"Ars artificialiter scribendi. An exhibition of XVth Century Books in the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land", edited by Luca Rivali and Lorenzo Salamone, 8 th -10th November 2016, Jerusalem (original) (raw)
Related papers
2014
This thesis discusses the role of the manuscripts written, read and studied by the Franciscan friars from the thirteenth to the fifteenth centuries in the city of Padua, northern Italy. In order to study the manuscripts, the study proposes a model of analysis that consists of four aspects: the ideal, the space, the purpose and the interaction. The ideal was expressed by the regulations on learning, study and use of books. The regulations determined the type of book that the manuscripts should be aiming for. The thesis shows that the friars proposed interpretations of the rule in order to reconcile this ideal with their actual use of books. The space was expressed by the Franciscan libraries as places where the manuscripts were collected, but also studied. The thesis discusses how the libraries of the friars found the best ways to guarantee the availability of books for their readers through practices such as long-term loans. The study shows also that the purpose of the manuscripts was related to their physical characteristics, as well as to their type as a book of study, pastoral care, devotion or preaching. The dimension of the interaction refers to the practices of reading. The study reveals that Franciscans were skilled readers who showed remarkable flexibility and contributed significantly to the affirmation of the portable, personal library as a tool for learning and writing. This thesis follows an innovative approach by comparing for the first time the book collections of the medieval Franciscan libraries in Padua. It also explores an original path by applying the reception theory and the notion of interpretive community as tools to discuss the cultural agency of the medieval Franciscan friars. As a result of its interdisciplinary approach, this study offers findings on the dynamics of circulation of vi manuscripts in the libraries, the role of portability in the manuscripts employed by the friars, and prospective fields of application of the model of analysis. vii
Franciscan Books and their Readers: Friars and Manuscripts in Late Medieval Italy
Franciscan Books and their Readers, 2022
This book explores the manuscripts written, read and studied by Franciscan friars from the thirteenth to the fifteenth centuries in northern Italy, and specifically Padua, assessing four key aspects: ideal, space, form and readership. The ideal is studied through the regulations that determined what manuscripts should aim for. Space refers to the development and role of Franciscan libraries. The form is revealed by the assessment of the physical configuration of a set of representative manuscripts read, written and manufactured by the friars. Finally, the study of the readership shows how Franciscans were skilled readers who employed certain forms of the manuscript as a portable, personal library and as a tool for learning and pastoral care. By comparing the book collections of Padua’s reformed and unreformed medieval Franciscan libraries for the first time, this study reveals new features of the groundbreaking cultural agency of medieval friars.
The General Library of the Custody of the Holy Land in Jerusalem conserves about a hundred printed volumes from the XV century. Though few in number, it is nevertheless an extremely interesting collection in the context of the Holy Land. This collection, which contains mainly books on religious topics, is a good example of contemporaneous European books. This exhibition on the 8th to 10th November 2016 includes a sample of 26 volumes from this collection; whilst the complete catalogue of the XV and XVI century collection, edited by Luca Rivali is forthcoming in 2017. The exhibits testify, on the one hand, to the variety of books printed in the first century of typography; and on the other, the story of each individual book. Some books arrived in the Middle East several centuries ago and became part of the Custody’s patrimony: from Rhodes or Cairo, Cyprus or Nazareth, from Beirut or Bethlehem. Other books came from antiquaries acquired by the Commissariat of the Holy Land in Washington (USA), that have been transferred to Jerusalem recently. Accompanying the exhibition is a catalogue rich in pictures and edited in English and Italian. The catalogue, written by Luca Rivali and Lorenzo Salamone, has a foreword by Falk Eisermann, director of the Gersamtkatalog der Wiegendruck of Berlin. This catalogue is published thanks to the contribution of ATS Associazione Pro Terra Sancta. To understand the difficulties of cataloguing and preserving ancient books, there will be an international colloquium on the 9th November. The event, desired by the Custos of the Holy Land Fr. Francesco Patton and by the Director of the Library Fr. Lionel Goh, is the result of the initiative of the Libri ponti di pace / Books bridges of peace project, which aims to promote the ancient and precious material of the Franciscan Libraries of the Holy Land. The project is directed by the European Research Centre for Book Publishing and Library (CRELEB) of the Catholic University of Milan and is sponsored by private benefactors, ATS and the Custody of the Holy Land. Entrance to the exhibition is free. Explanations in Italian, English and French will be available.
