Conferences and Workshops
Teaching and Learning Greek in Byzantium 3: Towards a Diachronic Codicology of Composite Manuscripts
Workshop organized by Grigory Vorobyev (UGent), Andrea Cuomo (UGent), Katharina Preindl (UGent)
Saturday, June 21, 2025,
Venue: Faculteitszaal, Campus Boekentoren 1st floor, Blandijnberg 2, 9000 Gent
Registration: Attendance is free, but registration is required. Registered participants will receive the link to join the workshop online 15 minutes before its beginning.
Programme and Abstracts
The manuscript transmission of treatises and minor texts on Greek grammar presents significant challenges due to at least four key factors:
- First, the sheer variety of combinations in which these texts were copied, often bundled with school texts on rhetoric, metrics, and other subjects.
- Second, the fluidity of boundaries between texts and paratexts.
- Third, the constant adaptation of grammatical texts to different pedagogical (and occasionally non-pedagogical) contexts.
- Fourth, the instability of grammatical miscellanies’ composition, where texts in a single codex could be reorganized or supplemented with new material based on the preferences of new owners.
This workshop will address the codicological challenges posed by the latter factor. Our goal is to map the patterns of structural changes that a miscellaneous codex containing Greek grammatical texts would undergo over centuries, before arriving at its current state.
Recent theoretical studies in structural codicology, especially by Marilena Maniaci and Patrick Andrist, have underscored the need to describe non-unitary codices as a chronological sequence of stages (‘circulation units’) where different ‘production units’ were combined. Such stratigraphic descriptions, treating codices as ‘evolving entities’ (Friedrich & Schwarke 2016, 1), can be intricate and diverse. In the workshop, we will look for common patterns across multiple case studies, focusing specifically on Greek grammatical miscellanies within composite manuscripts.
Given the importance of comparative analysis in codicology, we also welcome papers on non-Greek and/or non-grammatical miscellanies.
The papers presented at the workshop will explore the following questions:
- How can we reconstruct the sequence of states or circulation units in the history of a (Greek grammatical) composite codex, and why is this important?
- How can we reconstruct earlier states of codices made of modular units, where the end of a text aligns with the end of a quire, making future reorganization easier?
- For manuscripts consisting of non-modular units, how can we reconstruct the chronology of codicological changes?
- What challenges arise in detecting codicological breaks (caesurae) in Greek grammatical manuscripts?
- In what contexts did collaboration among scribes copying (Greek grammatical) composite manuscripts occur, and how can we establish a hierarchy of their contributions?
- What are the various forms and motivations for collaboration when collections of texts are copied? What role does the availability of master copies play in collaborative transcription projects?
- Can we distinguish between a (Greek grammatical) miscellany copied for personal use and one commissioned by someone else? Is there a link between this distinction and the likelihood of later changes to the codex’s order or content?
- In the case of (Greek grammatical) composite manuscripts/miscellanies, can we compare them to a zibaldone, where minor texts are transcribed or pasted at different times without clear connection, but later reorganized according to a specific plan? Could we even draw parallels to alba amicorum, aimed at compiling school texts?
- How can we differentiate between clusters of texts of equal importance and agglomerations of paratexts surrounding a single or multi-text core, particularly when these are part of different production units?
- What are the functional differences between paratexts copied later on the flyleaves versus scholia or glosses added in the margins or between lines?
- When a text is added significantly later than the main part of a codicological unit, what determines its placement in the codex? Are these choices purely practical (e.g., filling blank space), or do other factors play a role (e.g., adding a short text on dialects after a set of texts on the same topic, even if it requires inserting a singleton into the quire)?
- What can the reordering of texts within a codex tell us about shifts in its use? For instance, what happens if a codex that once belonged to a schoolteacher is later owned by a high-level scholar, or vice versa?
- Can we infer reading, teaching, or learning practices from the study of text sequences and their changes? Were (Greek grammatical) miscellanies used as reference books (Nachschlagewerke), and did they include navigational tools, such as pinakes or running titles/numbers? How might these features be modified by codicological changes like accretion or unit convergence?
- Are there instances where we can infer that a (Greek grammatical) miscellany or composite codex circulated in unbound form?
- What challenges do the diachronic codicological descriptions of (Greek grammatical) composite codices pose for cataloguers?
- How can we visualize the chronology of structural changes within a codex?
- To what extent does a diachronic approach to codicology influence textual criticism practices?
Selected bibliography
- De Paolis, M. De Nonno, L. Holtz (eds), Manuscripts and Tradition of Grammatical Texts from Antiquity to the Renaissance (Proceedings of a Conference Held at Erice, 16-23 October 1997), Cassino: Universita di Cassino, 2000.
- Del Corso & O. Pecere (eds), Libri di scuola e pratiche didattiche: dall’Antichità al Rinascimento (Atti del Convegno Internazionale di Studi, Cassino, 7-10 maggio 2008), Cassino: Università di Cassino, 2010
- Andrist, P. Canart & M. Maniaci, La syntaxe du codex. Essai de codicologie structurale, Turnhout: Brepols, 2013.
