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Theophanes Continuatus, Chronographia, Book VI, Chapter 49, text from Corpus scriptorum historiae byzantinae, Vol. 45, page 433. Translated by Jacob Bell.
Ἐν ταύταις δὴ ταῖς ἡμέραις Ἀρμένιόν τι τέρας τῇ πόλει ἐπεφοιτήκει, παῖδες συμφυεῖς ἄρρενες ἐκ μιᾶς προελθόντες γαστρός, ἄρτιοι μὲν πάντα τὰ μέλη τοῦ σώματος, ἀπὸ δὲ στόματος τῆς γαστρὸς καὶ μέχρι τῶν ὑπὸ γαστέρα συμπεφυκότες, καὶ ἀλλήλοις ὑπάρχοντες ἀντιπρόσωποι· οἳ ἐπὶ πλεῖστον τῇ πόλει ἐνδιατρίψαντες, καὶ ὑπὸ πάντων ὡς ἐξαίσιόν τι τέρας ὁρώμενοι, τῆς πόλεως ὡς πονηρός τις οἰωνὸς ἐξηλάσατο. ἐπὶ δὲ μονοκρατορίας βασιλείας Κωνσταντίνου πάλιν εἰσήλθοσαν. ἐπεὶ δὲ ὁ ἕτερος αὐτῶν ἐτεθνήκει, ἰατροί τινες ἔμπειροι τὸ συγκεκολλημένον μέρος διέτεμον εὐφυῶς ἐλπίδι τοῦ τὸν ἕτερον ζήσεσθαι· ὃς τρεῖς ἡμέρας ἐπιβιοὺς ἐτελεύτησεν.
“And in these days, a monster from Armenia arrived in the city [Constantinople], two boys grown together out of one womb, on the one hand all limbs of the body completely grown, and on the other hand conjoined from the top of the stomach [lit. mouth of the stomach] down to the lower abdomen, made to face towards one another. They lingered in the city for a while, and they were regarded by all as an extraordinary thing, but then were driven out of the city as they were perceived to be an ill omen. A little while later, during the sole reign of the Emperor Constantine, they returned. Then, after one of them died, certain experienced doctors skillfully cut them asunder at the line of union in hope of saving the living one: he died after surviving three days.”
Leo the Deacon, Historia, Book X, Chapter 3, text from Corpus scriptorum historiae byzantinae, Vol. 11, page 164. Translated by Jacob Bell.
Note: These could be the same twins in Skylitzes and Theophanes Continuatus, but the dating is not precise.
κατὰ τοῦτον δὴ τὸν καιρὸν καὶ δίδυμοι ἄνδρες, ἐκ τῆς τῶν Καππαδοκῶν χώρας ὁρμώμενοι, πολλαχοῦ τῆς Ῥωμαϊκῆς ἐπικρατείας ἐφοίτων, οὓς καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ ταῦτα ξυγγράφων πολλάκις κατὰ τὴν Ἀσίαν τεθέαμαι, τεράστιόν τι θαῦμα πέλοντας καὶ καινόν. ἄρτια γὰρ αὐτοῖς καὶ ὁλότητα περισώζοντα τὰ τοῦ σώματος καθίσταντο μόρια· ἀπὸ δὲ μάλης καὶ μέχρι λαγῶνος αἱ
πλευραὶ τούτοις ἐκεκόλληντο, ἑνοῦσαι τὰ σωμάτια καὶ εἰς ἓν συναρμόζουσαι. καὶ ταῖς μὲν ψαυούσαις ἀλλήλων τῶν χειρῶν τοὺς σφῶν περιέπλεκον τένοντας, θατέραις δὲ βακτηρίας ἔφερον, αἷς βαδίζοντες ἐσκηρίπτοντο, τριακοστὸν τῆς ἡλικίας ἔτος ἄγοντες. καὶ σώματα τούτοις εὖ ἐπεφύκει, ἀνθηρὰ πεφηνότα καὶ νεανικά. ἡμιόνῳ δὲ κατὰ τὰς μακρὰς ἀποδημίας ὠχοῦντο, θηλυπρεπῶς παρὰ τὴν ἀστράβην ἑζόμενοι, ἄλεκτόν τι χρῆμα γλυκυθυμίας καὶ ἐπιεικείας τυγχάνοντες. ἀλλὰ περὶ τούτων μὲν ἅλις.
“During this time, male twins, having come out of the land of Cappadocia, were wandering around many parts of the Roman Empire, I myself who write these very lines have seen them throughout Asia, being a wonder both monstrous and strange. For the appendages of their bodies were full-grown and made whole: but their sides were fastened together from their armpits down to their ribs, fitting their bodies together and making them one. On the one hand, their inside arms wrapped around one another’s necks, and on the other hand, they each bore a cane, which they used to support themselves while walking, being thirty years old. They were well-developed in body, appearing to be both young and vigorous. During long journeys, they would ride a mule, sitting on a saddle as women do, being indescribably kind in mind and virtuous. But that is enough about this.”
Note: Another translation of Leo the Deacon’s account of the twins. Found in Anthony Kaldellis, A Cabinet of Byzantine Curiosities, 174.
“The limbs of their bodies were whole and in good shape, but their sides, from the armpit to the hip, were joined together, so their bodies were united into one. With their opposite arms they could embrace each other around the neck, and they used staves in order to support themselves as they walked. They were thirty years old, and their bodies were well developed, robust and youthful. They rode a mule for longer journeys, but sat on it side-saddle, like a woman. They were very friendly and sweet to meet.”
Creating Illuminated Manuscripts
The creation of illuminated manuscripts in the medieval period was an expensive and highly specialized process. Most higher-end manuscripts were created using vellum, the processed skin of a calf. The manner in which vellum was made could vary between regions, but, generally speaking, creating vellum began with a chemical bath in a lime solution, followed by skinning, stretching, and, finally, drying. Another expensive aspect of the process was acquiring or creating the desired ink. Depending on the desired color there were generally a variety of methods of creating ink. For example, black ink could be created by boiling cuttlefish gills or soaking pieces of charcoal in water. Other colors required more specialized methods. Green, for instance, required that malachite be ground to a very specific consistency, in order to avoid losing its vibrancy. These powders and pastes were then mixed with a binding agent such as egg whites or Acacia tree sap, turning them into the consistency of ink. This binding agent also allowed the mixture to adhere to the vellum. The scribe or artist was equipped with a variety of specialized tools allowing them to create various different effects and styles in their work. Overall, creating a highly detailed and large piece of work was an extraordinarily expensive, specialized, and time consuming process that was rather exclusive to the church and the wealthy.
Footnotes
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- Stella Panayotova and Teresa Webber, “Making an Illuminated Manuscript.” in The Cambridge Illuminations: Ten Centuries of Book Production in the Medieval West, ed. by Paul Binski and Stella Panayotova (London: Harvey Miller, 2005), 26. ↵
- Eltjo Buringh, Medieval Manuscript Production in the Latin West: Explorations with a Global Database (Leiden: Brill, 2011), 253.↵
- Panayotova and Webber, “Making an Illuminated Manuscript,” 31.↵
- Panayotova and Webber, “Making an Illuminated Manuscript,” 32.↵
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