mildred Budny.

Document of Pope John XXII for Berengarius, unfolded. Photography by Mildred Budny

Continuing our series on Manuscript Studies, our Principal Blogger, Mildred Budny (see Her Page) describes a single-sheet vellum Latin document, plus cord, which came within the span of her conservation, photography, and research for the Illustrated Handlist.

There, the document holds Number 21.  Unlike the other items (so far) in the Illustrated Handlist, this one appears to be a forgery, albeit skilled.  In a word:  Curious.

The Thing as Such

First some ‘statistics’.

Cameo of Pope John XXII. Photograph via Wikimedia Commons.

Cameo of Pope John XXII. Photograph via Wikimedia Commons.

Epistolary Document of
Bérenger Fredoli (circa 1250 – 1323),
Cardinal–Bishop (1309–1323)
of Frascati near Rome,
Issued Purportedly during
Year 4 of the Reign
of the Avignon Pope John XXII (1316–1377)
and dated 13 July 1320,
with knotted red cord tie

Circa 230 × 423 mm with flap closed; full height counting flap = circa 169 × 316 mm
Single column of 18 long lines
< written area circa 169 × 316 mm >
plus red knotted cord tie laced through the flap
with docketing in Spanish on the dorse

Provenance Interrupted

The document was acquired by gift in 1955.  The method and appurtenances of presentation provide the name of the donor, Philip Hofer, (1898–1984), his letter announcing and accompanying the gift as a thank-offering, and his custom-made box for the offering.

However, it provides no information whatsoever about the provenance, source of acquisition, the presentation provides other useful elements of information which the intermediary would have had.  We are stuck with those gaps.  Shame.

About those lamentable and noxious with-holdings of information in the transmission of materials between modern handlers, some of our blogposts already document the miseries in trying to piece together the traces.  See the blog’s Contents List.

We are entitled to wonder, also, about the caliber of the gift, which, itself doubtless well-meaning between equals at Harvard with stature and means, carries questionability in its own ‘right’ (or ‘wrong’), considering the dubious nature of the document itself.

Information about where and how the donor acquired the document is much to be wished.  Or what he thought it constituted.

As a Gift

Folded in half horizontally and then in thirds across, along its medieval folds, the document was contained in its custom-made 20th-century lined clam-shell box for presentation to the Owner by Philip Hofer, along with the letter describing that presentation, signed by Hofer and dated 14 December 1955.

With that presentation enclosure, I first came to know the shape and features of the object.  It took a while before the oddities came pressingly into the forefront.

Happy as a Clam-Shell

The Presentation Box

In and Out.  All About.

1.  Outside

Unfolded exterior of Custom Clam-Shell Box

2.  Inside
Unfolded Interior of Custom Clam-Shell Box with Donor's Presentation Letter

Unfolded Interior of Custom Clam-Shell Box with Donor’s Presentation Letter and Folded Document

CenterFold

Opening of Indulgence from Pope John XXIII for Berengarius, Cardinal-Bishop of Frascati. Photography © Mildred Budny

Who, What, Where, Wherefore?

The text of the document begins with an enlarged and decorated ink initial B, which stands upon the baseline of the first line of script and rises firmly into the upper margin.  The other letters of the name Berengarius ascend as a clustered, narrow group, before the document settles into the main script, which provides an upright, neatly written Gothic Textualis, with some curved

Köp Kamagra Receptfritt

, hook-like tips ascending or descending into the interlines.  Although the lettering, which employs some abbreviations, is, for the most part, clearly decipherable, the sense of the phrasing overall proves a puzzle.

A transcription and attempted translations of the text reveal that the Latinity leaves something to be desired in terms of clarity or comprehension.  Several of us looking at its challenges wonder about its command of the language.  Neatly put, as one scholar declared in a message:  “I cannot make out much of your document; the Latin is awful!”

The Bishop addresses the recipient of the letter, the Thesaurius (“treasurer”) of Calahorra in the province of La Rioja in northeastern Spain, with an appeal on behalf of the clergy of its churches of Saint Andrew and Saint Christopher.  The clergy claimed that they had “at one time” made a deal with the Thesaurius, who possibly had given them property to administer (or something).  The deal went sour.  They claimed that the Thesaurius had pulled a fast one on them; they appealed to the Bishop, who had authority from the Pope; and the Bishop turned to the official.  To whit, this Letter.  To quote our scholar again:  “That’s the best I can do.  I find most of the Latin incomprehensible.”

Panorama view of the historical district of Calahorra. Photograph: Own Work by De Zarateman via Creative Commons.De Zarateman - Trabajo propio, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=50474431

Panorama view of the historical district of Calahorra. Photograph: Own Work by De Zarateman via Creative Commons.

