Task 4

Introduction

In this blog I will draw on some recurring themes, as well as similarities and links between people and stories that have been present throughout these blog posts and elaborate on these things with some further research. I will be focussing on several names that have come up frequently during my research process and their relationships to each other’s literature.

Aristocracy

As discussed in my first post, Johannes Gutenberg, the inventor of the printing press in Germany circa the mid-1400s, was an aristocrat. As was Guillaume de Lorris, which is essentially all anyone knows about him other than the fact he wrote the first part of Le Roman de la Rose. Geoffrey Chaucer also came from a wealthy family who had steadily been improving their connection with royalty, and William Caxton was an apprentice at the age of eighteen to a man who went on to become the Lord Mayor of London. Caxton became a prosperous and influential merchant before turning to literature at around the age of 47.

I wanted to point out how the following people’s and places’ journeys intertwine and overlap in certain ways, or how their stories relate to, and how they were inspired by, one another, and also how their privileged beginnings enabled them to become educated, leading to the production of these books and manuscripts.

 

William Caxton (1422-1491)

Just as Johannes Gutenberg was the first printer in Germany, William Caxton was the first in England. Caxton was also a translator and publisher. In post two I wrote about the exhibition I attended called “The Mirror of the World” which was named after the first illustrated English book, an encyclopaedia, translated in 1481 by William Caxton. 

Image from here.

During the time he was copying “The Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye” (mentioned in my post entitled “The Romance of the Middle Ages”) he wrote of similar experiences to the monks and scribes (see “The Art of Book Making in the Middle Ages”), saying that his “pen became worn, his hand weary, his eye dimmed” which in turn provoked him to learn printing. Caxton also printed many poems by Geoffrey Chaucer including “The Canterbury Tales”. 

 Geoffrey Chaucer (1342-1400) and 

Guillaume de Lorris (1200s)

Geoffrey Chaucer translated “Le Roman de la Rose” (see posts “Love and Devotion: From Persia and Beyond” and “The Romance of the Middle Ages”) which was written partly by Guillaume de Lorris circa 1225-30, and which evidently influenced Chaucer, as he adopted its dream-vision form consistently throughout his career. Both Chaucer and Guillaume de Lorris were influenced by the Roman poet Ovid, (mentioned in post “The Romance of the Middle Ages”).

Image from here.

Geoffrey Chaucer, Oxford University and King Edward III (1312-1377)

Oxford University’s Church of St Mary, in which the original Oxford library room still exists, tells us that ‘The Old Library’ attracted such people as the ones like the character ‘the Clerk of Oxenford’ from Geoffrey Chaucer’s poem “The Clerk’s Tale”, early in the 13^th century. The church describes the old library as containing ‘a small number of books chained to the desks’ which I recalled was common practise of the time, in my blog post “Myrrour of the Worlde”.

The 'neither large nor architecturally impressive' vestry at the Church of St Marys.

"The Old Library" built circa 1320.

 Images from here.

In “Bodleian Library and Oxford University: A Brief history” I mention that King Edward III praised Oxford University for its ‘invaluable contribution to learning’ in about the mid 1300s. It was actually around this time that Geoffrey Chaucer began having close ties with the King. In 1360, Edward III contributed to Chaucer’s ransom after he was captured during the siege of Reims and Chaucer was receiving regular income from Edward III all the way up to and throughout the 1370s.

Conclusion

It is obvious that literature was predominantly available to people and families who had made a name for themselves and were well off. Children were more likely to grow up being successful if they came from wealthy and successful families, because of the opportunities afforded to them both by the way of funds and the favourable light in which the public would have seen them. Printers and copiers were often commissioned by kings and nobility which meant the already privileged men became richer and increasingly well connected.

It seems as though there was a vibrant literary community which spanned continents and centuries. Everybody who was anybody had been heard of, and well educated people, like Geoffrey Chaucer, knew of all the publications worth knowing about.

I would be interested in investigating the subject of language among the literary community in the future. I know that William Caxton translated many works into French quite poorly and that he was criticised for it due to confusion by the readers. However, Chaucer appeared to be fluent in several languages. No doubt this privilege of knowledge was bestowed upon them due to their aristocratic roots, but I would be interested in knowing how they learned these languages - tutors, parents, self teaching, word of mouth? - and how they were so confident as to translate these works themselves, without perhaps being 'qualified' to do so. Also, I would be interested in seeing the evolution of the English language during medieval times as we know it was rapidly changing at this time and it was be interesting to note in what ways, and the progression of that.