Circulation of Books in the Medieval Franciscan Order: Attitude, Methods, and Critics
Journal of religious history, 2004
One of the significant advantages that the Franciscan friars had over their secular colleagues in the medieval intellectual domain was easy access to books. Not only did the order establish well-endowed libraries, but also facilitated the circulation of books among the friars who were involved in preaching and studying. The notes on Franciscan manuscripts indicating a loan or a borrower, the library inventories, together with the constitutional evidence reveal some interesting practices in this respect. Although it was the nature of scholastic teaching that necessitated private use, and hence the assignment of books, the practice nevertheless remained unpopular with the faction in the order known as the Spirituals. They saw it as the cause of the multiplication of books, thereby a serious breach in the order's creed of evangelical poverty. The circulation of books nevertheless continued with increasing momentum and was one of the issues responsible for the schism in the order.
Franciscan Observant Miscellanies and Ownership of Books: The Paduan Case
Il Santo, 2020
The article assesses the role of manuscript miscellanies as a tool to solve the question of ownership of books within the late medieval Franciscan Observance. The analysis of manuscript evidence from the observant convent of San Francesco Grande in Padua shows how miscellanies, usually written by their own readers, on the one hand were tools for learning, preparation for preaching and pastoral care and, on the other, played a significant role to solve, at least formally, the question of exercising ownership of books while keeping a reasonable adherence to the Franciscan Rule.
"What was a Bible for? Liturgical texts in thirteenth-century Franciscan and Dominican Bibles"
Lusitania Sacra , 2016
Many thirteenth-century portable Bibles survive with some evidence of early Franciscan or Dominican ownership. This fact is a commonplace in the scholarly literature on thirteenth-century Bibles. But it is far from obvious how these Bibles were actually used. The traditional answer is to suggest that they were tools for preachers. Although logical (and surely true in part), the manuscript evidence points in another direction. This paper explores the non-biblical texts in mendicant Bibles that are linked to liturgical use including combined Bible-Missals, Bible-Bre-viaries, lists of Mass readings, and marginal indications of readings for the Divine Office. The importance of Bibles adapted for liturgical use – particularly prominent in the case of mendicant Bibles – suggests a need to reorient our traditional discussions of the role of the new pocket Bible in Franciscan and Dominican life. Para que servia uma Bíblia? Textos litúrgicos nas Bíblias franciscanas e dominicanas do século XIII Resumo: Muitas Bíblias portáteis do século XIII sobrevivem com marcas de propriedade inicial de franciscanos ou dominicanos. Este facto é um lugar comum na literatura académica sobre as Bíblias do século XIII. Mas está longe de ser óbvio como é que essas Bíblias foram realmente usadas. A resposta tradicional sugere que seriam instrumentos para pregadores. Embora seja lógico (e certamente verdadeiro em parte), as marcas dos manuscritos apontam noutra direção. Este artigo explora os textos não-bíblicos em Bíblias mendicantes que estão ligados ao uso litúrgico, incluindo bíblias-missais, bíblias-breviários, listas de leituras da missa e indicações marginais de leituras para o Ofício Divino. A importância das Bíblias adaptadas para uso litúrgico – particularmente proeminente no caso de Bíblias mendicantes – sugere a necessidade de reorientar as nossas discussões tradicionais sobre o papel da nova Bíblia de bolso na vida franciscana e dominicana. Palavras-chave: Bíblia portátil (de bolso), franciscanos, dominicanos, Bíblias mendicantes, liturgia .