Crafting Knowledge In The Early Medieval Book

Collection and concealment were hallmarks of early medieval book culture. Materials of all kinds were collected, collated, concealed, condensed, correlated, paraphrased, reorganised, and repurposed in early medieval manuscripts. This volume of essays explores how knowledge was made in the early medieval book in the Latin West through two interrelated practices: collecting and concealing. It provides case studies across cultures and areas (e.g. exegesis, glossography, history, lexicography, literature, poetry, vernacular and Latin learning). 0'Collectio' underpinned scholarly productions from miscellanies to vademecums. It was at the heart of major enterprises such as the creation of commentaries, encyclopaedic compendia, glosses, glossaries, 'glossae collectae', and word lists. As a scholarly practice, 'collectio' accords with the construction of inventories of inherited materials, the ruminative imperative of early medieval exegesis, and a kind of reading that required concentration. 0Concealment likewise played a key role in early medieval book culture. Obscuration was in line with well-known interpretative practices aimed at rendering knowledge less than immediate. 00This volume explores the practices of obscuring that predate the twelfth-century predilection, long recognised by historians, for reading that penetrates beneath the "covering" ('integumentum', 'involucrum') to reveal the hidden truth. Cumulatively, the papers spotlight the currency of two crucial practices in early medieval book culture - the practices of collection and concealment. They demonstrate that early medieval authors, artists, compilers, commentators, and scribes were conspicuous collectors and concealers of knowledge.

"This volume presents a comparative approach to textual glossing practices in both the West and East Asia, looking for evidence of historical and cultural continuity in this wide-spread practice"--

This history of early Christian creeds contains an up-to-date account of their origin and development from the credal texts in the New Testament to the fully fledged classical formulae of the 4th century. It includes the creeds’ use and alteration in subsequent periods until the time of Charlemagne and the beginnings of the filioque controversy. In addition, the author provides a scholarly commentary on the most common ancient confessions: the Nicene Creed and the Apostles’ Creed. Going beyond previous studies, the book contains chapters dedicated to the use of creeds in law, art, music, everyday life and even magic. Recently discovered source texts, such as a new Ethiopic version of the Roman Creed and a short recension of the Creed of Nicaea-Constantinople, receive extensive treatment. Credal developments in the eastern churches beyond the borders of the Roman Empire complete this comprehensive overview. This volume is intended both as a textbook for advanced students of theology and cognate disciplines and as a reference book on the creeds in a wide range of contexts. All source texts are accompanied by modern English translations. Winner of the Alberigo Award 2024 awarded by the European Academy of Religion.

This anthology honors Lawrence Nees’ expansive contributions to medieval art historical inquiry and teaching on the occasion of his retirement from the University of Delaware. These essays present a cross-section of recent research by students, colleagues, and friends; the breadth of subjects explored demonstrates the pertinence of Nees’ distinctive approach and methodology centering human agency and creativity. The contributions follow three main threads: Establishing Identity, Patronage and Politics, and Beyond the Canon. Some authors draw upon Nees’ systematic analysis of iconographic idiosyncrasies and ornamental schemes, whether adorning manuscripts or monumental edifices, which elucidates their unique visual and material characteristics. Others apply a Neesian engagement with the complex dynamics of cultural exchange, visual manifestations of political ambitions and ideologies, and selective mining of the classical past. Ultimately, this collection aims to illustrate the impact of Nees’ transformative scholarship, and to celebrate his legacy in the field of medieval art history.

"This book focuses on how literate artisans began to write about their discoveries starting around 1400: in other words, it explores the origins of technical writing. Artisans and artists began to publish handbooks, guides, treatises, tip sheets, graphs and recipe books rather than simply pass along their knowledge in the workshop. And they tried to articulate what the new knowledge meant. The popularity of these texts coincided with the founding of a "new philosophy" that sought to investigate nature in a new way. Smith shows how this moment began in the unceasing trials of the craft workshop, and ended in the experimentation of the natural scientific laboratory. These epistemological developments have continued to the present day and still inform how we think about scientific knowledge"--

Crafting Communities explores the interface between craft, communication networks, and urbanization in Viking-age Northern Europe. Viking-period towns were the hubs of cross-cultural communication of their age, and innovations in specialized crafts provide archaeologists with some of the best evidence for studying this communication. The integrated results presented in these papers have been made possible through the sustained collaboration of a group of experts with complementary insights into individual crafts. Results emerge from recent scholarly advances in the study of artifacts and production: first, the application of new analytical techniques in artifact studies (e.g. metallographic, isotopic, and biomolecular techniques) and second, the shifted in interpretative focus of medieval artifact studies from a concern with object function to considerations of processes of production, and of the social agency of technology. Furthermore, the introduction of social network theory and actor-network theory has redirected attention toward the process of communication, and highlighted the significance of material culture in the learning and transmission of cultural knowledge, including technology. The volume brings together leading UK and Scandinavian archaeological specialists to explore crafted products and workshop-assemblages from these towns, in order to clarify how such long-range communication worked in pre-modern Northern Europe. Contributors assess the implications for our understanding of early towns and the long-term societal change catalysed by them, including the initial steps towards commercial economies. Results are analyzed in relation to social network theory, social and economic history, and models of communication, setting an agenda for further research. Crafting Communities provides a landmark statement on our knowledge of Viking-Age craft and communication

From a symposium held in Cordoba in 2005, yet largely enriched with new developments, recent research and innovative communications, this collection explores the modes of transmission of technical knowledge in antiquity and the Middle Ages.