References

 Architecture : the old library, The University Church of St Marys, viewed 2 June 2012, <http://www.university-church.ox.ac.uk/architecture.html>

Myrrour of the worlde, State Library of Victoria, viewed 2 June 2012, <http://www.mirroroftheworld.com.au/inspiration/printed/myrrour_of_the_worlde.php>

Geoffrey Chaucer 2012, Encyclopædia Britannica Online, viewed 2 June 2012, <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/108024/Geoffrey-Chaucer>

William Caxton 2012, Encyclopædia Britannica Online, viewed 2 June 2012, <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/100766/William-Caxton>

Guillaume de Lorris 2012, Encyclopædia Britannica Online, viewed 2 June 2012, <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/248711/Guillaume-de-Lorris>

The Romance of the Middle Ages

For this blog, I have visited one of the Bodleian Library’s online exhibitions, “The Romance of the Middle Ages”.

When you think of romance, you imagine stories of love, passion, Romeo and Juliet, or of course you might think of those cheap and nasty B-grade 'Romance' novels, or a movie with Kate Hudson. However, although many medieval romances tell of love and loyalty, this is not always the case. In fact, to write ‘en Romans’ in medieval French often meant that it was written in the vernacular as opposed to Latin.

Image from Britannica Online. 

Romances often incorporate ideas taken from Norse sagas, Middle Eastern tales, the lives of Saints and lyric love poetry. They are concerned with telling stories through person-shaped narratives.

 

View on YouTube. 

In this clip, Dr Nicholas Perkins, curator at the University of Oxford, presents some significant manuscripts and books from the exhibition and explains, along with other history experts, what medieval romance was about and what it set out to accomplish.

The exhibition is concerned with romance in literature and how medieval writing influenced how we currently think and feel about the subject, and how it has remained relatively unchanged in the way that what you see on the pages of these books is still relevant today.

Among the library’s collections is “The Song of Roland”, an epic poem written in Old French in 1100; “The Red Book of Hergest”, a Welsh text; “The Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye”, the first book published in the English language; and “The Romance of the Rose” (or ‘Roman de la Rose’in French, which is a manuscript I have mentioned in a previous post).

Roman de la Rose is one of the most popular French poems of the later Middle Ages and was modelled on Publius Ovidius Naso’s (more commonly known as Ovid) “Ars Amatoria” ('The Art of Love'). The first 4,000 lines of ‘The Romance of the Rose’, written by Guillaume de Lorris, tells of a dream in which a woman, symbolised by a rosebud, is wooed within the boundaries of a garden which represents courtly society. Geoffrey Chaucer translated the first 1,705 lines into Middle English. 

 Image from Britannica Online.

I think we are in awe at ourselves as human beings a lot of the time. That is something that has never changed. We are especially fascinated at our former selves, as humanity. How we used to live, what we accomplished in comparatively such devastating times. These medieval copiers were inspired by the writers and illustrators who came before them, just as we are today inspired by the medieval copiers. We love to know where we come from. That is what makes us proud of our heritage, or interested in family history, or question the beginnings of the Earth. And that's why we hold so dear the things from our past, things that are hundreds, thousands, millions of years old.

The writers of medieval manuscripts were so proud of their creations, with beautiful detailed illustrations and carefully thought out poetry. They wanted to do the masters justice when copying the great works. We remain this way, in that we preserve these books, talk about them lovingly, yearn to know all we can about them, gaze endlessly at their pages in amazement because it makes us feel a little bit closer to the people who lived, breathed and spoke around them all those many centuries ago. 

This is why I believe these exhibitions are so successful. 

As well as that, the advent of digitisation has given these exhibitions a different aspect of excitement, because now we can see more than simply two pages of a book when it's opened up behind glass. We can zoom in and admire finer details. But - there's still nothing quite like the real thing and it's always an experience heading into the city to the State or National Library to see some treasures from the Middle Ages!

For more information on the exhibition, visit the Bodleian Library's exhibition website here.

RESEARCH

I notice that I am okay at writing artistically, but not as good at writing analytically. I find all the information I read very interesting, but it's hard to dissect it and only include parts that are significant.
As I am used to using Britannica now and took almost all the information I needed from the Bodleian Library Exhibition website, this blog was also straightforward and I did not encounter any difficulties.

