Diagram and instructions for the indiction system of dating

Diagram and instructions for the indiction system of dating

This single leaf is a rare survival of a stand-alone practical tool designed to be pinned to a surface or kept loosely among papers for easy reference. It consists of a simple diagram showing the years from 1490 to 1504 and their equivalents in a fifteen-numbered sequence of Roman numerals: the indiction system. This method for dating had its roots in Roman Egypt and was first used as a means of assessing periodic land and agricultural taxes in late antiquity. It became popular in the early Byzantine world and was revived in the West as a result of its mention by Bede the Venerable (672/3–735), though its use later declined. By the time this simple diagram was made, it may have been unfamiliar enough to justify such a computational aid. The text above and below the diagram, written in a humanist cursive script, explains how the system functions.

1490

Manuscript leaf on Paper, 1 fol.

University of Pennsylvania, Ms. Coll. 591, Folder 43

Italy