The book of the era of antiquity is fundamentally different from the book created during the Middle Ages. The difference is not only in the semantic load and topics. The materials on which they wrote were mainly different from each other, as well as the tools with which they were written. Therefore, now we will examine in detail what material for writing in the early Middle Ages was the most popular, on which books were written and what was needed for this.
The transition from antiquity to feudalism
Slaveholding ancient society in a historical context appears to us as a free-thinking, developing, educated. Therefore, the numerous written memos dated to this era are not just ancient pictograms and puzzles, but full-fledged documents and essays written in languages now dead. However, in those years of literacy, only the richest people were trained. For writing, they used papyrus - so to speak, hard paper, which was transported to Europe from Egypt. With the advent of the Middle Ages, this writing material has lost its relevance, primarily because relations with the East have broken down. Therefore, starting from the third century, people switch to parchment.
The story of the emergence of a new basis for writing
After relations with Egypt went wrong, Sicily began to produce its own papyrus. But this writing material could hardly satisfy the requirements of the Italian office. It was yellow, brittle, too porous and not suitable for writing with a pen. Then the Europeans turned to the invention of the inhabitants of Asia Minor, which appeared in the second century BC. e. These were the raw material raw animal skins on which the Jews of the Old Testament were previously recorded. The invention belonged to Tsar Pergamon Eumenes II, from where its name came from.
Parchment was used as material for writing in the early Middle Ages most widely. It spread throughout Europe, including the Scandinavian countries, and became the basis for many religious books and secular treatises.
Parchment versatility
It turns out that parchment is the most used material for writing in the early Middle Ages. On this basis, we find letters, diplomas, diptychs, three-leafed books with instructions and even personal notebooks of feudal lords and other representatives of the higher world. In order to make a notebook, at that time it was enough to fold a sheet of parchment only once. He was soft, versatile and did not hesitate. To create more meaningful records, a lot of parchment sheets were gathered, which were filed like modern books. In such collections religious texts, laws, government regulations and so on were written.
New library
New material for writing in the early Middle Ages gave impetus to the development of a fundamentally new system of documentation and compilation of books. Example one is a library. In the ancient world, it is presented to us in the form of numerous scrolls that were stored on shelves. In such an abyss of papyrus, finding the right information was extremely problematic. In the Middle Ages, we see shelves full of books, each of which has a cover. Thanks to this cover page, you can determine what kind of information is contained within. The second example is furniture (oddly enough). Ancient sages worked on music stands, and medieval feudal lords and priests began to write for the first time at the table. An invention like a parchment book has become a real find for society. Everyone claimed that it was convenient to hold, pleasant to read, and most importantly - to find the necessary information as soon as possible.
Keeping Secrets of the Palimpsest
Is parchment the only material for writing in the early Middle Ages? The answer to this question is partly negative. The fact is that only noble people had the honor to write on animal skins , while the poor were not able to afford such pleasure. Therefore, among them, palimpsests began to be popular. This is the name of the papyrus sheets from which old texts were erased, and then new ones were applied to them. Ink was scraped off with knives, pumice, burned, soaked - in a word, there were incredibly many ways. After such procedures, the text was completely lost. New records were compiled on the papyrus, the value of many of which is not as great as the destroyed predecessors.
Paper ancestor
By the 10th century, writing in the early Middle Ages was moving to a new level. During the years of Arabs emigrating to Europe, paper appeared here, which was much cheaper than parchment and more convenient to use. But the type of its production was fundamentally different from the modern one. The sheets were obtained by crushing a linen cloth with a special press, which was then cut and dried. Paper was not as fragile and valuable as papyrus, therefore, it, like parchment, was made into books, letters, diplomas and simple notebooks made from it.