Diplomatics

Last updated

Diplomatics (in American English, and in most anglophone countries), or diplomatic (in British English), [1] [2] [3] is a scholarly discipline centred on the critical analysis of documents: especially, historical documents. It focuses on the conventions, protocols and formulae that have been used by document creators, and uses these to increase understanding of the processes of document creation, of information transmission, and of the relationships between the facts which the documents purport to record and reality.

Contents

The discipline originally evolved as a tool for studying and determining the authenticity of the official charters and diplomas issued by royal and papal chanceries. It was subsequently appreciated that many of the same underlying principles could be applied to other types of official document and legal instrument, to non-official documents such as private letters, and, most recently, to the metadata of electronic records.

Diplomatics is one of the auxiliary sciences of history. It should not be confused with its sister-discipline of palaeography. [4] In fact, its techniques have more in common with those of the literary disciplines of textual criticism and historical criticism. [5]

Etymology

Title page of Jean Mabillon's De re diplomatica (1681) De re diplomatica 17765.jpg
Title page of Jean Mabillon's De re diplomatica (1681)

Despite the verbal similarity, the discipline has nothing to do with diplomacy. Both terms are derived, by separate linguistic development, from the word diploma, which originally referred to a folded piece of writing material—and thus both to the materials which are the focus of study in diplomatics, and to accreditation papers carried by diplomats.

The word diplomatics was effectively coined by the Benedictine monk Jean Mabillon, who in 1681 published his treatise, De re diplomatica (Latin: roughly, "The Study of Documents"). From there, the word entered the French language as diplomatique, and then English as diplomatic or diplomatics.

Definitions

Webster's Dictionary (1828) defines diplomatics as the "science of diplomas, or of ancient writings, literary and public documents, letters, decrees, charters, codicils, etc., which has for its object to decipher old writings, to ascertain their authenticity, their date, signatures, etc." [6]

Giorgio Cencetti (1908–1970) defined the discipline as "the study of the Wesen [being] and Werden [becoming] of documentation, the analysis of genesis, inner constitution and transmission of documents, and of their relationship with the facts represented in them and with their creators". [7]

The Commission International de Diplomatique has defined diplomatics as "the science which studies the tradition, the form and the issuing of written documents". [8]

More pragmatically, Peter Beal defines diplomatics as "the science or study of documents and records, including their forms, language, script and meaning. It involves knowledge of such matters as the established wording and procedures of particular kinds of document, the deciphering of writing, and document analysis and authentication". [3]

Theo Kölzer defines diplomatics as "the teaching and the study of charters". [9] He treats the terms "charter", "diploma", and "document" as broadly synonymous, and refers to the German scholar Harry Bresslau's definition of "documents" as "written declarations recorded in compliance with certain forms alternating according to the difference in person, place, time, and matter, which are meant to serve as a testimony of proceedings of a legal nature". [10]

Properly speaking, and as usually understood by present-day scholars, diplomatics is concerned essentially with the analysis and interpretation of the linguistic and textual elements of a document. It is, however, closely associated with several parallel disciplines, including palaeography, sigillography, codicology, and provenance studies, all of which are concerned with a document's physical characteristics and history, and which will often be carried out in conjunction with a diplomatic analysis. The term diplomatics is therefore sometimes used in a slightly wider sense, to encompass some of these other areas (as it was in Mabillon's original work, and as is implied in the definitions of both Webster and Beal quoted above). The recent development of the science in non-English Europe is expanding its scope to a cultural history of documentation including aspects of pragmatic literacy or symbolic communication.

Christopher Brooke, a distinguished teacher of diplomatics, referred to the discipline's reputation in 1970 as that of "a formidable and dismal science ... a kind of game played by a few scholars, most of them medievalists, harmless so long as it does not dominate or obscure historical enquiry; or, perhaps, most commonly of all, an aid to understanding of considerable use to scholars and research students if only they had time to spare from more serious pursuits". [2]

History

Title page of Volume 4 of Tassin and Toustain's Nouveau traite de diplomatique (1759) Traite de diplomatique tome 4 17008.jpg
Title page of Volume 4 of Tassin and Toustain's Nouveau traité de diplomatique (1759)

In the ancient and medieval periods, the authenticity of a document was considered to derive from the document's place of preservation and storage, in, for example, temples, public offices, and archives. As a result, those with nefarious motives were able to give forged documents a spurious authenticity by depositing them in places of authority. Diplomatics grew from a need to establish new standards of authenticity through the critical analysis of the textual and physical forms of documents. [4]