SOURCES

The canterbury tales 2012, Encyclopedia Britannica Online, viewed 1 June 2012, <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/93091/The-Canterbury-Tales>

Roman de la rose 2012, Encyclopedia Britannica Online, viewed 1 June 2012, <http://www.britannica.com.ezproxy.lib.swin.edu.au/EBchecked/topic/507700/Roman-de-la-rose>.

 bodleianlibraires 2012, Mini-documentary: the romance of the middle ages, 16 January, viewed 1 June 2012, <http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=xP8uJ3YU974>

 Bodleian Libraries 2012, Explore the objects : the romance of the middle ages, University of Oxford, viewed 1 June 2012, <http://medievalromance.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/romance-explore>

Bodleian Library and Oxford University: A Brief History

Oxford University has no clear date of foundation, but teaching occurred in some shape or form at Oxford in 1096.

In 1167, Henry II banned English students from attending the University of Paris which meant Oxford experienced significant growth.

Oxford University was being praised by the likes of popes and kings by 1355 when King Edward III paid tribute to the University for its ‘invaluable contribution to learning’.

Oxford was a centre for lively controversy. In the 16^th century, three Anglican churchmen – Cranmer, Latimer and Ridley - were tried for heresy and burned at the stake on its grounds.

The story of the Bodleian Library has its beginnings circa 1320, when the first library at Oxford University existed as a relatively unimpressive room in association with the University Church of St Mary the Virgin. This room still exists as a vestry to the church and ‘is neither large nor architecturally impressive’. 

However, the oldest part of the Bodleian complex as we know it today is actually ‘Duke Humfrey’s Library’, named after King Henry V’s younger brother, Duke Humphrey of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Gloucester.

Duke Humphrey donated over 280 manuscripts to the University, which would have made the existing library incredibly overcrowded, therefore it became necessary to erect a new one; construction began in 1444 and didn’t completely end until the library finally opened in 1488.

The Bodleian was, at this stage, not a wealthy institution, and under the instruction of King Edward VI, in the name of religion, the library was raided in 1550. It was not possible to replace the works which had been taken and the library room was taken over by the Faculty of Medicine.

Enter Sir Thomas Bodley.

Sir Thomas Bodley was a man who had carried out several diplomatic missions for Queen Elizabeth I, and whose wife was very wealthy from a prior marriage. In his retirement, Bodley decided to donate his time and money to the University of Oxford in 1598. The library officially opened in 1602 and was now the home of 2,500 books, some of which had been donated by Bodley himself.

Due to the ever growing collection of books, the library underwent its first expansion in 1610-1612 and this wing is known as Arts End. Bodley died in 1613, and iin his will he left money to add a third level, which went on to become the first public museum and picture gallery in England.

Oxford’s ‘most impressive piece of structural architecture’ – the ‘monumental, circular domed building’ was completely independent of the Bodleian. Built between 1737 and 1748 and opened in 1749, the ‘Radcliffe Library’ as it was called, could have been described as somewhat of a ‘white elephant’ in its early days. It was taken over by the Bodleian in 1860.

The Bodleian celebrated their first printed catalogue in 1835.

“The Bodleian was not only a collection of books and manuscripts; it also housed pictures, sculptures, coins and medals, and ‘curiosities’: objects of scientific, exotic or historical interest, including even a stuffed crocodile from Jamaica”. 

RESEARCH

As I am researching a university and taking my information from their website, I have been very adequately informed and trust its authority. Being that I am writing about the history of these institutions and that is one of the core reasons why they are so internationally famous, it comes as no surprise that their websites be well equipped with such information. 

 SOURCES

 University of Oxford, A brief history of the university, viewed 31 May 2012, <http://www.ox.ac.uk/about_the_university/introducing_oxford/a_brief_history_of_the_university/index.html>.

University of Oxford, History of the Bodleian, Bodleian Library and Radcliffe Camera, viewed 31 May 2012, <http://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/bodley/about/history>

Love and Devotion: From Persia and Beyond

The first thing to draw my eye at this exhibition - and what turned out to be my absolute favourite work - was Guillaume de Loris’s ‘Le Roman de la Rose’. It was a large book, and the pages were noticeably made of vellum. I could see pores in the fabric, as well as holes along the edges of the page where the vellum had been strung up and tightened. I could also see margins drawn in what looked like pale red pencil.

