Diplomatics is forensic palaeography. Palaeography, palæography ( British) or paleography ( American) (from the Greek grc παλαιός palaiós,
Specifically, diplomatics is a branch of study that seeks clues as to the provenance of written documents, especially handwritten documents. Provenance, from the French provenir, "to come from" means the Origin, or the source, of something or the history of the ownership or location "Handwriting" redirects here For scripts for writing down notes by hand see " Cursive " It seeks to validate or disconfirm the alleged origin and authenticity of written documents by studying:
- the materials upon which they were written;
- the penmanship and alphabets or other scripts used in them;
- the language and style of language they were written in, including their vocabulary, usage, and literary style. Writing material refers to the materials that provide the surfaces on which humans use Writing instruments to inscribe writings "Handwriting" redirects here For scripts for writing down notes by hand see " Cursive " An alphabet is a standardized set of letters basic written symbols each of which roughly represents a Phoneme, a Spoken language, either A language is a dynamic set of visual auditory or tactile Symbols of Communication and the elements used to manipulate them
The name diplomatics was first coined for this science by the Benedictine monk Jean Mabillon, who in 1681 published his six volume treatise De re diplomatica (Latin: roughly, "The Study of Documents"). Benedictine refers to the Spirituality and Consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in Jean Mabillon ( November 23, 1632 - December 27, 1707) was a Benedictine monk and scholar considered the founder of Palaeography Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Mabillon began studying old documents with a view towards establishing their authenticity or falsity as a result of his investigations into doubts that had been raised as to the authenticity of Merovingian documents from the Abbey of Saint-Denis by the Jesuit Daniel van Papenbroek. The Merovingians (also Merovings) were a Salian Frankish dynasty that came to rule the Franks in a region (known as Francia in Latin The Basilica of Saint Denis ( French: Basilique de Saint-Denis, or simply Basilique Saint-Denis) is the burial site of almost all the French The Society of Jesus ( Latin: Societas Iesu, SJ and SI or SJ, SI) is a Catholic religious order During the Middle Ages, the production of spurious charters and other documents was common, either to provide written documentation of existing rights or to bolster the plausibility of claimed rights. A charter is the grant of authority or rights stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified After Mabillon's work, a livelier awareness of the potential for forged or spurious documents became much more important, both for students of history and of law. History is the study of the past particularly the written record Those who study history as a Profession are called Historians Etymology Law is a system of rules enforced through a set of Institutions used as an instrument to underpin civil obedience politics economics and society
The study of diplomatics is important for history, to determine whether alleged historical documents are in fact true or forgeries. History is the study of the past particularly the written record Those who study history as a Profession are called Historians Etymology Forgery is the process of making adapting or imitating objects statistics or documents (see False document) with the intent to deceive. For the same reason, diplomatics occasionally comes into play in law. Law is a system of rules enforced through a set of Institutions used as an instrument to underpin civil obedience politics economics and society
Some famous cases involving diplomatics issues include:
- Lorenzo Valla's proof of the forgery of the Donation of Constantine;
- The Hitler diaries hoax. Lorenzo (or Laurentius) Valla (c 1407 &ndash August 1, 1457) was an Italian humanist, Rhetorician and The Donation of Constantine ( Latin, Donatio Constantini) is a forged Roman imperial edict devised probably between 750 and 775, the In April 1983, the German news Magazine Stern published extracts from what purported to be the diaries of Adolf Hitler, A hoax is a deliberate attempt to Dupe, Deceive or trick an audience into believing or accepting that something is real when in fact it is not or that
A diplomatic edition is one produced as an exact copy of the original. (The term semi-diplomatic is also used for a partial transcription/partial emendation. )
See also
- False document
- Questioned document examination (for document forensics related to criminal activity)
- Sigillography
External links
A false document is a form of Verisimilitude that attempts to create a sense of authenticity beyond the normal and expected Suspension of disbelief for a Work Questioned document examination (QDE is the forensic discipline pertaining to documents that are (or may be in dispute in a court of law Sigillography (sometimes referred to under its Greek name of Sphragistics) is one of the Auxiliary sciences of History.Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic