Medieval Spanish Music Manuscripts: What Do They Mean?

Medieval Spanish Music Manuscripts: What Do They Mean?

University of Bristol Research without Borders 2021

You might have seen pictures of a medieval manuscript before, you might even have held one. But other than looking at them and putting them back on the shelf, what can we do with them? This exhibition explores how we use sources to tap into the secrets of the past.Use the arrows to look at images of a manuscript from medieval Spain and click on the numbers and nodes to find out more!

1

2

What is a Manuscript? Watch the video below to find out

Toledo 4 Now we know what a manuscript is, lets find out more about this manuscript, Toledo 4

What are manuscripts made of? Manuscripts are made of either parchment or vellum. This was a common material before paper was introduced, and it is made from the skin of animals like cows and sheep.

3

4

5

What is That? Believe it or not, these symbols are actually music. Check out the video to find out more

Neumes: Getting Technical Lets find out more about what we can do with this notation!

I Spy... Can you spot the tiny other marks surrounding the music? I'll make it easier to see in the video below

Can you read this? It says Officium in Diem Sancte Crucis Ad Vesperum This is the beginning of the Office for the Holy Cross. The big drawing of a cross on the right means you can't miss it!

The red bits of text are called rubrics. In this manuscript they normally act like a title, so you know where a new prayer or reading starts. In some other manuscripts they can also give you instructions like 'kneel' as well.

The pages of a manuscript are called folios. Each folio has a recto and a verso (these are the names for the front and back of the folio). We count them as 1r, 1v, 2r, 2v and so on. This means that 50 folios would be equivalent to a 100 pages in a modern book!

7

6

8

9

Arabic You may not be expecting to find Arabic in this manuscript. To find out why its here, check out the video below

The Visigothic Script There's a lot of writing in this manuscript, but what does it tell us?

Identifying Scribes How many people wrote this manuscript? And how do we know?

How Scribes Worked To find out how these scribes worked together, click on the video below.

This writing is an addition. Additions like this one tell us that a manuscript was actually used for liturgical practice, rather than locked away in a library or private chamber.

Don't worry, this hole was here from the time the manuscript was written. It might have accidentally been created in the process of making the parchment, although sometimes holes are caused by bug bites in the skin of the animal which grow as the parchment is stretched. They are more common in less expensive manuscripts.