Slavery; Pens

Update:

Dr. Boli posted a direct link to the Medieval Manuscript Manual in the combox.  I haven’t tested it yet, but here it is: http://web.ceu.hu/medstud/manual/MMM/index.html

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Separate topics.  First, here’s a link to a helpful on article on the history of slavery, over at Inside Catholic.  (Thank you to Mark Shea for the link.)  Sumarizes the christian (catholic) relationship with slavery over the centuries, starting with Exodus and ending in the 16th century.  Topic I’ve wanted to learn more about; most of the books in my local public library don’t really begin until the 16th century.  Hard to think clearly about a topic when you don’t know much of the context.

Can’t offer any critical analysis on the Inside Catholic article, what with it being my introduction to the topic.  Will of course remind the reader to read the combox with a grain of salt.

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In other news, I made my first quill pen!  Woohoo!  Followed instructions found here and here.   Not nearly as hard as you would think.  I don’t say that I made a particularly good pen, nor that I write all that well (I’m no master of the ballpoint– expectations are low), but entirely doable.  And fun.

Used watercolor paper for the writing surface, what with there being a real shortage of parchmenters in my neighborhood.  (I do want to order some vellum just to see what it’s like, but have not done so yet.)  For ink we went with the something-suspended-in-egg-white method.  Didn’t have any soot lying around (will rectify that problem soon — Mr. Boy is eager to assist), so tried various substances from the spice cabinet.  And eventually discovered iodine will work in a pinch.

[Handy tip: if your experiments with various coloring agents lead to a lumpy mixture, use a tea ball to strain.]

Used craft feathers for my first attempt, and my trusty pocket knife as the cutting tool.   The kind of feathers you get for your YMCA projects — bright colors.  So my first ‘medieval’ quill is, um, purple.  Have some un-dyed feathers available for a more period look, but wanted to get the hang of the art before using them.   With any luck, will get to show off my handiwork at an SCA event here shortly.  Exciting.

Nice little online intro to the whole topic of medieval writing can be found at http://medstud.ceu.hu/ but then you have to search around to find the Medieval Manuscripts Manual in the Medieval Studies department’s publications.  Some weird feature that makes it so you can’t link directly.  Or I can’t, anyway.

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Most educational element of making a real quill pen: you understand why letters were formed as they were.  Had gotten some calligraphy books from the library over the holidays, and learned to write an approximation of a caroline miniscule, using a steel fountain pen.  Had a bit of trouble with remembering to form the letters using multiple strokes.  Ah, but use a quill pen, you get it.  Pen just doesn’t want to toss around the same way a steel tip will tolerate.  Likewise, it isn’t a matter of ‘remembering’ to hold pen at proper angle, etc., but of not being able to do it any other way except the right way.  Those quills are good teachers.