ROUGH DRAFT: Weekly #9

Question: Why is it so important to understand [i.e. the topic of your expert group] if one is to really understand the culture of the Middle Ages?

The codex manuscripts were very crucial to understand the culture of the Middle Ages. They show us the earliest forms of religion, and the way that these people understood it. The manuscripts were not only written in a way so that they were well- detailed and very legible, they were meant to teach people. There are many pictures in the manuscripts, and they described all of the stories. Codex manuscripts are very important because they are our earliest forms of the Bible.  These manuscripts gave us an understanding the culture of the middle ages and on how to make books and use certain materials in order to do so, how religion was viewed at this time, and the way that religion was portrayed in the time of the Middle Ages. These manuscripts gave us no understanding of any culture and the religion, the way it was portrayed, and how it was viewed.

Making manuscripts helped to teach the people of the Middle Ages how to use their technics to create books and used writing. “The Making of a Medieval Book explores the materials and techniques used to create the lavishly illuminated manuscripts produced in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance” (Getty). In order to make and write on pages, there are four steps. The first is to prepare the parchment. The fur was removed and the animal skin was pulled taught. This takes a few days and once the skin is thin enough, it is removed. The parchment is cut and ruled. Ruling is when lines are drawn to keep the writing straight. Next, is illumination; this makes the colors glow and the help the book to look good. Binding is the final step which involves a complicated process of putting the pages together and securing them so that the book will not fall apart. This is a very important process, and it was necessary so that our early religion history could be accurately recorded.

Four hundred year after Jesus’ crucifixion, one of the possibly oldest Bibles ever made, the Codex Sinaiticus was finished and bound. It is made of one thousand- four hundred pages.  “The British Library, which begins an exhibition of the Codex Sinaiticus today, said the book gave first-hand evidence of how the text of the Bible had been transmitted from generation to generation” (Pigott). This gave us our first idea of the religious history. This is a huge accomplishment in the eyes of the church. It goes all the way back to less than five centuries after Jesus’ death. For all that we know, this could be one of the most accurate and important discoveries in our religion. This book was written in Greek and passed down for generations. This just shows how important it is to keep track of old documents because, this one especially, proved to be an important find for the Church and for all history.

Religion was written in the manuscripts, but most of the pages were pictures. Before things were written by using words, pictures were used. Even though at this time there were languages, people still often used pictures to tell a story or share a piece of information. One example of this that we know about from our religion, and one that is talked about in the Bible is that the people who knew Jesus drew a fish in the ground. At this time, people were also not very well educated. This is another good reason for the use of pictures. Even people who were not able to read the words o the page could look at the pictures and understand some of what was being told in the stories (see figure 1). In this picture that is located in one of the Gospels, it shows what is going on and being written about. The artwork in these books was phenomenal, and so was the writing. The illumination of the first letter starting a chapter and the neatness of the words is breathtaking. It is easy to see that time was taken to ensure that the book would look its best. Even though all of the writing was very important to these books, pictures were also a large part of them.

In conclusion, these manuscripts were important for setting examples for years to come, and making history that is part of our society today. The church is very lucky to be able to have these as a symbol of the religious history. Hopefully more manuscripts will be found, and more will be discovered. People need to realize that these are something that should be studied in order to learn more about not only religion, but also history. This topic gave a good understanding of the Middle Ages and its culture, and maybe even for more years to come. 

Appendix

figure 1

Works Cited

The Making of a Medieval Book (Getty Exhibitions). (n.d.). The Getty. Retrieved May 3, 2011, from http://www.getty.edu/art/exhibiti

Pigott, R. (n.d.). Learning English - Words in the News - World's oldest Bible put online.BBC - Homepage. Retrieved May 3, 2011, from http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/l

Manuscript and Rare Books at The Walters Art Museum . (n.d.). Art Collection of the Walters Art Museum . Retrieved May 3, 2011, from http://art.thewalters.org/viewgallery.aspx?id=1255