GREEK PALAEOGRAPHY

The course of Greek Palaeography offers to the students of “Ancient Civilisations: Literature, History and Archaeology”, "Archival and Library Science" and “History from the Middle Ages to Present” the essential training for reading Greek manuscripts and documents, and for using and analysing historical and literary sources in their original form.

By the end of the module, the students
- Will have a sound knowledge of Greek handwriting of 15th and 16th centuries both in East and West
- Will be able to distinguish different handwriting styles
- Will be able to date to date and place manuscripts in the cultural context in which they were produced.

Knowledge of classical Greek.

The course is intended primarily for students with a basic knowledge of Greek Paleography, but is also open to beginning students.
For this reason, the first part of the course consists of an introduction to Greek writing, with active seminar-type participation of students.
The second part is devoted to the Greek script of the 15th and 16th centuries, marked by the fall of Byzantium in 1453 and the spread of Greek to the West .
In this period Greek writing is characterized by the continuation of earlier styles and the increasing spread of individual scripts.
The study of personal handwritings and methods of its classification will be explored, as well as the learning of Greek in the West through imitation.
The contexts of manuscript production among lordly courts and scholarly patronage and the impact that printing had on the activity of professional writing will be also studied.

Mandatory texts:
La scrittura greca dall’antichità all’epoca della stampa: una introduzione, a cura di E. Crisci e P. Degni, Roma, Carocci editore, 2011, pp. 201-238
D. Bianconi-E. Crisci-P. Degni, Paleografia greca, Roma, Carocci editore, 2021, pp. 163-170

Other warmly recommended books

P. Canart, Identification et différentiation de mains à l'époque de la Renaissance, in: La paléographie grecque et byzantine, Paris 1977, pp. 363-369
D. Harlfinger, Zu griechischen Kopisten und Schriftstilen des 15. und 16. Jahrhunderts, in: La paléographie grecque et byzantine, Paris 1977, pp. 327-341
P. Eleuteri- P. Canart, Scrittura greca nell'Umanesimo italiano, Milano, Il Polifilo, 1991
Repertorium der griechischen Kopisten, Wien 1981-1997

The exam is oral. The oral test assesses knowledge of the bibliography, the ability to recognize and date writings, and to reconstruct with appropriate language the context of production.

Lessons will be carried out in a conventional manner.

Classroom and individual lectures and reading of manuscript reproductions are expected.

Italian

oral