| Abstract | Paper -a:
In late medieval Britain, rising demand for and production of manuscripts correlated with the emergence of price-reduction strategies, including greater openness towards poorer-quality materials like 'offcuts': substandard scraps generated during the parchment-making process. Overwhelmingly, manuscripts on offcuts are humble affairs, but a tiny minority incorporate deluxe decoration, extending even to use of gold. This paper examines one such volume - London, British Library, Lansdowne 475, a late 14th-century law book - considering what these aspects of this manuscript suggest about the sociocultural and economic contexts of its production and use and outlining the significance of such features to scholars working with medieval texts.
Paper -b:
The medieval justification of a dynasty's right to rule often hinged on the perception of its idoneitas - the inherited suitability to rule. Memory therefore played a key role in the acceptance of rule by those in power. The Farnese, a noble family from the Papal States, experienced a rise in social status during the Quattrocento and therefore acutely felt the need to create monuments and even manipulate dynastic memory in writing to legitimate their recently established prominence. This was achieved by building a family mausoleum as well as patronage of famous humanists such as Annio of Viterbo and Paolo Cortese.
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