A 12th-Century Greek Manuscript from the Norman Kingdom of Sicily
Institute of World History of Russian Academy of Sciences
For citation: Kurysheva, Marina A. A 12th-Century Greek Manuscript from the Norman Kingdom of Sicily // Graphosphaera. 2026. Vol. 6. № 1. P. 129–150. URL: http://writing.igh.ru/index.php?id=2026-6-1-129-150
DOI: 10.32608/2782-5272-2026-6-1-129-150
Abstract: The article is dedicated to a unique manuscript Vlad. 430 (Syn. gr. 186) created in the Norman Kingdom of Sicily and kept in the State Historical Museum in Moscow. The analysis of paleography and codicology, as well as the study of the features of illumination (headlines, initials, “vignettes”) of this codex allow us to date it to the middle – second half of the 12th century (before 1182), that is, to the reign of the Norman kings of the Hauteville dynasty. The minuscule script of the Moscow manuscript Vlad. 430 (Syn. gr. 186) cannot be attributed to any of the main scripts dominant in the Greek book literature of Southern Italy in the 12th century; however, it contains all the elements of 12th-century Greek script, i. e. ‘typographic minuscule’. The scribe uses dark brown ink of a warm shade, typical for the 12th century. He also constantly uses ancient letter forms (beta, lambda, delta). This is not a standardized handwriting of a professional scribe, but a handwriting of, so to speak, a provincial (from the point of view of the Byzantines) notary, who was, however, familiar with the Constantinople books of similar content.
Key words: the 12th century, Italo-Greek book culture, Southern Italy and Sicily, Byzantium, Norman Kingdom of Sicily, Byzantine paleography, Byzantine codicology, Norman Renaissance, Byzantine astrology
Литература / References
Владимир, архимандрит. Систематическое описание рукописей Московской Синодальной (Патриаршей) библиотеки. Ч. 1: Рукописи греческие. М., 1894. [Vladimir, arhim. Sistematicheskoe opisanie rukopisej Moskovskoj Sinodal’noj (Patriarshej) biblioteki (Systematic Description of the Manuscripts of the Moscow Synodal (Patriarchal) Library). Ch. 1: Rukopisi grecheskie (Greek Manuscripts). Moscow, 1894.]
Фонкич Б. Л., Поляков Ф. Б. Греческие рукописи Московской Синодальной библиотеки: Палеографические, кодикологические и библиографические дополнения к каталогу архимандрита Владимира (Филантропова). М., 1993. [Fonkich B. L., Poljakov F. B. Grecheskie rukopisi Moskovskoj Sinodal’noj biblioteki: Paleograficheskie, kodikologicheskie i bibliograficheskie dopolnenija k katalogu arhimandrita Vladimira (Filantropova) (Greek Manuscripts of the Moscow Synodal Library: Paleographical, Codical, and Bibliographic Supplements to the Catalogue of Archimandrite Vladimir (Filantropov)). Moscow, 1993.]
Arnesano D. Gli Epitimia di Teodoro Studita. Due fogli ritrovati del Dossier di Casole // Byzantion. 2010. T. 80. P. 9–37.
Clemens R., Graham T. Introduction to Manuscript Studies. Ithaca; London, 2007.
Codici greci dell’Italia meridionale / A cura di P. Canart, S. Lucà. Roma, 2000.
Falkenhausen V. von. I funzionari greci nel regno normanno // Byzantino-Sicula V. Giorgio di Antiochia: l’arte della politica in Sicilia nel XII secolo tra Bisanzio e l’Islam. Atti del Convegno Internazionale (Palermo, 19–20 Aprile 2007) / A cura di M. Re, C. Rognoni. Palermo, 2009. P. 165–202.
Kurysheva M. A. Some Paleographic Observations on two Greek Nomocanons from Southern Italy in the State Historical Museum (Moscow) // Puer Apuliae. Mélanges offerts à Jean-Marie Martin / Ed. E. Cuozzo, V. Déroche, A. Peters-Custot et V. Prigent. Paris, 2008. (Centre de recherche d’histoire et civilisation de Byzance, Monographies; 30). P. 373–382.
Leroy J. Les manuscrits grecs d’Italie // Codicologica. 2. Eléments pour une codicologie comparée. Leiden, 1978. P. 52–71.
Loew E. A. The Beneventan Script. A History of the South Italian Script. Oxford, 1914.
Lucà S. I Normanni e la ‘rinascita’ del sec. XII // Archivio storico per la Calabria e la Lucania. 1993. T. 60. P. 1–91.
Lucà S. San Nilo e la «scuola» calligrafica niliana // San Nilo di Rossano e l’Abbazia di Grottaferrata. Storia e immagini / A cura di F. Burgarella. Roma, 2009. P. 101–116.
Lucà S. Il libro bizantino e postbizantino nell’Italia meridionale // Scrittura e libro nel mondo greco-bizantino. Atti del corso (Ravello, Villa Rufolo, 6–9 novembre 2007) / A cura di C. Casetti Brach. Ravello, 2012. P. 25–76.
Lucà S. Esopo nel Mezzogiorno d’Italia di lingua greca: una nuova testimonianza di riuso in contesto agiografico // Νέα Ῥώμη. 2019 (2020). T. 16. (= Κῆπος ἀειθαλής. Studi in ricordo di Augusta Acconcia Longo, IV / A cura di F. D’Aiuto, S. Lucà, A. Luzzi). P. 69–111.
Lucà S. La Calabria greca medievale nel riflesso del libro manoscritto: a mo’di introduzione // Scrittura e immagini: Il Codex Purpureus Rossanensis e una selezione dei manoscritti greci medievali di Grottaferrata. Millenario dedicazione della Basilica di Santa Maria di Grottaferrata 1024–2024. Grottaferrata, 2024. P. 24–58.
Parpulov G. A Twelfth-Century Style of Greek Calligraphy // Travaux et Mémoires. 2020. T. 24.1: Le livre manuscrit grec: écriture, matériaux, histoire. Actes du IXe Colloque international de Paléographie grecque, Paris, 10–15 septembre 2018 / Éd. par M. Cronier et B. Mondrain. Paris, [2021]. P. 181–196.
Parpulov P. Six Scribes of the Early Comnenian Period // Estudios bizantinos. 2017. T. 5. P. 91–107.
Perria L. Γραφίς. Per una storia della scrittura greca libraria (secoli IV a. C. – XVI d. C.). Quaderni di Νέα Ῥώμη 1. Roma; Città del Vaticano, 2011.
Šangin M. Catalogus Codicum Astrologorum Graecorum. Tomus XII. Codices Rossicos. Bruxellis, 1936.
Sautel J.-H., Leroy J. Répertoire de réglures dans les manuscrits grecs sur parchemin, base de donnée établie par Jacques-Hubert Sautel à l'aide du fichier Leroy et des catalogues récents à l'Institut de recherche et d'histoire des textes. Turnhout, 1995.
Wilson N. Mediaeval Greek Bookhands. Text. Cambridge, 1973. (Mediaeval Academy of America; 81).
Поступила в редакцию / Received: 30.11.2025
Поступила после рецензирования / Revised: 10.12.2025
Принята к публикации / Accepted: 19.12.2025
