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Multi-Quire Codex

Before I begin the Historical Background for Multi-Quire Codices, you may find a few other pages to be useful in learning how to make single-quire codices, multi-quire codices, and parchment.

Multi-quire codices emerged from single-quire codices. A single quire codex takes the form of what we consider today as a traditional book. To learn more about the single-quire codex and codices in general take a look at this page:

Single-quire codex

This link will give you the necessary steps to construct your own multi-quire codex:

How to make a multi-quire codex

This link will provide information on the parchment making process:

Parchment

Here, I will discuss the historical and cultural background information that laid the foundation for the multi-quire codex to emerge.

The development and implementation of the multi-quire codex came as a result of cultural changes occurring throughout Europe and the necessity for documenting religious texts beginning with the 1st - 4th centuries AD. The first shift that laid the foundation for the emergence of multi-quire codices was the transition from papyrus to parchment. Though there were papyrus codices for the first few hundred years of the codex form, parchment eventually overtook papyrus beginning in the 4th century AD. From this initial change in book material, parchment codex gained popularity with the Christian church that utilized first in monasteries. From this point on we see efforts of standardization of scripts and literature, one of the first being Charlemagne. The constant revival of literacy and transcribing that consumed this period are the primary sources of the surviving manuscripts and texts we possess today.

Page from a parchment codex

Courtesy of: Engelberg, Stiftsbibliothek, Cod. 37: Johannes Cassianus, Collationes Patrum (www.e-codices.unifr.ch/en/list/one/bke/0037).

Emergence of the multi-quire codex form in the early medieval period

The copying and transcribing of holy texts in monasteries contributed to the implementation of multi-quire codices. Monasteries were isolated places with very strict rules. Monks did not speak very often and only did so if they were asked upon to read from a text. The transition from papyrus scrolls to papyrus and parchment codices was made easier by Monks because they spent their days copying and reading texts. At first, papyrus scrolls were cut and bound to make up codices. This occurred for a couple hundred years as the codex form emerged. Eventually in the 4th century A.D. parchment was utilized as the primary component of codices and papyrus production ended. The parchment provided a much smoother writing surface that was easier to write on than papyrus, and the codex form allowed for more pages and easier storage for holy texts than the single-quire codex and scroll form did.

As a result of Monasteries being isolated from the rest of the world, the early medieval period of the Dark Ages saw a large decline of literacy and reading (4th - 9th centuries AD). Monasteries were virtually the only production of ancient texts, and the texts they produced primarily consisted of holy texts or daily institutional activities. Most of the information and material we have from this period include works from the monasteries of Benedict and Cassiodorus. The destruction and separation of the Roman Empire also factored into the loss of literacy because there was no standardization or unity among the Visigoth, Frankish, Ostrogoth, or Vandal groups. Many different scripts existed throughout this period, until around the 8th century AD when Charlemagne rose to power.

Carolingian Era Codex written on parchment

All manuscript images and descriptions were created and are provided through Preservation and Access grants awarded to the Walters Art Museum by the National Endowment for the Humanities, 2008-2014.
Courtesy of: All manuscript images and descriptions were created and are provided through Preservation and Access grants awarded to the Walters Art Museum by the National Endowment for the Humanities, 2008-2014.

Charlemagne’s standardization of education allowed for the unification of the Roman Empire since its fall three centuries earlier. He became the first holy Roman Emperor and built a huge palace to provide collections of manuscripts and any ancient texts he could get his hands on. His revisit to scholarly and literature texts also employed a unifying script called Caroline Minuscule. Schools, Cathedrals, and monasteries all utilized this script, which produced an abundance of texts that have survived through today. This period known as the Carolingian era is, “…distinguished by it’s literary culture and calligraphic taste, and until the third quarter of the ninth century AD and beyond many local styles can be recognized and described…” (Bischoff 1990, 116).

 

 

Byzantine Empire and Eastern Book Culture

In the eastern Roman Empire, Emperor Constantine rises to power in the fourth century BC and develops Constantinople as the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire. After Constantine, Emperor Justinian the Great comes to power in the sixth century BC and develops his infamous code of law. However, the first important achievements of Byzantine scholarship start during the middle of the ninth century AD (Reynolds 2013, 58).

