Scribes abroad. Agreements about scripts between patrons and scribes at the Council of Basel (1431-1449)
Abstract. During the Council of Basel (1431-1449), a scriptorium, operating with the Chancery of the Council, produced high-quality copies of the Acta and decreta Concilii Basiliensis on behalf of single participants of the Council. These Acta et decreta could be written in a broad variety of scripts, ranging from Rhenish hybrida to lettre bâtarde, and from ´semigotica to humanistic script. Scribal identification is mainly possible when a scribe used a foreign script or humanistic script.
The Chancery of the Council of Basel produced thousands of letters, bulls and charters, ordinances and other documents, in order to guarantee the functioning of the Council as an authority. To that purpose, dozens of professional scribes from all parts of Europe were employed in different positions at the Council’s Chancery. Participants at the Council could order notarially certified copies of official documents at the Chancery, mainly against payment. These copies were written at and issued by the Chancery. Whereas many of these documents were charters, the copies of the official Acta et decreta of the Council were codices in-folio, mainly on parchment, varying in extent between 20 and 150 leaves. We identified 32 codices presumably containing official copies of the Acta et decreta Concilii Basiliensis, written on behalf of single, known and unknown participants at the Council.
The scripts of these manuscripts are extremely variable, ranging from Rhenish hybrida to lettre bâtarde and from italianizing gothic scripts to medium quality humanistic scripts. We suppose that the choice of the script depended on the preference of the patron; the same patron should decide about the illumination, binding and notarial certification of his codex as well. Once the script had been chosen, the Chancery decided which scribe or scribes should conduct the writing. We assume that the Council’s scriptores and abbreviatores co-operated with some of the numerous anonymus scribes, local and foreign, who offered their expertise and manpower at the market place in Basel.
Two, three or more professional scribes, mainly anonymous, thus created a temporary alliance in order to execute the purchase order of the Chancery’s client. The results of these alliances can be studied in the surviving manuscripts containing the Acta et decreta Concilii Basiliensis. In most cases the scribes were succesful: there scripts are well coordinated and matching, thus creating a uniform outlook with only minor differences between the individual scripts. In case they used a humanistic script, however, it becomes obvious that some scribes were not accustomed to it. Consequently, scribal identification is possible in these cases because of the different regions of origin and the diverging professional experiences of the scribes involved.