Something I love about history, which might be evident on this blog due to the links up on the side, is the food. We may not have the same dress, the same hairstyles, the same weapons or the entirely same way of stringing words together, but something that hasn’t changed is that we still need to eat! Sure, we may have slightly different tastes, but re-creating a medieval meal is easier and cheaper than buying a sword or a corset.

In “Journal of the voyage of Sir Thomas Dodmore Cotton with Sir Robert Sherley and others to Persia as Ambassador from Charles I” (what a mouthful!) the writer Robert Stodart describes a lavish feast:

“Here my Lord dined, his meate being carried all in beaten gould; the dishes wer soe bigg that they were as much as a man could carry from the kiching to the place wher the meate was layde; on a great dish was carried upon a barrow of gould between two men”

The exhibition featured so many eye-catching works. I must admit I’ve never really been interested in Persian, Ottoman or Islamic culture, and I don’t quite understand the history of it even after visiting the exhibition, but I can appreciate how beautiful it was and how much it inspired English and European writing, food, clothing, etc. It was so romantic and exotic to the Europeans, who travelled there often.

Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales has been associated with Farid al-Din ‘Attar’s ‘Conference of the Birds’ and ‘1001 Nights’ due to similarities in narrative, plots and other elements, and in addition the title of Chaucer’s ‘Parliament of fowls’ is reminiscent of Conference of the birds, which suggests there was definitely influence over Western thought by the Persians. Farid al-Din ‘Attar was often called the Greatest sufi poet of the 12^th century.

Another of my favourite items at the exhibition was an untitled costume or picture book attributed only to ‘a traveller to Istanbul'. It was purchased by Sir Thomas Bodley in 1607 and was the 549^th accession into this ‘new library at Oxford’!

Overall what impressed me most about Persian manuscripts is their breathtakingly vibrant use of colour. They also played some Persian music at the exhibition which was hauntingly beautiful. I learned a new word too: Samimiat. It means faithfulness and dedication, and suggests closeness between the human and the divine; “Devotion”.

I was going to scan pamphlets etc. that I’d collected at the exhibition, but there weren’t any; only small, single sheet advertisements. (I was very disappointed as I am a bit of a brochure hoarder!)

So instead I will have to leave you with a link to the State Library of Victoria’s special exhibition website, which is host to an array of beautiful images and a wealth of information on Persian Manuscripts as well as the Bodleian Library (which you will learn more about in my next post!)

Love and Devotion: From Persia and Beyond Online Exhibition 

RESEARCH

I must say I didn’t encounter any struggles whilst doing my research for this blog, except for the fact they didn’t have any brochures.

SOURCES

Information gathered and interpreted and put into my own words based on information from the “Love and Devotion: From Persia and Beyond” exhibition at the State Library of Victoria.

State Library of Victoria 2012, Love and devotion: from Persia and beyond, viewed 29 April 2012, < http://exhibitions.slv.vic.gov.au/love-and-devotion>

State Library of Victoria 2012, Chaucer, Love and devotion: from Persia and beyond, viewed 29 April 2012 <http://exhibitions.slv.vic.gov.au/love-and-devotion/explore/chaucer>.

The Art of Book Making in the Middle Ages

Here are a couple of videos I found on YouTube about medieval illuminated manuscripts. The first one is incredibly interesting because it shows you the entire book making process from start to finish, including how they made the pages and ink. The second is not as informative, but very cute. It is 'a brief history of medieval illuminated manuscripts and the men who made them', uploaded by "HistoryTeachers" who create their own music videos to make teaching history more fun.

"Making Manuscripts"

Some further information to accompany this video from Getty Museum can be found here.

"Illuminated Manuscripts ("Nowhere Man" by the Beatles)

A BIT ABOUT VELLUM

Vellum
c.1430, from Old French 'velin' "parchment made from calfskin," from vel, veel "calf".

The word vellum is used in broader terms now, and is interchangeable with the word 'parchment'. A couple of things not mentioned in the video about how to make manuscripts, is that the person who makes the vellum is called a 'parchmenter' or 'parchment maker' and the 'crescent shaped knife' used is called a 'lunellum' (little moon). 

 Image originally found here. 

One woman documented her own experience at a parchment making workshop in 2011 (view the pictures on her Flickr stream - I should warn you that some people might find a couple of these photos upsetting or they could make you feel squeamish). And here is a link to a blog written by a modern day Jewish scribe, also known as a Sofer, about their own parchment making experience at a tannery in New York.