- Bausi et al. (eds), Comparative Oriental Manuscript Studies. An Introduction, [Hamburg]: COMSt, 2015.
- Friedrich & C. Schwarke (eds), One-Volume Libraries: Composite and Multiple-Text Manuscripts, Berlin-Boston: De Gruyter, 2016.
- Bausi, M. Friedrich & M. Maniaci, The Emergence of Multiple-Text Manuscripts, Berlin-Boston: De Gruyter, 2020.
- Andrist & M. Maniaci, “The Codex’s Contents: Attempt at a Codicological Approach”, in: Exploring Written Artefacts: Objects, Methods, and Concepts, Berlin-Boston: De Gruyter, 2021, 369-394.
Ghent Seminars on the Language of the Greeks
Lectures organized by Ugo Mondini (UGent), and Andrea Cuomo (UGent)
The research group on Medieval Greek Linguistics at Ghent University is organizing the inaugural series of lectures Ghent Seminars on the Language of the Greeks in 2025. This lecture series is devoted to all aspects of the Greek language, from its expressions in antiquity to the early modern period, with a particular emphasis on the pivotal role of Medieval Greek, considered within the broader, three-millennia continuum of the Greek linguistic tradition.
The Ghent Seminars on the Language of the Greeks explore the intersection of language and literature by considering sources written in various variants and registers and across different media, from papyri and manuscripts to inscriptions and seals. We aim to study the relationship that language professionals from antiquity to the Renaissance had with their grammatical, rhetorical, and literary heritage. We highlight the relevance of teaching and literary practices in the Greek-speaking areas of the medieval Mediterranean both for studying the transmission of ancient, ‘classical’ texts and their reception as well as for understanding the foundations of modern Greek language and literature. We also examine the methods of describing and teaching Greek from the Hellenistic to the early modern period.
Each Ghent Seminar of the series consists of an impulse lecture delivered by an invited scholar on topics related to their current research. The lectures are followed by a discussion with the in-person and online audience. All our seminars are held in a hybrid format, though in-person participation is recommended.
Registration
Programme
Teaching and Learning Greek in Byzantium 2: Learning and Using Vocabulary in Byzantium and Beyond
Conference organized by Andrea Cuomo (UGent), Baukje van den Berg (CEU), and Katharina Preindl (UGent)
Fotos
Ghent, Faculty Hall, Blandijn, Campus Boekentoren, October 4, 2024.
Medieval Contact Zones. Literary Encounters Around the Greek-Speaking World
Panel organized by Ugo Mondini at the 49th Annual Byzantine Studies Conference of the BSANA
With “Power and Legitimacy in Context: John Kantakouzenos’ Rhetoric of Power Addressed to the Pope, the People of Constantinople, and the Mamluk Sultan”, a paper presented by Andrea Cuomo
Vancouver, Simon Fraser University, October 26-29, 2023.
Trends in Classics – Greek & Latin Linguistics 1: Synchronic and diachronic issues of Postclassical Greek
With “The Linguistics of Medieval Greek: Sources, Methodologies, Challenges, and Opportunities”, a paper presented by Andrea Cuomo
Thessaloniki, October 12-14, 2023.
Teaching and Learning Greek in Byzantium 1: Schedography
Workshop organized by Andrea Cuomo, Ugo Mondini, and Katharina Preindl
Programme, Abstracts, and Registration
Ghent, June 2, 2023.
OIKOS Day and Annual Disciplinary Meetings
With “Teaching and Learning Greek in Byzantium: Tools, Methods, and Research Challenges”, a paper presented by Fanis Tsiampokalos and Grigory Vorobyev
Leusden, May 26, 2023.
Programme OIKOS Day 26 May 2023
OIKOS Crash Course in Greek Palaeography
With the participation of Andrea Cuomo and Grigory Vorobyev
Gent, May 22-23, 2023.
The Treachery of Language or “Ceci n’est pas attique”: Language Training and Metalinguistic Considerations in the Greek Middle Ages
Panel organized by Andrea Cuomo at the 48th annual Byzantine Studies conference
Los Angeles, California, November 3-6, 2022.
https://bsana.net/annual-conference/ ; https://cmrs.ucla.edu/conference/byzantine-studies/
Applied Historical Sociolinguistics. New Methods and Approaches to the Users and Uses of Medieval Greek
Round Table Discussion organized by Andrea Cuomo alongside Klaas Bentein: at the 24th International Congress of Byzantine Studies Byzantine
Venice and Padua, August 22-27, 2022.
https://byzcongress2022.org/programme/
Invited Talks
The Treachery of Language: The metalinguistics of Medieval Greek. Attic and Koine Greek in Planoudes’ and Moschopoulos’ Teaching
Invited talk at the Postclassical Greek Network 3rd meeting, organized by Dr. Giuseppina di Bartolo and Prof. Daniel Kölligan PGN_3_Programm
Köln, December 2, 2022
https://postclassicalgreeknetwork.uni-koeln.de/
Poster presentations