Common Writing Materials of The Middle Ages
In western civilisations, early use of papyrus was soon replaced by parchment made by treating animal hide. A wide variety of parchments from various animal skins, with different texture, quality and hue were widely used for codices, religious and cultural texts. This was replaced by the advent and increasing access and availability of paper.
In eastern civilisations such as India, the principal writing media from the time of Christ were birch bark or bhurjapatra (Sanskrit) and dried palm leaves. The use of paper began only after the 10th century AD. However birch bark and palm leaf continue to be used even today on a limited scale in a rural milieu for the use of horoscopes, wedding invitations and other cultural uses.
In China, the early material was animal bones, later silk, bamboo and wooden slips, until the 2nd century when paper was invented.
Read more about this topic: Writing Material
Famous quotes containing the words middle ages, common, writing, materials, middle and/or ages:
“What progress we are making. In the Middle Ages they would have burned me. Now they are content with burning my books.”
—Sigmund Freud (1856–1939)
“Do you come to a philosopher as to a cunning man, to learn something by magic or witchcraft, beyond what can be known by common prudence and discretion?”
—David Hume (1711–1776)
“For me, writing something down was the only road out.”
—Anne Tyler (b. 1941)
“Young children learn in a different manner from that of older children and adults, yet we can teach them many things if we adapt our materials and mode of instruction to their level of ability. But we miseducate young children when we assume that their learning abilities are comparable to those of older children and that they can be taught with materials and with the same instructional procedures appropriate to school-age children.”
—David Elkind (20th century)
“What progress we are making. In the Middle Ages they would have burned me. Now they are content with burning my books.”
—Sigmund Freud (1856–1939)
“What distinguishes modern art from the art of other ages is criticism.”
—Octavio Paz (b. 1914)