Knighthood Scroll for Sir Caius Livius Varus Germanicus
Ursula Georges
Introduction
This scroll commemorates the knighting of Sir Caius Livius Varus Germanicus, who has a Roman persona, c. 410 AD. I imitated the style of a fifth-century manuscript of Vergil's poetry known as "Vaticanus lat. 3867".
Layout
The Vaticanus 3867 manuscript often combines illustrations and text on the same page. The illustration is usually at the top or bottom of the page, set in a rectangle the same width as the text and outlined by red or red-and-gold borders. Most of the text is brown or faded black, though introductory sentences are sometimes written in red ink.
I chose to put my illustration at the top of the page, outlined in red. I used black text but wrote "REX" and "REGINA" in red for emphasis. Like the original manuscript, my document had a consistent left margin but a jagged right margin.
Image
I combined motifs from several different illustrations to create an image of a king, queen, and Roman soldier.
I based the figure of the queen on images of Dido, the queen of Carthage with whom Aeneas has a tragic love affair. My main model was an illustration of a royal feast, though since this picture had Dido behind a table, I had to look at other illustrations to determine how to treat her lower body. I also changed the queen's hair color to blond, to match a photo of Siobhan on the An Tir website. I was surprised to see that Dido and other royal figures consistently appear with halos.
Finding a model for the king was more complicated: Aeneas was the obvious choice, but he is always shown wearing the characteristically Trojan Phrygian cap, so I also used an illustration of King Priam outside the gates of Troy and one of Jupiter leading the council of the gods.
The Roman soldier is based on an illustration of a battle between the Trojans and the Italians. Naturally, I used an Italian for my model. In the drawing of the battle, the soldiers hold their spears in their right hands when on the left side of the page and in their left hands when on the right; similarly, in my design, symmetry triumphs over the fact that most people are right-handed.
The background is based on the interior scenes of a Trojan council and Dido's banquet. I was particularly impressed by the overlapping purple drapery.
Text
Click here to see the calligraphed text.
I used a script based on the Roman Rustic in Marc Drogin's Medieval Calligraphy. Naturally, the script in the Vaticanus 3867 is also a form of Roman Rustic.
I wrote my own Latin scroll text based on the An Tir standard texts for the order of the chivalry. Since a fifth-century Roman would not use heraldry and Sir Caius does not have a registered device, I reduced the emphasis on designing suitable arms. This is the original Latin text:
Omnes sciant nostram voluntatem praesentibus. Ius est nobis regni An Tiris regibus ut illos tollamus ex nostris qui clarescunt comitatis magnanimitatisque virtutisque in honoris campis causa. Igitur hinc Caius Livius Varus Germanicus cognoscatur eques et par regni et ei omnia iura oneraque et diplomatem armigerendi. Hoc fecimus nos Wilam rex et Siobhan regina AD V Id Mars XXXVI Anno Societatis.
I did my best to use a Latin vocabulary suitable for the fifth century; I chose either very common words, or words attested around the fifth century (most Latin dictionaries give a list of classical authors who used each word, in context).
I abbreviated March ("Martius") as Mars, though Mar may be a more standard Latin abbreviation. I agonized over whether or not I should Latinize the names of the king and queen. Guillelmus and Johanna would certainly have appeared more Latinate; however, I eventually decided that without permission from Wilam and Siobhan, I was better off not making drastic changes. Since names in medieval Latin were sometimes Latinized and sometimes left alone, "Wilam" and "Siobhan" are not entirely out of place in a document written in Latin, though of course these forms of the names are not the best for the fifth century.
Here is an idiomatic translation of the text:
Let all know our will by these presents. As rulers of the kingdom of An Tir, the law is that we raise up those of our people who shine because of courtesy and magnanimity and virtue upon the fields of honor. Therefore, henceforth let Caius Livius Varus Germanicus be known as knight and peer of the realm, which rank applies to him in respect to all its laws and burdens, and the patent of bearing arms. We, King Wilam and Queen Siobhan, have done this on the eleventh day of March Anno Societatis 36.
"Arms" in this case could mean either heraldry or weapons.
A more literal translation might read:
Let all know our will with these [things or people] being present. The law is to us, being rulers of the kingdom of An Tir, that we raise up those out of our [people] who grow bright because of courtesy and magnanimity and [manly] virtue on the fields of honor. Therefore hence let Caius Livius Varus Germanicus be known knight and equal of the realm and for him with respect to all laws and burdens and the diploma of arm-bearing. This we have done we Wilam king and Siobhan queen five days before the Ides of March 36 Anno Societatis.
Materials
I used a dip pen, gouache, and gold leaf on watercolor paper. I treated my paper with Krylon workable fixative to prevent bleeding. I used Winsor and Newton crimson calligraphy ink (pigmented) and Higgins black India ink; the gouache was Winsor and Newton in primary colors and flesh tone, as well as a Da Vinci brown gouache. I applied the gold leaf with Lineco archival-quality PVA adhesive.
Bibliography
"Dates in Latin," WWW: http://www.24hourlatin.com/language/dates.htm, 2003.
Marc Drogin, Medieval Calligraphy: Its History and Technique, Dover: New York, 1980.
"Index of Images From Vergil MSS Vat. lat. 3225 and 3867," WWW: The Vergil Project, http://vergil.classics.upenn. edu/images/images.html, 1995.
Charlton T. Lewis, An Elementary Latin Dictionary, WWW: The Perseus Project, based on 1890 edition.
R. A. B. Mynors, ed. , P. Vergili Maronis Opera, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1969.
Kurt Weitzmann, Late Antique and Early Christian Book Illumination, New York: George Braziller, 1977.
By Ursula Whitcher, alias Ursula Georges