Cameo of Pope John XXII. Photograph via Wikimedia Commons.The letter declares its issue during the reign of Pope John XXII (1244–1334), the second Avignon Pope (reigned 1316–1334).  The issue of the letter relates to the span of “political and administrative correspondence of the Avignon popes, 1305–1378”, as surveyed, for example, by Patrick Zutschi in a paper presented in 1988 (published in 1990).  As such, it would hold interest as a relic of that contested period in the papacy.

*****

When the Dust Has Settled

An interior view of the fold:

Detail of Document of Berengarius, viewing the interior of the right-hand side of the folded flap at its bottom, to reveal the gathered dust and glimpse part of the red silk cord. Photography © Mildred Budny

We plan to write some more about this questionable document, but other tasks and challenges (including illnesses and a death in the family) have interfered with the completion of the report.  Returning somewhat to health, I decided that it might be useful to send forth these observations, questions, and images, to set the discussion going.  Do you have any views on this matter and material?  Please let us know.

Meanwhile, feast your eyes on its features.  Photography by Mildred Budny.

 

Document of Pope John XXII for Berengarius, unfolded. Photography by Mildred Budny

*****

Budny Handlist 21 Dorse of Document of Berengar Fredul of 1320 with red cord tie and Docketing in Spanish. Photography by Mildred Budny.

*****

Some Background Reading

Patrick Zutschi, “The political and administrative correspondence of the Avignon popes, 1305–1378:  a contribution to papal diplomatic”, in Actes de la table ronde d’Avignon (23-24 janvier 1988).  Publications de l’École française de Rome, 138 (1990), 371–384

*****

More to come.  Please watch this space.

Tags: Avignon Popes, Bérengar de Frédul, Budny Handlist, Calahorra, Document with Cord Tie, Documents of 1320, Forgeries & Imitations, Medieval Documents, medieval forgery, Pope John XXII
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2015 Congress Announced

September 23, 2014 in Business Meeting, Conference Announcement, ICMS, International Congress on Medieval Studies, Reception

Sessions and Events for the
50th International Congress on Medieval Studies
14-17 May 2015

Frowning Corbel Head on Le Pont Neuf, Paris. Photograpny by Ilya V. Sverdlov

The Skeptic

[Published on 23 September 2014, with updates]

With the completion of the Call for Papers and the reception of proposals for papers by 15 September 2014, the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence plans its 5 sponsored and co-sponsored sessions for the next Congress.   Their programs now settle into place for notification to the Congress by the deadline of 1 October.  Following that process, we will be able to announce the programs and, in time, publish abstracts of papers as their authors might wish.

The next Congress will be the tenth year of our co-sponsorship with the Societas Magica and the second year of co-sponsorship with the Center for Medieval and Early Modern Studies at the University of Florida.  Our 2014 sessions with these organizations are reported and illustrated in our 2014 Congress Report.  This is the first year of co-sponsorship for the Reception also with the Index of Christian Art at Princeton University.

Read the rest of this entry →

Tags: Dream Divination, Forgeries & Imitations, ideal kingship, less-than-ideal kingship, magic in manuscript, magic in print, magic in song, magic in utterances, the magic of words, the power of words, words in magic
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2015 Congress Call for Papers

July 16, 2014 in Conference Announcement, ICMS, International Congress on Medieval Studies

CALL FOR PAPERS

Sessions Sponsored and Co-Sponsored
by the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence
at the
50th International Congress on Medieval Studies

Western Michigan University, 14–17 May 2015

Deadline for Proposals:  15 September 2014

Logo of the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence (colour version)For the 50th Congress, the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence (RGME) prepares five Sessions to celebrate a wide range of interests and explorations in the realms of medieval, early modern, and related studies.  We continue sponsorships and co-sponsorships of sessions, designed to showcase the work of younger, independent, and established scholars and teachers alike, in a constructive interchange between areas of expertise and spans of experience.

We invite proposals for papers for the 2015 Sessions.  Please send your proposed title and abstract directly to the session organizers by 15 September 2014, along with the completed Congress Participant Information Form (PIF) [no longer online, following the deadline].  We welcome your questions and suggestions. Read the rest of this entry →

Tags: Bad Rulers, Center for Medieval and Early Modern Studies at the University of Florida, Dream Books, Forgeries & Imitations, History of Magic, Ideal Rulers, International Congress on Medieval Studies, Le Pont Neuf Paris, Manuscript studies, Manuscripts & Early Printed Books, Medieval Kingship, Medieval Studies, Power of Words, Societas Magica, Ugly Rulers
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