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medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture > On Jul 31, 2009, at 7:42 AM, Nancy Spies wrote: >> True, true, but I am rather thinking that a church inventory might be more likely to include a small knife. Why, by the way, would they have needed one? From: Andrew Larsen <[log in to unmask]> >Trimming candles seems like a good guess to me. It might also be used for trimming writing quills, trimming parchment, as a paring knife in the kitchen, or just as a general utility knife. funnily enough, another use for a knife in an ecclesiastical context would/might be as part of the ceremony solemnizing the transfer of property. quite a few charters from the 11th-12th century Chartrain (and, i assume, elsewhere) end with a clause noting that the gift which the charter commemorates was placed on the recipient church's alter "per cutellum." i have always taken this to mean that both the charter and a knife were placed on the altar, symbolizing the transfer of the gift itself. in one of the early volumes of the Memoires de la société archéologique de l'Eure-et-Loir Lucien Merlet, the great Chartrain archivist, published a lithograph of such a charter, with a knife attached on a cue of parchment (as though it were a seal, in this period before seals became commonplace). sometimes the gift is made "per baculum" --which appears to have been some sort of "baton" symbolic of property ownership. at least that's what i've always assumed was the case --and would welcome any correction. c ********************************************************************** To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME to: [log in to unmask] To send a message to the list, address it to: [log in to unmask] To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion to: [log in to unmask] In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to: [log in to unmask] For further information, visit our web site: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html