The first notable application of diplomatics was by Nicolas of Cusa, in 1433, and Lorenzo Valla, in 1440, who determined, independently, that the Donation of Constantine, which had been used for centuries to legitimize papal temporal authority, was a forgery. Diplomatic techniques were further developed as part of a wider battery of antiquarian skills during the Reformation and Counter-Reformation eras. [11] The emergence of diplomatics as a recognisably distinct sub-discipline, however, is generally dated to the publication of Mabillon's De re diplomatica in 1681. Mabillon had begun studying old documents with a view towards establishing their authenticity as a result of the doubts raised by the Jesuit Daniel van Papenbroek over supposed Merovingian documents from the Abbey of Saint-Denis. [12] During the Middle Ages, the production of spurious charters and other documents had been common, either to provide written documentation of existing rights or to bolster the plausibility of claimed rights. Mabillon's work engendered a far livelier awareness of the potential presence of forged or spurious documents, in the fields of both history and law.

Although Mabillon is still widely seen as the "father" of diplomatics, a more important milestone in the formation of the battery of practical techniques which make up the modern discipline was the publication of René-Prosper Tassin and Charles-François Toustain's Nouveau traité de diplomatique, which appeared in six volumes in 1750–65.

The most significant work in English was Thomas Madox's Formulare Anglicanum, published in 1702. In general, however, the discipline was always studied more intensively by continental scholars than by those in Britain. [13]

Diplomatics is often associated with the study of documents of the medieval period. However, scholars such as Luciana Duranti have argued that many of its theories and principles can be adapted and applied to contemporary archival science. [14] [15]

Uses

The study of diplomatics is a valuable tool for historians, enabling them to determine whether alleged historical documents and archives are in fact genuine or forgeries. [16] Its techniques may also be used to help date undated documents.

Diplomatics has many similar applications in the field of law.

Some famous cases in which the principles of diplomatics have been employed have included:

Diplomatic editions and transcription

A diplomatic edition is an edition (in print or online) of an historic manuscript text that seeks to reproduce as accurately as possible in typography all significant features of the manuscript original, including spelling and punctuation, abbreviations, deletions, insertions, and other alterations. Similarly, diplomatic transcription attempts to represent by means of a system of editorial signs all features of a manuscript original. [17] The term semi-diplomatic is used for an edition or transcription that seeks to reproduce only some of these features of the original. A diplomatic edition is thus distinguished from a normalized edition, in which the editor, while not altering the original wording of the text, renders it using normal (modern) orthography.

A diplomatic edition is also to be distinguished both from a facsimile edition, which, in the modern era, normally employs photographic or digital images; and from a type facsimile (such as Abraham Farley's edition of Domesday Book), which seeks to reproduce the appearance of the original through the use of a special typeface or digital font.

See also

Related Research Articles

Philology is the study of language in oral and written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also defined as the study of literary texts and oral and written records, the establishment of their authenticity and their original form, and the determination of their meaning. A person who pursues this kind of study is known as a philologist. In older usage, especially British, philology is more general, covering comparative and historical linguistics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palaeography</span> Study of handwriting and manuscripts

Palaeography (UK) or paleography is the study and academic discipline of the analysis of historical writing systems, the historicity of manuscripts and texts, subsuming deciphering and dating of historical manuscripts, including the analysis of historic handwriting, signification and printed media. It is primarily concerned with the forms, processes and relationships of writing and printing systems as evident in a text, document or manuscript; and analysis of the substantive textual content of documents is a secondary function. Included in the discipline is the practice of deciphering, reading, and dating manuscripts, and the cultural context of writing, including the methods with which writing and printing of texts, manuscripts, books, codices and tomes, tracts and monographs, etcetera, were produced, and the history of scriptoria. This discipline is important for understanding, authenticating, and dating historic texts. However, in the absence of additional evidence, it cannot be used to pinpoint exact dates.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Textual criticism</span> Identification of textual variants

Textual criticism is a branch of textual scholarship, philology, and literary criticism that is concerned with the identification of textual variants, or different versions, of either manuscripts (mss) or of printed books. Such texts may range in dates from the earliest writing in cuneiform, impressed on clay, for example, to multiple unpublished versions of a 21st-century author's work. Historically, scribes who were paid to copy documents may have been literate, but many were simply copyists, mimicking the shapes of letters without necessarily understanding what they meant. This means that unintentional alterations were common when copying manuscripts by hand. Intentional alterations may have been made as well, for example, the censoring of printed work for political, religious or cultural reasons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Primary source</span> Original source of information created at the time under study

