Three - Manuscript Transmission History

Summary

Embedded in a dynamic manuscript culture, the medieval book was a cultural artefact that enabled dynamic textuality.¹ Because we never deal with a stable text in a manuscript culture, each text witness is equally important for a study which looks at transmission history. The dynamic and adaptable nature of texts can be seen in the transmission of the botte and the so-called Trutta-legend. Therefore detailed analyses, not only of the individual manuscripts but also of their interconnections, are necessary in order to understand medieval texts. My approach uses a combination of Material Philology, involving ‘an ensemble of practices and methods for the study of medieval culture broadly conceived’,² and Überlieferungsgeschichte, which takes the full codicological production as well as the reception contexts into account.³ This combined approach allows the manuscripts to be placed into their historical backgrounds, and to understand the transmitted texts within larger cultural contexts.⁴ Special consideration is given to the relationship between the materiality of the texts’ transmission and the devotional piety they evoked.