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A '''rotulus''' is a roll designed for writing on, in which a long narrow strip of [[papyrus]] or [[parchment]], written on one side, was wound like a blind{{clarify|date=August 2011|reason=which meaning of 'blind' is this??}} about its wooden staff. |
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A '''''rotulus''''' (plural ''rotuli'') or '''''rotula''''' (pl. ''rotulae''), often referred to as a "vertical roll,"<ref>{{Cite web|last=Cellard|first=Élénore|title=Ancient Qur'ān Scrolls|date=2019-12-21|url=https://twitter.com/cellardeleonore/status/1208393760532549640?lang=en|publication-date=Dec 21, 2019 |type=Twitter thread |language=English |access-date=2022-11-08}}</ref> is a long and narrow strip of [[writing material]], historically [[papyrus]] or [[parchment]], that is wound around a wooden axle or rod.<ref>{{Cite web |first=James |last=Grout |url=http://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/scroll/scrollcodex.html |title=Scroll and Codex |website=Encyclopaedia Romana}}</ref> ''Rotuli'' are unwound vertically so that the writing runs parallel to the rod,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/whats-on/online/crossing-borders/codex |title=What's On?: From Roll to Codex |website=Bodleian Libraries |publisher=University of Oxford}}</ref> unlike the other kind of roll, called a [[scroll]], whose writing runs perpendicular to the rod in multiple columns. |
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Rotuli formed the earliest kind of "volume" (''volumen'' from ''volvere'', to roll up) of which we have knowledge. Many such rolls have been recovered in their primitive form from the excavations at [[Herculaneum]] and elsewhere. In the fourth and fifth centuries, however, these rolls began to give place to [[codex]] books bound as we know them now, i.e. a number of written leaves were laid flat one on top of the other and attached together by their corresponding edges, but for certain purposes rolls were still retained. |
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Rotuli persisted for: |
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| image2 = Giovane con rotolo.JPG |
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| footer = [[Roman portraiture]] [[fresco]]s from [[Pompeii]], 1st century AD, depicting two different men wearing [[laurel wreath]]s, one holding the ''rotulus'' (left), the other a ''[[History of scrolls|volumen]]'' (right). |
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''Rotuli'' were used to house legal records in Europe (from which is still derived the title of the judicial functionary denominated the "[[Master of the Rolls]]") and in the [[Byzantine Empire]].<ref name="daly">{{Cite journal |last1=Daly |first1=Lloyd W. |date= April 1973|title=Rotuli: Liturgy Rolls and Formal Documents |url=http://grbs.library.duke.edu/article/viewFile/9191/4607 |journal=Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies |publisher=University of Pennsylvania |volume=14 |issue=3 |pages=333–338 |via=GRBS}}</ref> |
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*manuscripts, such as those used for the chanting of the ''[[Exultet]]; |
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* and especially the documents employed in sending round the names of the deceased belonging to monasteries and other associations which were banded together to pray mutually for each other's dead. |
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[[Papyrus 136]] (𝔓<sup>136</sup>) is a rare example of a ''rotulus'' used, front and back, as a manuscript for a portion of the [[New Testament]]. |
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==Mortuary rolls== |
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''Rotuli'' also have been used as [[liturgical]] manuscripts, e.g., those used for [[chant|chanting]] the ''[[Exultet]]''. |
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These "mortuary rolls" (in French "rouleaux des morts") were called in Latin "rotuli". They consisted of strips of parchment, sometimes of prodigious length, at the head of which was entered the notification of the death of a particular person deceased or sometimes of a group of such persons. The roll was then carried by a special messenger ("gerulus", "rotularius", "rollifer", "tomiger", "breviator", were some of the various titles given him) from monastery to monastery, and at each an entry was made upon the roll attesting the fact that the notice had been received and that the requisite suffrages would be said. |
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Additionally, [[mortuary roll]]s, i.e., documents memorializing the names of all the deceased members of a monastery or other institution, which were banded together and circulated so that they could mutually pray for the repose of each other's decedents.<ref name="daly" /> |
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By degrees a custom grew up in many places of making these entries in verse with complementary amplifications often occupying many lines. These records, some of which are still in existence, preserve specimens of ornate verse composition. They afford materials both for the study of [[palaeography]] and also for a comparative judgment of the standard of scholarship prevalent in these different centres of learning. |
