cvetkakocj@rogers.com > 22-10-2021, 08:26 PM
(22-10-2021, 07:26 PM)R. Sale Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.The VMs artist or artists had a level of sophistication sufficient for mnemonics and heraldic canting, and an imagination for fantastic plants,I am sure the author did not see the plant with a root like the eagle (Carniolan coats of arms), or a plant with two Swabian lions. You probably noticed that the white Aries and his sheep have a black counterpart. It could be a reference to White and Black Ghibellines and their supporters.
Mark Knowles > 22-10-2021, 08:41 PM
(22-10-2021, 08:26 PM)cvetkakocj@rogers.com Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.You probably noticed that the white Aries and his sheep have a black counterpart. It could be a reference to White and Black Ghibellines and their supporters.I have not heard of the White and Black Ghibilines, I wonder if you are referring to the White and Black Guelphs. They are, however, Florentine, so I don't quite see how they fit with your Alsatian, Viennese, Slovenian individual.
Mark Knowles > 23-10-2021, 01:08 PM
(22-10-2021, 02:40 PM)bi3mw Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.It can be assumed that about 90 percent of the population in the Middle Ages belonged to the lower class of working peasants. The rest was distributed among the clergy and nobility. The growing cities took a special position (quote: "City air makes you free".) Citizens could, depending on their profession, develop relatively freely and their share of the population grew steadily. Statistically, they are counted among the third class.The author would have be reasonably intellectual. I am not talking about Voynich specific knowledge, that is something else, just someone with enough intelligence that they might consider such an undertaking. What percentage of our group might fit that?
If the population in Europe in 1400 was 78 million, then the share of the clergy and nobility in Europe was about 7.8 million people. However, it may be necessary to distinguish between the author of the manuscript and the donor. It can be assumed that the VMS was quite expensive to produce and that a member of the lower clergy, for example, could not afford it. Nevertheless, he could practically be able to write the manuscript. The number of those who could finance the VMS is therefore much smaller than the number of potential authors. The assumption that it could be about 2 percent of the population I consider realistic.
bi3mw > 23-10-2021, 02:16 PM
(23-10-2021, 01:08 PM)Mark Knowles Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.The author would have be reasonably intellectual. I am not talking about Voynich specific knowledge, that is something else, just someone with enough intelligence that they might consider such an undertaking. What percentage of our group might fit that?
cvetkakocj@rogers.com > 23-10-2021, 09:20 PM
(22-10-2021, 08:41 PM)Mark Knowles Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.I have not heard of the White and Black Ghibilines, I wonder if you are referring to the White and Black Guelphs. They are, however, Florentine, so I don't quite see how they fit with your Alsatian, Viennese, Slovenian individual.Sorry, Mark, I was writing off memory and I mixed the two. By the time VM was written, the Guelphs were fighting among themselves and were referred to Imperial and Papal party. The situation is described in the book written by Gabriele Rosseti Disquisitions on the antipapal spirit, which can be found online. The book also explains how religious symbolism was used to criticize the Church (particularly in the works of Dante and Petrarch). It is in this spirit that the VM should be interpreted.