One success of this period involves the introduction of the form of scholia, which developed out of ancient commentaries. The scholia took up space in the margins, rather than in a separate book that came as a product of the codex form. As texts grew larger with commentaries, the need for multi-quire codices came as well. “During the Iconoclastic era emperors like Leo the Armenian had hunted for books merely in order to find texts which could lend them support in theological controversy” (Reynolds 2013, 59).

Along with the Byzantine revival of learning, there were also changes to the appearance and production of manuscripts. The newly formed minuscule text provided more space on parchment and made it easier for scribes to write faster. Scribes and scholars that transcribed old uncial books into the new minuscule script are primarily responsible for works that did not survive antiquity. Additionally, this period saw a shift toward cultural and copying centers in Universities and schools rather than churches and monasteries. In these spaces, scholars were allowed and encouraged to converse with each other and compare copies to see variations among similar texts.

Depiction of scribe writing in a multi-quire codex

Public Domain
Courtesy of: Public Domain

Ireland and the Anglo-Saxons

During the sixth century AD in Ireland, missionaries were sent by Gregory the Great to convert the Anglo-Saxons to Christianity. Augustine found success in England, and developed the first center of Roman Christianity in Canterbury where he became the first archbishop. Augustine's journey started an intellectual rebirth on continental Europe of Roman Christianity that had an immeasurable effect on the revival and survival of Latin Literature. Accompanying this revival came Anglo-Saxon insular scripts, books, a liberal intellectual outlook, and the recognition that a well-stocked and well-balanced library was the basis of ecclesiastical education (Reynolds 2013, 91).

Conclusion

The gradual shift from papyrus scrolls to parchment multi-quire codices occurred over several hundreds of years beginning in the first century AD. Although parchment tended to be more expensive than papyrus, the production allowed for more refinement of the material which allowed for a smoother writing surface. The thinner the codex, the more valuable the codex was. Additionally, multi-quire codices held more value if the page itself had a measurable amount of 'blank space'. The function of the multiple quires in one codex helped pages stay bound more tightly, which ensured durability. The work of the scribes during this medieval period ensured the survival of texts that were able to be copied for centuries.

Multi-Quire Codex

Appenzell, Landesarchiv Appenzell Innerrhoden, E.10.02.01.01: Silver Book of the Land (www.e-codices.unifr.ch/en/list/one/laai/E-10-02-01-01)
Courtesy of: Appenzell, Landesarchiv Appenzell Innerrhoden, E.10.02.01.01: Silver Book of the Land (www.e-codices.unifr.ch/en/list/one/laai/E-10-02-01-01)

 

Works Consulted

Bagnall, Roger S. The Oxford Handbook of Papyrology: Edited by Roger S. Bagnall. Oxford;New York;: Oxford University Press, 2009. Web.

This source provided information regarding the shift from papyrus scrolls to parchment codices.

Bischoff, Bernhard. Latin Palaeography: Antiquity and the Middle Ages / Bernhard Bischoff ; Translated by Dáibhí ó Cróinin and David Ganz. New York;Cambridge [England];: Cambridge University Press, 1990. Web.

Bischoff's book explained the evolution and development of different forms of scripts and the cultures from which they developed. This book was especially useful in supplementing information on the Carolingian Era and Charlemagne's impact.

Clemens, Raymond, and Timothy Graham. Introduction to Manuscript Studies: Raymond Clemens and Timothy Graham. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2007. Web.

This book provides more technical detail on how to make multi-quire codices and some of the ancient methods that were used.

Reynolds, L. D., and N. G. Wilson.Scribes and Scholars: A Guide to the Transmission of Greek and Latin Literature / by L.D. Reynolds [Deceased] (Fellow and Tutor of Brasenose College, Oxford) and N.G. Wilson (Fellow and Tutor of Lincoln College, Oxford). Fourth ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013. Web.

This source explains the historical contexts of various parts of Europe at the time that multi-quire codices were being utilized. It was very useful in understanding the lasting effects that scribes and scholars had in the late antiquity and medieval ages.

3 thoughts on “Multi-Quire Codex

  1. Keely Tillery

    I’m hoping you then have a wonderful moment! Superior guide, well crafted and also planned. My group is looking towards reading through additional of the discussions sometime soon.

    Reply

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