A Medieval Coursebook? Diagrammatic annotations in Balliol College MS 272

Unlocking Archives, a series of lunchtime talks about current research in Balliol College’s special collections

‘A Medieval Coursebook? Diagrammatic annotations in Balliol College MS 272’

Balliol’s manuscript no. 272, a copy of the pseudo-Ciceronian Rhetorica ad Herennium, contains layers of diagrammatic annotations, added at various points during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. This paper will outline what we can learn about medieval educational methods from such diagrams, as well as illustrating how these diagrams relate to the broader traditions of rhetorical study in the Middle Ages.

Irene O’Daly is a Research Associate at the John Rylands Research Institute, University of Manchester. Predominantly interested in the intellectual history of the central Middle Ages, she is a graduate of Trinity College Dublin and the University of Cambridge, and has recently finished a postdoctoral fellowship at Leiden University, where her research focussed on the use of diagrams in the study of medieval rhetoric.

All welcome! Feel free to bring your lunch.

The talk will last about half an hour, to allow time for questions and discussion afterwards and a closer look at some of the Balliol books discussed.
All Unlocking Archives talks take place at Balliol’s Historic Collections Centre, St Cross Church, Manor Road OX1 3UH (next door to Holywell Manor).
Map & directions: http://archives.balliol.ox.ac.uk/Services/visit.asp#f