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== See also == |
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The use of these mortuary rolls flourished most in the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth centuries. Some are of prodigious size. That of the Abbess [[Matilda of Caen]], the daughter of [[William the Conqueror]], was 72 feet long and eight or ten inches wide, but this no doubt was exceptional. |
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* [[Codex]] |
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* [[History of scrolls]] |
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* [[History of books]] |
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{{Reflist}} |
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;Attribution |
;Attribution |
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*{{Catholic|wstitle=Rotuli}} The entry cites: |
*{{Catholic|wstitle=Rotuli}} The entry cites: |
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**[[Léopold Victor Delisle]], ''Rouleaux des morts du IX au XV siecle'' (Paris, 1866); |
**[[Léopold Victor Delisle]], ''Rouleaux des morts du IX au XV siecle'' (Paris, 1866); |
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**____, in Bibl. de l'ecole des Chartes, series II, vol. III; ''Sur l'usage de prier pour les morts''; |
**____, in Bibl. de l'ecole des Chartes, series II, vol. III; ''Sur l'usage de prier pour les morts''; |
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**Thurston, ''A Mediaeval Mortuary-card'' in ''[[The Month]]'' (London, Dec., 1896); |
**Thurston, ''A Mediaeval Mortuary-card'' in ''[[The Month]]'' (London, Dec., 1896); |
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**Nichols in Mem. Archaeolog. Institute (Norwich, 1847); |
**Nichols in Mem. Archaeolog. Institute (Norwich, 1847); |
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**Molinier, ''Obituaires français au moyen-âge'' (Paris, 1886); |
**Molinier, ''Obituaires français au moyen-âge'' (Paris, 1886); |
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**Ebner, ''Gebetsverbruderungen'' (Freiburg, 1891); |
**Ebner, ''Gebetsverbruderungen'' (Freiburg, 1891); |
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**Wattenbach, ''Schriftwesen im Mittelalter'' (3rd ed., Leipzig), 150-74. |
**Wattenbach, ''Schriftwesen im Mittelalter'' (3rd ed., Leipzig), 150-74. |
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[[Category: |
[[Category:Documents]] |
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[[Category:Manuscripts]] |
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[[it:Rotulus]] |
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[[pl:Rotulus]] |
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[[ro:Rotulus]] |
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Latest revision as of 01:01, 9 April 2024
A rotulus (plural rotuli) or rotula (pl. rotulae), often referred to as a "vertical roll,"[1] is a long and narrow strip of writing material, historically papyrus or parchment, that is wound around a wooden axle or rod.[2] Rotuli are unwound vertically so that the writing runs parallel to the rod,[3] unlike the other kind of roll, called a scroll, whose writing runs perpendicular to the rod in multiple columns.
Roman portraiture frescos from Pompeii, 1st century AD, depicting two different men wearing laurel wreaths, one holding the rotulus (left), the other a volumen (right).
Rotuli were used to house legal records in Europe (from which is still derived the title of the judicial functionary denominated the "Master of the Rolls") and in the Byzantine Empire.[4]
Papyrus 136 (𝔓136) is a rare example of a rotulus used, front and back, as a manuscript for a portion of the New Testament.
Rotuli also have been used as liturgical manuscripts, e.g., those used for chanting the Exultet.
Additionally, mortuary rolls, i.e., documents memorializing the names of all the deceased members of a monastery or other institution, which were banded together and circulated so that they could mutually pray for the repose of each other's decedents.[4]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ Cellard, Élénore (2019-12-21). "Ancient Qur'ān Scrolls" (Twitter thread) (published Dec 21, 2019). Retrieved 2022-11-08.
- ^ Grout, James. "Scroll and Codex". Encyclopaedia Romana.
- ^ "What's On?: From Roll to Codex". Bodleian Libraries. University of Oxford.
- ^ a b Daly, Lloyd W. (April 1973). "Rotuli: Liturgy Rolls and Formal Documents". Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies. 14 (3). University of Pennsylvania: 333–338 – via GRBS.
- Attribution
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Rotuli". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. The entry cites:
- Léopold Victor Delisle, Rouleaux des morts du IX au XV siecle (Paris, 1866);
- ____, in Bibl. de l'ecole des Chartes, series II, vol. III; Sur l'usage de prier pour les morts;
- Thurston, A Mediaeval Mortuary-card in The Month (London, Dec., 1896);
- Nichols in Mem. Archaeolog. Institute (Norwich, 1847);
- Molinier, Obituaires français au moyen-âge (Paris, 1886);
- Ebner, Gebetsverbruderungen (Freiburg, 1891);
- Wattenbach, Schriftwesen im Mittelalter (3rd ed., Leipzig), 150-74.
