The “Dagome iudex”: the manuscript tradition of a Greek-Latin document. For a textual criticism approach

For a textual criticism approach.

Resumen

The “Dagome iudex’’ document remains a legendary story within medieval literature, while simultaneously reflecting the cultural phenomenon of Ottonian Byzantinism. Progress of the current research in resolving the questions surrounding the “Dagome iudex’’ has proved challenging, prompting a reconsideration of scientific priorities and the adoption of a textual criticism approach. Textual criticism aims to restore, as far as possible, the original work as written by its author. We have, thus, opted for the Lachmann method (with recensio, examinatio, emendatio), as it allows the correction of original errors through the conscious intervention of intermediate copyists. This means the existence of an original and the absence of “contaminatio”. At the same time, the juxtaposition of the genealogical stemma of the six manuscripts, divided into two “families” of three manuscripts each, with two lines, illustrates, in the case of the Dagome iudex, the genealogical relationships and dependencies between the variants based on their “common” errors. Therefore, comparing all the variants aims to highlight the specific “common” errors to approximately restore the initial text. The ultimate goal is the reconstruction of the original and its reception as a written, applied literary source outside any aesthetic framework. Additionally, the inter textual features of the Dagome iudex, including its content and historicity, necessitate its classification as an applied literary text (Textsorten) and its contextualization in space and time to more accurately and carefully trace the real circumstances of its composition and the historical figures involved in its creation