Chirograph (Cyrograph)
The Chirograph was a legal document held between two parties and authenticated. Written on a piece of vellum or parchment, a chirograph would be used for various medieval, papal or notarial document which was then irregularly cut apart and divided among the parties.
Contents
Properties
Supposedly originated in Ango-Saxon England, the chirograph was developed from the notarial culture used to authenticate documents. Used for a variety of reasons, the chirograph is prominent in tales of manuscripts, codiocology, diplomatics, and notaries. The chirograph was not used for any one specific purpose; instead, it could be used for any legal exchange of trade, property as well as any legal agreement.
Authentication
The text on the chirograph was copied twice on the same sheet of vellum or parchment and written between the two sections was the word “cirographum.” The copies were then cut through this lettering, usually in a wavy or irregular manner in order to avoid forged copies. When the two copies were brought together, it would prove the document authentic and free for ratification between the two parties. It would be hard to fake these documents, as the lettering itself was unique as well: "Written in round court-hand, with heavy main-strokes; the strokes below the line drawn out into a point or a hair-line; those above, looped or turned over to the right. In line 2 a transposition of words is indicated by double oblique strokes" (Bond).
Whether they were drawn up by courts or by two willing participants, the chirograph was effective and sealed in front of a jury of witnesses. Not only would the halves serve as authentication, but the witnesses would varify by testimony as well; there were no signatures on a chirograph. The authentication process was intricate. "The critical examination of any record. whether literary or documentary, and whether in an authentic form or in a copy, or as reported, must take a full and firm account of the substance of the document and of all tee circumstances surrounding that document. Only when a document has been examined with all thoroughness, externally as well as internally, can its witness be evaluated properly, circumstantially, and fully" (Powell).
Medieval Documents
Papal Documents
In modern times, the chirograph refers to a specific document that is issued by the Pope. According to the website of the Secret Apostolic Archives of the Vatican, "It is written in Latin or vernacular on plain paper and lacking of any solemn character. Contrary to what one may deduce from this noun, this document is not entirely written by the pope himself; the pope intervenes directly (at least in the first period) only with his signature, consisting of the pope’s name followed by the ordinal number."
Notarial documents
Taking Care of Business
The language of a chirograph was very specific.
Longevity
What is problematic about this dead media is its subjectivity to natural catastrophes. Aside from the fact that vellum and parchment are delicate media, "the dismal hazards of fire, damp and thoughtless destruction to which medieval manuscripts are prey" (Pulsiano) were also some of the challenges it had to combat. Rarely are both halves of a chirograph found. Because both halves are kept by their respective parties, there was rarely a case in which a central record of the document was kept. Despite the fact that these documents are lost, however, doesn't mean that they are forgotten. Often they are "pieced together from extracts and transcripts in a variety of sources ranging from other medieval chronicles to transcripts by early modern antiquaries, which may differ radically in their treatment of the original source" (Pulsiano).
Works Cited
- Bond, Edward Agustus, Edward Maunde Thompson, and George Frederic Warner, THE PALÆORAPHICAL SOCIETY. Facsimiles of Manuscripts and Inscriptions. Second Series, Volume II, (London : William Clowes and Sons, Limited, 1884-1894).
- Pulsiano, Phillip and Elaine M. Treharne, Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts and their Heritage, (Brookfield : Ashgate Publishing Company, 1998).
- Powell, James M., Medieval Studies. An Introduction. Second Edition, (New York : Syracuse University Press, 1992).