Glossary of Terms

Bible The word, Bible, comes from the Greek word biblia, meaning "books." Many times the earliest sacred scriptures were written on separate scrolls or vellum. When these separate documents were bound together they became known as ‘Bibles’.

Book of Hours A medieval European prayer book. It was to be prayed at designated times throughout the day. It contained psalms and prayers for everyday as well as for departed loved ones and other needs.

Calendar This is the one of the examples of illumination that is not in a scriptural or prayer form. The calendar recognized all the church feast days throughout the year and had popular themes for each specific month to show the various signs of the times. There were illuminations of the signs of the zodiac.

Codex Simply defined: a book of folded pages. The large pages were folded in half, inserted to form a book and then sewn together. This originated early on in the first century.

Decorated Letter This is the very large letter decorated to introduce the important section of text. Often the letter was very ornate and the work of individual artists.

Divine Office These are the daily prayers of the clergy written in a cyclical fashion. The Divine Office is still prayed today and with the Mass is the basis in Catholic Liturgy.

Exemplar The exemplar is the book that serves as the guide to copy a new book. This book was used in the monasteries as the master from which to copy new books.

Gallnut This is a swelling found on the bark of oak trees. The tree bark broken by an insect laying its eggs causes this swelling. The gallic acid found in the gallnuts is the basis of iron gall ink.

Gilding The process of applying gold leaf to the illumination. The process of gilding a manuscript requires the skill of an artist or a gilding specialist. Often it is the first thing artists do in the painting process because it is messy.

Glair This is egg white. It is the binding medium used for gilding. The glair is applied to an area then the gold leaf is applied.

Historiated Initial This is a popular feature of medieval illumination. Inside the illuminated letter the artist depicts a scene that the people of that time recognize. The figures or scene may or may not be related to the text. Borders or marginalia were also often historiated. The scenes could depict a recognizable person or scene with which the people would identify.

Illumination Illumination is the act of enlightening. This is the process of adding bright and beautiful colors as well as gold leaf to manuscript. The root word is illuminare, from Latin.

Illuminator An illuminator is an artist who illuminates a manuscript. An illuminator may also be a scribe. In the beginning of the middle ages most illuminators were members of the clergy. Later on the majority of these artists were laity.

Inhabited Initial This is different from the historiated initial. The inhabited initial contains humans or animals, but not a recognizable scene. There are also inhabited borders.

Iron Gall Ink This special ink is composed of a solution of tannic and gallic acids. Both acids come from gallnuts.

Liturgy This is the basic core of Catholic public worship. There are two liturgies within the Catholic Mass: the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist.

Marginalia/Border The borders or marginalia are the decorations surrounding the text. The borders are varied but became very popular to include by the 13th century. The borders take many forms including the inhabited or historiated.

Miniature This is an illustration that is not related to a specific text. The root of the word is miniare, Latin meaning: “to color with red.”

Missal A book used in the Catholic Mass containing all prayers of the Mass as well as the psalms.

Parchment Parchment is animal skin from sheep or goats that, through a special process, is prepared for use as a writing material.

Psalter The book that contains all 150 psalms from the Bible. The root word of psalm is psalmos meaning “song” in Greek.

Rubric Rubrics are the instructions that form chapter headings or titles that are not a part of the text. The word rubric is derived from the Latin word, rubrica, which means “red” because the color of the ink used to write rubrics was red.

Scriptorium The scriptorium is the room where books are made. Literally, it means the writing place. Originally, scriptoria (plural for scriptorium) were found in churches and monasteries.

Stylus This is a sharp, pointed implement used for preparing a manuscript. It is made of metal or bone and helps rule the area where the text will be laid down.

Vellum This is parchment but it is made from the skin of calves. It is considered to be of higher quality than sheep or goat parchment. It can also be made of lambs or kids. It is very expensive to purchase. The preparation of the skin for use as a writing material is very labor intensive. The finest books still use vellum instead of paper.