La copie des manuscrits dans les monastères maronites de la Montagne libanaise (xviie-xixe siècle)

Abstract

The article bears on the activity of transcription of manuscripts in Maronite monasteries in Lebanon from the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries. The practice belongs to an ancient Maronite tradition but is also part of the long process of Tridentine reform of the Maronite church and the renaissance of the manuscript book in oriental Christendom. This renaissance was due to the lack of printed books in the East, the arrival of printed books from theWest, the Arabic translations of western books, and new compositions of western inspiration. After noting the roles of monks, nuns and village priests, the author addresses the question of ownership of these books, their immobilisation (due to the adoption of the legal institution of the waqf, related to pious foundations in the Muslim world), as well as the motivation behind these transcriptions. The colophons reveal that this work, which allowed scribes to earn a living both on earth and in heaven, also represented a source of income for the monasteries. A more focused study of the manuscripts and scribes at Mar Challita Mouqbès demonstrates the interest for traditional Maronite liturgy as well as theological and spiritual works of western origin or inspiration. It also follows the evolution of the languages and script used over this long period of time by Maronite scribes, pointing up the progressive abandonment of Syriac and adoption of Arabic.