The third story of the Geraardsbergen Manuscript was told by Joris Reynaert in an article which was published in 1999. This Flemish scholar focused on the function of the text collection. He argued that the manuscript was meant to enable a scribe to write inscriptions on objects, such as statues, to produce decorative plates on the walls of living rooms and inns, and to copy texts onto single sheets or separate quires.
Various short texts explicitly signal this kind of usage. Text 26, for example, cites Saint Bernard´s recommendation to take care of and to protect animals, and is entitled In een stal te scrivene (‘To write in a stable’). Other examples include short texts which were meant, according to their headings, to be connected to a spieghel, a mirror (Text 35), or a wiwater vat, a stoup (Text 42).
And what about the longer texts in the Geraardsbergen Manuscript? Reynaert argues that these texts could function in an identical way. The text which describes a pilgrimage to Aachen (Text 69), for example, counts 72 lines, and could, therefore, easily be copied on a single sheet of parchment or paper, which a pilgrim could take with him on his trip. Even the longest text in the Geraardsbergen Manuscript, Vanden IX besten (About the Nine Worthies), shows signs of independent usage. The text has been adapted in such a way that it consists of multiples of 40 lines. As a result of this reworking, the 800-line text was particularly suited to be copied, in combination with nine illustrations, on eight leaves, which would yield a quire of four bifolia (?).
For more details, see: further reading
Go back to: the five stories of the Geraardsbergen Manuscript