Latin Paleography

Pre-requisites: passed exam in Latin

Course objectives: Introduction to the basic developments in medieval Latin literacy, with emphasis on the development and characteristics of different script styles, all in the context of broader cultural developments, including comparisons with the development of contemporary Slavic and Greek literacy.

Course description: The subject offers a chronological overview of the development of Latin literacy throughout the Middle Ages, from its ancient heritage through the literacy of "barbarian" cultures to the periodic and increasingly wide-ranging "renaissances", always in the context of wider cultural developments of the time. It also presents important individuals and institutions who acted as bearers of medieval literacy - professional scribes, scriptoria and chanceries. Concrete examples are used to study various scripts as representative products of certain stages in the development of European literacy and to acquire the complex techniques of reading medieval Latin scripts.

Learning Outcomes: Acquiring knowledge of the basic development of medieval Latin literacy and its place in broader cultural developments. Achieving high proficiency in the techniques of reading medieval Latin scripts.

Literature/Reading:

• V. Novak, Latinska paleografija, Beograd 1956.
• B. Bischoff, Paläographie des römischen Altertums und des abendländischen Mittelalters, Berlin 1979.
• J. Stiennon, Paléographie du Moyen-Âge, Paris 1991.
• E. M. Thompson, An Introduction to Greek and Latin Palaeography, Oxford 1912.