In the study of history as an academic discipline, a primary source is an artifact, document, diary, manuscript, autobiography, recording, or any other source of information that was created at the time under study. It serves as an original source of information about the topic. Similar definitions can be used in library science and other areas of scholarship, although different fields have somewhat different definitions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Donation of Constantine</span> Forged Roman imperial decree

The Donation of Constantine is a forged Roman imperial decree by which the 4th-century emperor Constantine the Great supposedly transferred authority over Rome and the western part of the Roman Empire to the Pope. Composed probably in the 8th century, it was used, especially in the 13th century, in support of claims of political authority by the papacy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lorenzo Valla</span> Italian Renaissance humanist (c. 1407–1457)

Lorenzo Valla was an Italian Renaissance humanist, rhetorician, educator and scholar. He is best known for his historical-critical textual analysis that proved that the Donation of Constantine was a forgery, therefore attacking and undermining the presumption of temporal power claimed by the papacy. Lorenzo is sometimes seen as a precursor of the Reformation.

Biblical studies is the academic application of a set of diverse disciplines to the study of the Bible. For its theory and methods, the field draws on disciplines ranging from ancient history, historical criticism, philology, theology, textual criticism, literary criticism, historical backgrounds, mythology, and comparative religion.

<i>The Tale of Igors Campaign</i> 12th century Old East Slavic heroic poem

The Tale of Igor's Campaign or The Tale of Ihor's Campaign is an anonymous epic poem written in the Old East Slavic language. The title is occasionally translated as The Tale of the Campaign of Igor, The Song of Igor's Campaign, The Lay of Igor's Campaign, The Lay of the Host of Igor, and The Lay of the Warfare Waged by Igor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jean Mabillon</span> French monk and scholar

Dom Jean Mabillon, O.S.B., was a French Benedictine monk and scholar of the Congregation of Saint Maur. He is considered the founder of the disciplines of palaeography and diplomatics.

Modern pseudepigrapha, or modern apocrypha, refer to pseudepigrapha of recent origin – any book written in the style of the books of the Bible or other religious scriptures, and claiming to be of similar age, but written in a much later (modern) period. They differ from apocrypha, which are books from or shortly after the scriptural period but not accepted into the religion's canon. Exposing modern pseudepigrapha is part of the fields of palaeography and papyrology, amongst others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Codicology</span> Study of codices or manuscript books

Codicology is the study of codices or manuscript books. It is often referred to as "the archaeology of the book," a term coined by François Masai. It concerns itself with the materials, tools and techniques used to make codices, along with their features.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sigillography</span> Study of seals

Sigillography, also known by its Greek-derived name, sphragistics, is the scholarly discipline that studies the wax, lead, clay, and other seals used to authenticate archival documents. It investigates not only aspects of the artistic design and production of seals, but also considers the legal, administrative and social contexts in which they were used. It has links to diplomatics, heraldry, social history, and the history of art, and is regarded as one of the auxiliary sciences of history. A student of seals is known as a sigillographer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">René-Prosper Tassin</span> French historian (1697–1777)

René-Prosper Tassin was a French historian, belonging to the Benedictine Congregation of Saint-Maur.

Papal diplomatics is the scholarly and critical study (diplomatics) of the authentic documents of the papacy, largely to distinguish them from spurious documents. The study emerges in the Middle Ages and has been further refined in the centuries since.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Papyrus 47</span> New Testament manuscript

Papyrus 47, designated by siglum 𝔓47, is an early Greek New Testament manuscript written on papyrus, and is one of the manuscripts comprising the Chester Beatty Papyri. Manuscripts among the Chester Beatty Papyri have had several places of discovery associated with them, the most likely being the Faiyum. Using the study of comparative writing styles (palaeography), it has been dated to the early 3rd century CE. The codex contains text from the Book of Revelation chapters 9 through 17. It is currently housed at the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin.

Pata Khazāna is the title of a manuscript written in the Pashto language. According to its discoverer, the script contains an anthology of Pashto poetry, which precedes the earliest known works of Pashto literature by hundreds of years. The manuscript is widely viewed as a forgery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Minuscule 473</span> New Testament manuscript

Minuscule 473, α1390, is a Greek minuscule manuscript of the New Testament, made from parchment. Using the study of comparative writing styles (palaeography), it has been assigned to the 11th century. Biblical scholar Frederick H. A. Scrivener described it as "one of the most splendid manuscripts extant" which contained "many remarkable variations", and labelled it by the number 512. It has liturgical books and full marginal notes.

