Medieval letter tiles are one-letterceramictiles that were employed in monasteries and churches of the late Middle Ages for the creation of Christian inscriptions on floors and walls. They were created by pressing stamps bearing a reverse image into soft clay, which was then baked hard, and they were used to form words by assembling single-letter tiles in the desired order.[1]
The decoration technique is notable for being an early form of movable typeprinting which essentially is nothing but the stringing together of identically created individual letters for the purpose of producing an image.[2][3] Compared to the conventional printing technique later established by Johannes Gutenberg, though, medieval tile alphabets were created in an inverse order: In a first step, the (im)printing was done, and only then the process of typesetting occurred, by spreading out the individual letter tiles onto the floor and composing them into words and lines of text.[4]
The use of such movable letter tiles is documented for the English Chertsey Abbey, from whose ruins specimens dating to the second half of the 13th century were recovered,[5] as well as for the early 14th‑century flooring of the Dutch Aduard Abbey.[6] In Zinna Abbey south of Berlin, there is an extant Ave Maria embedded in the floor before the altar. Each letter appears as a relief print on an unglazed, red-brown terracotta tile measuring 14 x 14 cm. The Latin inscription dates to the 13th or 14th century and was composed in Gothic majuscule.[7]
The Prüfening dedicatory inscription is a Latin church inscription on a single clay tablet using a different principle, apparently made by stamping out the words with individual letter stamps or types.
Referencesedit
^Brekle 1997, pp. 61f. likens the medieval technique to that used in the modern game of Scrabble.
^"Terracotta / Klinker Tiles – Lian Seng Hin". Retrieved 2023-07-15.
Klamt, Christian (2004), "Letters van baksteen in een cistercienzerklooster: het Ave Maria te Zinna", in Stuip, R. E. V. (ed.), Meer dan muziek alleen: in memoriam Kees Vellekoop, Utrechtse bijdragen tot de mediëvistiek, vol. 20, Hilversum: Uitgeverij Verloren, pp. 195–210, ISBN90-6550-776-0
Lehmann-Haupt, Hellmut (1940), "Englische Holzstempelalphabete des XIII. Jahrhunderts", Gutenberg-Jahrbuch: 93–97
Meijer, Frank (2004), De stenen letters van Aduard (2nd ed.), Groningen: Omnia Uitgevers, ISBN978-90-75354-08-9
Haberley, Loyd (1937): "Medieval English Paving Tiles", Blackwel
January 01, 1970
medieval, letter, tile, letter, ceramic, tiles, that, were, employed, monasteries, churches, late, middle, ages, creation, christian, inscriptions, floors, walls, they, were, created, pressing, stamps, bearing, reverse, image, into, soft, clay, which, then, ba. Medieval letter tiles are one letter ceramic tiles that were employed in monasteries and churches of the late Middle Ages for the creation of Christian inscriptions on floors and walls They were created by pressing stamps bearing a reverse image into soft clay which was then baked hard and they were used to form words by assembling single letter tiles in the desired order 1 Ave Maria composed of individual letter tiles in Zinna Abbey GermanyBackground editThe decoration technique is notable for being an early form of movable type printing which essentially is nothing but the stringing together of identically created individual letters for the purpose of producing an image 2 3 Compared to the conventional printing technique later established by Johannes Gutenberg though medieval tile alphabets were created in an inverse order In a first step the im printing was done and only then the process of typesetting occurred by spreading out the individual letter tiles onto the floor and composing them into words and lines of text 4 The use of such movable letter tiles is documented for the English Chertsey Abbey from whose ruins specimens dating to the second half of the 13th century were recovered 5 as well as for the early 14th century flooring of the Dutch Aduard Abbey 6 In Zinna Abbey south of Berlin there is an extant Ave Maria embedded in the floor before the altar Each letter appears as a relief print on an unglazed red brown terracotta tile measuring 14 x 14 cm The Latin inscription dates to the 13th or 14th century and was composed in Gothic majuscule 7 The Prufening dedicatory inscription is a Latin church inscription on a single clay tablet using a different principle apparently made by stamping out the words with individual letter stamps or types References edit Brekle 1997 pp 61f likens the medieval technique to that used in the modern game of Scrabble Terracotta Klinker Tiles Lian Seng Hin Retrieved 2023 07 15 Brekle 1997 pp 61f Lehmann Haupt 1940 p 97 Brekle 1997 pp 61f Lehmann Haupt 1940 pp 96f Meijer 2004 Klamt 2004 pp 195 210Sources editBrekle Herbert E 1997 Das typographische Prinzip Versuch einer Begriffsklarung Gutenberg Jahrbuch 72 58 63 61f Klamt Christian 2004 Letters van baksteen in een cistercienzerklooster het Ave Maria te Zinna in Stuip R E V ed Meer dan muziek alleen in memoriam Kees Vellekoop Utrechtse bijdragen tot de medievistiek vol 20 Hilversum Uitgeverij Verloren pp 195 210 ISBN 90 6550 776 0 Lehmann Haupt Hellmut 1940 Englische Holzstempelalphabete des XIII Jahrhunderts Gutenberg Jahrbuch 93 97 Meijer Frank 2004 De stenen letters van Aduard 2nd ed Groningen Omnia Uitgevers ISBN 978 90 75354 08 9 Haberley Loyd 1937 Medieval English Paving Tiles Blackwel Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Medieval letter tile amp oldid 1165449657, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
