NEW MANUSCRIPT EVIDENCE FOR ADENET LE ROI'S BERTE AS GRANS PIÉS

• Published in: Medium aevum Vol. 89; no. 1; pp. 50 - 77
• Main Author: GURA, DAVID T.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Society for the Study of Medieval Languages and Literature 01-01-2020; Society for the Study of Mediaeval Languages and Literature
• Subjects: 14th century; 15th century; Archetypes (Psychology); Documentary films; Epic literature; Exegesis & hermeneutics; Historical text analysis; Libraries; Medieval period; Plot (Narrative); Punctuation; France
• ISSN: 0025-8385; 2398-1423
• DOI: 10.2307/27089754

Mi uses two-compartment a exclusively; f and straight s descend below the baseline without exception; loops to the right are present on the the majority of ascenders of b, d, h, k, and l, but not entirely; looped form of v in initial position as a rule; cursive form of z; documentary intrusions seen in the descender of q, forms of n, and suspension strokes of final t. Punctuation is minimal, consisting of single interpuncts to divide phrases into units; word separation is very clear. 3.Palaeographical observations When compared to the other manuscripts which transmit Adenet's works, the script of n is its most idiosyncratic feature.6 Though mutilated, the majority of the text is legible and all damaged sections can be read under ultraviolet light aside from two lines. Two notable forms admissible in prefifteenth-century Cursiva do occur in n with invariable regularity: v and x. The looped form of v in initial position is the only form used in France before the fifteenth century, and, similarly, two-stroke Textualis x is not displaced until the end of the fourteenth century.11 Likewise the hairline extension of round r has been noted, though rarely, in French hands in the fourteenth century, and more commonly in English ones.12 The script, however, displays a complete lack of all possible Anglicana letter forms (i.e. d, e, g, r, and s), even as alternatives, despite the perceived connections through the tensions with Cursiva Antiquior: for example, the hairline extension of round r and the looped descender of q in ligature to superscript i (qui).13 The script also lacks the characteristic bifurcation of ascenders as in Anglicana. [...]the anticipated influence of the Burgundian court on the script is not yet found in n.16 The aforementioned features exclude a late fourteenth- and fifteenth-century origin entirely.