Auxiliarysciences of history are scholarly disciplines which help evaluate and use historical sources and are seen as auxiliary for historical research. Many of these areas of study, classification and analysis were originally developed between the 16th and 19th centuries by antiquaries, and would then have been regarded as falling under the broad heading of antiquarianism. "History" was at that time regarded as a largely literary skill. However, with the spread of the principles of empirical source-based history championed by the Göttingen school of history in the late 18th century and later by Leopold von Ranke from the mid-19th century onwards, they have been increasingly regarded as falling within the skill-set of the trained historian.

Mark Mersiowsky is a German historian and diplomatist. He is professor of History of the Middle Ages at the University of Stuttgart.

The International Research on Permanent Authentic Records in Electronic Systems is a "major international research initiative in which archival scholars, computer engineering scholars, national archival institutions and private industry representatives are collaborating to develop the theoretical and methodological knowledge required for the permanent preservation of authentic records created in electronic systems." As a global consortia that works to develop preservation strategies, the project focuses on "developing the knowledge essential to the long-term preservation of authentic records created and/or maintained in digital form and providing the basis for standards, policies, strategies and plans of action capable of ensuring the longevity of such material and the ability of its users to trust its authenticity."

References

  1. ↑ "diplomatic" . Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press.(Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
  2. 1 2 Brooke, Christopher N. L. (1970). "The teaching of Diplomatic". Journal of the Society of Archivists. 4: 1–9. doi:10.1080/00379817009513930.
  3. 1 2 Beal, Peter (2008). A Dictionary of English Manuscript Terminology, 1450–2000 . Oxford: Oxford University Press. p.  121. ISBN   978-0-19-926544-2.
  4. 1 2 Duranti, Luciana (1989). "Diplomatics: New uses for an Old Science". Archivaria. 28: 7–27 (12).
  5. ↑ Rhode, Maria; Wawra, Ernst (2020). Quellenanalyse: ein epochenübergreifendes Handbuch für das Geschichtsstudium[Analyzing Sources: A Handbook for History Students] (in German). Paderborn: Ferdinand Schöningh. pp. 132, 136 seq. ISBN   978-3-8385-5112-8.
  6. ↑ Webster's Dictionary (1828); quoted in Oxford English Dictionary (2d ed.)
  7. ↑ Cencetti, Giorgio (1985). "La Preparazione dell'Archivista". In Giuffrida, Romualdo (ed.). Antologia di Scritti Archivistici. Rome: Archivi di Stato. p. 285. Translation from Duranti 1989, p. 7.
  8. ↑ Cárcel Ortí, Maria Milagros, ed. (1997). Vocabulaire Internationale de Diplomatique (2nd ed.). Valencia: Collecció Oberta. p. 21. Archived from the original on December 6, 2016. Retrieved November 27, 2013. La Diplomatique est la science qui étudie la tradition, la forme et l'élaboration des actes écrits.
  9. ↑ Kölzer, Theo (2010). "Diplomatics". In Classen, Albrecht (ed.). Handbook of Medieval Studies: Terms – methods – trends. Vol. 1. Berlin: De Gruyter. pp. 405–424 (405). ISBN   9783110184099.
  10. ↑ Bresslau, Harry (1969). Handbuch der Urkundenlehre für Deutschland und Italien. Vol. 1 (4th ed.). Berlin: De Gruyter. p. 1.
  11. ↑ Duranti 1989, p. 13.
  12. ↑ Rohr, Christian (2015). "Paläographie (Schriftenkunde)". Historische Hilfswissenschaften: eine Einführung[Auxiliary Sciences of History: An Introduction] (in German). Wien/Köln/Weimar: Böhlau. p. 128. ISBN   978-3-8252-3755-4.
  13. ↑ Harrison, Charlotte (2009). "Thomas Madox and the Origins of English Diplomatic Scholarship". Journal of the Society of Archivists. 29 (2): 147–169. doi:10.1080/00379810902916282. S2CID   143650038.
  14. ↑ Williams, Caroline (2005). "Diplomatic Attitudes: from Mabillon to Metadata". Journal of the Society of Archivists. 26: 1–24. doi:10.1080/00039810500047417. S2CID   110184134.
  15. ↑ Duranti 1989.
  16. ↑ Rohr, Christian (2015). "Diplomatik (Urkundenlehre)". Historische Hilfswissenschaften: eine Einführung[Auxiliary Sciences of History: An Introduction] (in German). Wien/Köln/Weimar: Böhlau. p. 37. ISBN   978-3-8252-3755-4.
  17. ↑ Pass, Gregory A. (2003). Descriptive Cataloging of Ancient, Medieval, Renaissance, and Early Modern Manuscripts (PDF). Chicago: Association of College and Research Libraries. p. 144.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.