Recognition mark

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A sign of recognition is the sign-like component of the signature of a senior office employee in documents from the Merovingians , Carolingians , Ottonians and Salians . Such a countersignature is already common in late antique imperial documents and has been mandatory since Justinian. The trainee lawyer signed in the Merovingian royal chancellery , and since the Carolingians one employee has signed in the name of the arch-chancellor . The sign is formed from a graphic reshaping of the words “recognovi” or “subscripsi” and is given the shape that was typical until the 10th century, which resembles a beehive. Under the Carolingians it was still done by hand and often given Tironic notes . All references to the origin of the word disappear from the younger characters; they probably only fulfill an apotropaic function. In particular, the brief renaissance of the sign in the documents of Emperor Heinrich III. has lost touch with the original meaning of the word. The signs, designed as a diptych , demonstrate the erudition of the scribes and chancellors with Greek or Hebrew texts in the sign, but at the same time indicate a conscious return to the Ottonian empire.

literature

  • Peter Worm: Carolingian Recognition Signs. The chancellor line and its graphic design on the rulers' deeds of the eighth and ninth centuries . 2 volumes. Universitäts-Bibliothek, Marburg 2004, ISBN 3-8185-0390-7 , ( Elementa diplomatica 10), (At the same time: Münster, Westf., Univ., Diss., 2003), (Text volume 176 p .; illustration volume 309 p.) .
  • Peter Rück : Photo reports from the king. Chancellor signs, royal monograms and the Salic Dynasty signet . Institute for Historical Auxiliary Sciences, Marburg 1996, ISBN 3-8185-0203-X , ( Elementa diplomatica 4).

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