Palaeography and Codicology of the 10th Century Greek Manuscripts: Methods of Attribution and Dating

Abstract

This paper gives a brief overview of the current state of research on the palaeography and codicology of tenth-century Greek manuscripts. Although methods of attributing and dating individual handwritings and unique codicological features have now been developed in Greek palaeography, their application to the 9th to 11th century period was considered virtually impossible. This postulate is translated in all modern manuals on Greek palaeography. Our study of the individual peculiarities of the handwritings of the 10th century and the unique codicological characteristics of groups of codices enabled us to date, locate and attribute both individual manuscripts and their groups created in the most significant “scriptoriums” of Constantinople. Our emphasis was not on studying the “iconic” luxury codices, but on the most typical ones written in everyday handwriting of the era of the Macedonian dynasty. Our research has shown that the codices of the 9th to the 11th centuries can and should be studied by the same methods as those of subsequent centuries of Byzantine history.