The palaeography of later Roman cursive

492 Pages·1991·7.135 MB·English

by  Gregory Joseph Guderian

THE PALAEOGRAPHY OF LATER ROMAN CURSIVE
by
Gregory Joseph Guderian
A Thesis submitted in conformity with the requirement
for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the
University of Toronto
c Copyright by Gregory Joseph Guderian 1990

UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO
SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES
PROGRAM OF THE FINAL ORAL EXAMINATION
FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
OF
Gregory Joseph Guderian
2:00 p.m.. May 14, 1990
Room 111, 63 St. George Street
The Palaeography of Later Roman Cursive
Committee:
Professor A.A. Kontos, Chairman
Professor L.E. Boyle, Supervisor
Professor J. Goering
Professor W.A. Goffart
Professor M. Herren, External Examiner
Professor J. Morrish
Professor A. Murray
Professor J.P. Reilly Jr., Internal Appraiser
ABSTRACT OF THESIS
The Palaeography of Later Roman Cursive
Gregory J. Guderian
University of Toronto
"Later Roman cursive" is a Latin script practiced,
throughout the Roman empire and its European successor-states,
from the third century of our era. Although committed to
many materials and uses, its largest concentration is in
administrative, commercial and private texts on papyrus,
of .which the best-known and most approachable are the Italian
("Ravenna") papyri edited and reproduced by Jan-Olof Tjader.
Chapter One of this thesis examines the origins and
application of the word "cursive", then, by a survey of
writings from the humanist period to the present, shows how
and why cursive in general, and Roman cursive in particular,
have been so long neglected and misunderstood.
Chapter Two introduces the known materials in later
Roman cursive. The sixty Italian papyri are described, with
a new classification, by profession, of the 170 hands
represented. The study of the script is limited to a few
Guderian, The Palaeography of Later Roman Cursive 2
recurring letter combinations, and the method chosen is
to reconstruct the sequence of their formative movements,
or "ductus". This approach permits more equitable
comparisons of scribes than the static treatment traditional
in palaeography, and a more sound appreciation of the
practice of script.
The literature of palaeography lacks precise and
widely accepted interpretations of common terms, including
"stroke" and “ligature". Definitions seeming more consistent
with the study of ductus are proposed at the beginning of
Chapter Three. The balance of the chapter examines the
presence or absence of ligature in five combinations, while
Chapter Four considers apparent "types" of three common
letters, e, 1 and t. Both chapters reveal that scribal
practice, while it fails to conform to rigid divisions, yet
possesses an internal unity in .its formative movements.
The final chapter considers what place later Roman
cursive merits in the canonical succession of Latin scripts,
and whether it was the "common" script of its day or a
professional skill. These lines of inquiry converge upon
an assessment of the script which far exceeds the interest
so far accorded it. More generally, they recommend a review
of all present suppositions about script, its purpose,
practice, evolution, and even the names it is given.
CURRICULUM VITAE
Gregory Joseph Guderian
Permanent address: Birthdate:
181 Honeywell Drive 9 August 1960
Clavmont, Delaware 19703
U.S.A. Birthplace:
3elleville, New Jersey,
U.S.A.
Education:
Ph.D. 1990
University of Toronto, Centre for Medieval Studies
M.A. 1983
University of Toronto, Centre for Medieval Studies
A.B. 1982
St. Joseph's University, Philadelphia
1978
Salesianum School, Wilmington, Delaware
Awards and honors:
1987 Fulbright Scholarship for Graduate Study Abroad (Italy)
1986 Ontario Graduate Scholarships
1985
1984 University of Toronto Open Doctoral Fellowship
1983 Charles Gordon Heyd Fellowships
1982
GREGORY JOSEPH GUDERIAN
COURSES COMPLETED
MAJOR FIELD - Latin Palaeography
MST 9112Y Latin Palaeography L. . Boyle
MST L115L Diplomatics L. . Boyle
FIRST MINOR FIELD - Medieval Latin Language and Literature
MST 1013Y Anglo Latin to 1066 C. Chase
CLA 1123Y Early Medieval Latin Texts C. McDonough
York Comparative Philology M. Herren
York Vulgar Latin M. Kerren
SECOND MINOR FIELD - Medieval Philosophy
MST 9029F Macrcbius E. Jeauneau
MST 931OF Directed Reading E. Jeauneau
LANGUAGE REQUIREMENTS
LATIN: M.A. - September 1982
Ph.D. - September 1982
FRENCH: October 1982
GERMAN: April 1984
Table of contents
Preface v
Abbreviations of some works frequently cited xv
CHAPTER ONE: The Background of the PresentS tudy 1
A. The word "cursive" 2
B. The palaeography of cursive 12
1. Cursive as a designation of use 14
2. From script to tendency 29
3. Eclipse of the term "cursive" 36
C. The palaeography of Roman cursive 45
1. Did the Romans have a cursive? 45
2. The divisions of Roman script to Maffei 52
3. The divisions of Roman script after Maffei 59
D. The palaeography of later Roman cursive 67
1. Cursive and the minuscule question 67
2. Minuscule and cursive, or cursive minuscule 73
3. The name and other questions 81
ii
Table of contents iii
CHAPTER TWO: Materials and Method 86
A. The evidence for later Roman cursive 87
1. Inscriptions 91
2. Parchments 99
3. Papyri 102
B. The non-literary Latin papyri of Italy,
445-7C0 106
1. The documents, their number and nature 107
2. Conservation of the papyri; the archive
of Ravenna 113
3. The scholarship of their script 117
C. Classification of the hands 129
1. The exceptores and the gesta municipalia 134
2. The tabelliones, forenses, and adiutores 138
3. The remaining classes and unclassified hands 141
D. Ductus 14 1
CHAPTER THREE: Ligatures 152
A. The pre-eminence of form 156
B. Previous study of later Roman cursive
ligatures 168
C. Definition of a ligature 177
D. The s+u combination 188
E. The a+c combination 201
F. The c+o combination 210
Table of contents iv
G. The a+m combination 222
H. The o+m combination 231
I. Concluding remarks 241
EXCURSUS: The c+i combination 249
CHAPTER FOUR: Letter Types 262
A. The letter e before c. and n 267
B. The letter i. after g and st 290
C. The letter t after a, c and g 308
D. The e+t combination 325
CHAPTER FIVE: Conclusions 334
A. Summary of results 335
B. The historical importanceo f the script 34 6
1. Ancient Roman cursive 34 6
2. The problem of the "national" scripts 352
3. Caroline minuscule 374
4. Literacy and illiteracy 382
5. Primary education 390
6. Cursive as a specialization 399
C. Later Roman cursive and palaeography 413
APPENDICES 426
BIBLIOGRAPHY 458