Glossary of Terms
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Binding: quires that were sown together and secured to the cover using cords and wooden wedges
Book of hours: a devotional book used by lay people in the Middle Ages throughout Europe. Some were more richly ornamented and contained exquisite full-page illuminations, marginalia, and capitals
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Christine de Pisan : a Venetian-born woman of the medieval era who strongly challenged misogyny and stereotypes prevalent in the male-dominated medieval culture. As a poet and author, she was well known and highly regarded in her day
Courtly love: Medieval European concept of nobility and chivalry expressing love and cross-gender admiration within a lay, secular, and political context and admiration. There were strict rules of courtly love and the art of courtly love was practiced by the members of the courts across Europe during the Middle Ages. The romance, rules and art of courtly love allowed knights and ladies to show their admiration regardless of their marital state
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Folio: a sheet of parchment or vellum folded in half for pages of script or illumination
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Gender roles: social and behavioral norms that are considered to be socially appropriate for individuals of a specific sex in the context of a specific culture
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Illumination: a painting on a page that is typically very colorful
Ink: see "Lamp Black"
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Jacques de Vitry: A theologian chronicler and cardinal from 1229 – 4o who wrote a biography on Marie d’Oignies
Jean de Meun: French author best known for his continuation of Romance of the Rose or Roman de la Rose. In his continuation of the poem, de Meun expressed a misogynistic view of women, accusing women for special vices and arts of deception, and suggesting the means to outwit them
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Lapis Lazuli: a semi-precious stone prized for its intense blue color, mined in the Middle Ages near Afghanistan and used for blue paint found in manuscripts
Lamp Black (Ink): a carbonaceous residue resulting from the direct contact of flame on glass combined with wood sap or water and gum to create the ink used by artists in calligraphers of manuscripts
Leaves: name given to pages of a medieval document or manuscript
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Malachite: a copper carbonate mineral with green coloring that results from weathering copper ore around limestone and used for green paint found in manuscripts
Marginalia: comments or illustrations in the margins of a book or manuscript
Marie d’Oignies: French woman who rejected the conventional norms of medieval society and lived a life of celibacy and charity with her husband. Known for having visions and living a life of extreme devotion including fasting and cutting of strips of her flesh to imitate the suffering of Christ
Misogyny: hatred, dislike or mistrust of women
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Parchment: common skin of animals used for manuscript pages that was typically from sheep or goats, but, occasionally, calves, rabbits, or squirrels
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Quire: a group of folios
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Romance of the Rose: a medieval French poem written in two different parts that represents the ideas of courtly love. The first part was written by Guillame de Lorris around 1230 and it describes the attempts of a courtier to woo his beloved. The second part was written by Jeun de Meun around 1275 and is more bawdy. It reflects on love through the voices of several allegorized figures and has strong misogynistic overtones
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Troubadours: poets and minstrels who composed and performed lyric poetry during the Middle Ages
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Vellum: a finer form of parchment that was typically made into books for royalty, due to the fact that it was typically finer, cleaner, and looked nicer overall
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Binding: quires that were sown together and secured to the cover using cords and wooden wedges
Book of hours: a devotional book used by lay people in the Middle Ages throughout Europe. Some were more richly ornamented and contained exquisite full-page illuminations, marginalia, and capitals
C
Christine de Pisan : a Venetian-born woman of the medieval era who strongly challenged misogyny and stereotypes prevalent in the male-dominated medieval culture. As a poet and author, she was well known and highly regarded in her day
Courtly love: Medieval European concept of nobility and chivalry expressing love and cross-gender admiration within a lay, secular, and political context and admiration. There were strict rules of courtly love and the art of courtly love was practiced by the members of the courts across Europe during the Middle Ages. The romance, rules and art of courtly love allowed knights and ladies to show their admiration regardless of their marital state
D
E
F
Folio: a sheet of parchment or vellum folded in half for pages of script or illumination
G
Gender roles: social and behavioral norms that are considered to be socially appropriate for individuals of a specific sex in the context of a specific culture
H
I
Illumination: a painting on a page that is typically very colorful
Ink: see "Lamp Black"
J
Jacques de Vitry: A theologian chronicler and cardinal from 1229 – 4o who wrote a biography on Marie d’Oignies
Jean de Meun: French author best known for his continuation of Romance of the Rose or Roman de la Rose. In his continuation of the poem, de Meun expressed a misogynistic view of women, accusing women for special vices and arts of deception, and suggesting the means to outwit them
K
L
Lapis Lazuli: a semi-precious stone prized for its intense blue color, mined in the Middle Ages near Afghanistan and used for blue paint found in manuscripts
Lamp Black (Ink): a carbonaceous residue resulting from the direct contact of flame on glass combined with wood sap or water and gum to create the ink used by artists in calligraphers of manuscripts
Leaves: name given to pages of a medieval document or manuscript
M
Malachite: a copper carbonate mineral with green coloring that results from weathering copper ore around limestone and used for green paint found in manuscripts
Marginalia: comments or illustrations in the margins of a book or manuscript
Marie d’Oignies: French woman who rejected the conventional norms of medieval society and lived a life of celibacy and charity with her husband. Known for having visions and living a life of extreme devotion including fasting and cutting of strips of her flesh to imitate the suffering of Christ
Misogyny: hatred, dislike or mistrust of women
N
O
P
Parchment: common skin of animals used for manuscript pages that was typically from sheep or goats, but, occasionally, calves, rabbits, or squirrels
Q
Quire: a group of folios
R
Romance of the Rose: a medieval French poem written in two different parts that represents the ideas of courtly love. The first part was written by Guillame de Lorris around 1230 and it describes the attempts of a courtier to woo his beloved. The second part was written by Jeun de Meun around 1275 and is more bawdy. It reflects on love through the voices of several allegorized figures and has strong misogynistic overtones
S
T
Troubadours: poets and minstrels who composed and performed lyric poetry during the Middle Ages
U
V
Vellum: a finer form of parchment that was typically made into books for royalty, due to the fact that it was typically finer, cleaner, and looked nicer overall
W
X
Y
Z