During the making of vellum, it requires much delicacy and experience not to pierce the skins and any cuts as it shrinks may result in the finished product having holes. 

When the parchment has reached its desired thinness and been cut to size, it is ready to be rolled up and sold. Here you can see an image of a monk inspecting a sheet of vellum that has been handed to him by a parchment maker. (Note the lunellum and skin being stretched on the wooden frame between the two men).

  Image from here.

A BIT ABOUT SCRIBES

Jean Miélot, was a noteable scribe, who served as a secretary to Philip the Good and then to his son Charles the Bold from 1419-1477. He was also a chaplain.

 Here is Miélot at work (Image from here).

The scribal profession was very closely related to monasteries. The work consisted of copying books but also secretarial and administrative duties such as dictation, and keeping judicial and historical records for kings, nobility and temples. The profession diminished after the invention of the printing press but moulded into other professions.

Scribes faced a seriously tedious task. Book copying was a slow and laborious process, and scribes were only human - sometimes they had no interest in the text they were copying or didn't understand it, or they were uncomfortable because the light was poor or it was cold and they were worried about not finishing the book in the required time. Scribes would often write their name, the date, and perhaps a prayer or note in the book once they'd finished their labours. But sometimes, when the work was really tough they would vent their frustration in the margins with words such as: "Thin ink, bad vellum, difficult text", "Thank God it will soon be dark" or "Now I've written the whole thing, for Christ's sake give me a drink". Scribes believed the hard work would benefit their soul, as it kept their hands and minds busy and away from things sinful or idle. The names of scribes, illuminators, parchment makers and binders can be found in tax records but very few can be linked with surviving books.

RESEARCH

You learn new words even from reading the least authoritative of websites. I learned words such as 'lunellum' and 'parchmenter' which made my searches much more specific and more to the point.

I don't like Encyclopedia Britannica's layout much. I think the pages would be more engaging if the images were spread throughout the writing rather than as tiny thumbnails to the side. I know it's more of an academic website but lots of students use it too and, well, it would certainly make reading through all that writing somewhat more appealing. Mainly because when I'm reading on a computer I find it easier to absorb information if it's in smaller, separated paragraphs. Also you'd think their scope of topics would be broader, but I've tried to look up so many things on Britannica and come up with nothing, compared to Wikipedia. If only Wikipedia was reliable.

I think in my research brief I've included probably too many things to cover. Because they are such important and interesting topics, I find that I have to include smaller aspects of a story in order to tell it properly. So, knowing that, and knowing that I have a word limit, I've been trying to be briefer in my explanations. But I can't seem to delete paragraphs I've already written because I believe they are all relevant. So I'm sorry if I have written too much.

Also, regarding citing my resources, up until now I've been aiming for consistency above all, because it gets a little confusing citing from the internet, and I read in the Harvard Style Guide that the author and date are most important, as is consistency. But I'm trying to be more accurate in structuring my citations now.

SOURCES

gettymuseum 2010, Making manuscripts, 17 November, viewed 30 April 2012, <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aDHJu9J10o>

historyteachers 2010, Illuminated manuscripts ("Nowhere man" by the Beatles), 30 December, viewed 30 April 2012, <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81tmuA2Dddk>

'Vellum' 2010, Online Etymology Dictionary, Dictionary.com, viewed 30 April 2012, <http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/vellum?s=t>

Philidelphia Museum of Art 2002, Leaves of gold : the parchmenter, viewed 30 April 2012, <http://www.leavesofgold.org/learn/children/how_made/parchmenter.html> 

Vital, D 2009, Review of Jesse Meyer's parchment and vellum making workshop, Guild of Bookworkers, viewed 30 April 2012, <http://www.gbwny.org/news/2010/01/review-of-jesse-meyers-parchment-workshop-by-demetri/>

de Hamel, C 2009, Parcheminier : the role of the parchment maker, Senior Learn, viewed 30 April 2012, <http://www.seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/readerguides/peregrines/parchmentier.html>

'Jean Miélot' 2012, Wikipedia, viewed 30 April 2012, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Mi%C3%A9lot>.

Tucker, DH, Unwin, G & Unwin, PS 2012, 'History of publishing', Encyclopedia Britannica, viewed 30 April 2012, <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/482597/publishing>

Yu, PK, 2006, Of monks, medieval scribes and middlemen, viewed 30 April 2012, <http://www.msulawreview.org/PDFS/2006/1/Yu.pdf>