A biocodicological analysis of the medieval library and archive from Orval Abbey, Belgium.

Nicolas Ruffini-Ronzani,Thomas Falmagne,Chiara Ruzzier,Jean-François Nieus,Simon Hickinbotham,Matthew J Collins,Marc Dieu,Xavier Hermand,Silvia Soncin,Catherine Charles,Julie Bouhy,Olivier Deparis

doi:10.1098/rsos.210210

Abstract

Biocodicological analysis of parchments from manuscript books and archives offers unprecedented insight into the materiality of medieval literacy. Using ZooMS for animal species identification, we explored almost the entire library and all the preserved single leaf charters of a single medieval Cistercian monastery (Orval Abbey, Belgium). Systematic non-invasive sampling of parchment collagen was performed on every charter and on the first bifolium from every quire of the 118 codicological units composing the books (1490 samples in total). Within the genuine production of the Orval scriptorium (26 units), a balanced use of calfskin (47.1%) and sheepskin (48.5%) was observed, whereas calfskin was less frequent (24.3%) in externally produced units acquired by the monastery (92 units). Calfskin was preferably used for higher quality manuscripts while sheepskin tends to be the standard choice for ‘ordinary’ manuscript book production. This finding is consistent with thirteenth-century parchment accounts from Beaulieu Abbey (England) where calfskin supply was more limited and its price higher. Our study reveals that the making of archival documents does not follow the same pattern as the production of library books. Although the five earliest preserved charters are made of calfskin, from the 1230s onwards, all charters from Orval are written on sheepskin.

Highlights

The most widespread writing support in medieval Europe was the limed, stretched and scraped skin of calf, sheep and goat
2 the five earliest preserved charters are made of calfskin, from the 1230s onwards, all charters from Orval are written on sheepskin
Catalogues of medieval manuscripts typically describe codices as made of ‘parchment’ or ‘vellum’. This latter word may occasionally be used to distinguish finer quality skins, ‘parchment’ and ‘vellum’ are generally put as synonyms, obscuring the fact that medieval scribes were well aware of the precise origin of the parchment they were writing on, with calfskin better valued than the greasier skin of adult sheep

Summary

Introduction

The most widespread writing support in medieval Europe was the limed, stretched and scraped skin of calf, sheep and goat. Millions of codices and legal deeds written on parchment are still preserved, representing a huge volume of material available for study, they have rarely been considered as primary information on a monastic production, i.e. skins. This is in large part because, until recently, there existed no better method to speciate skins than visual assessment, a reputedly difficult and unreliable process. The 1269–1270 accounts from Beaulieu Abbey (Southern England)—a rare piece of direct evidence on skin and parchment procurement and sale— reveal that calfskin commanded a premium price [1]

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion