16Hit1600
Information and IdeasHardEvidence for a manuscript's coastal origin

Information and Ideas practice question

A scholar argues that a medieval illuminated manuscript, whose place of origin is unknown, was produced in a monastery on the Atlantic coast of Ireland rather than in an inland scriptorium.

Which finding, if true, would most directly support the claim?

  1. A. The purple pigment used throughout the manuscript was made from a shellfish found only on the Irish Atlantic coast, and it degrades too quickly to have been transported far.Correct
  2. B. The manuscript is written in Latin, as were most manuscripts of the period.
  3. C. Inland monasteries produced more manuscripts than coastal ones.
  4. D. The manuscript's binding was replaced in the eighteenth century.

Answer: A. The purple pigment used throughout the manuscript was made from a shellfish found only on the Irish Atlantic coast, and it degrades too quickly to have been transported far.

A local, perishable pigment ties the work to the coast.

Why the other answers are wrong

B. The manuscript is written in Latin, as were most manuscripts of the period.
Latin was universal.
C. Inland monasteries produced more manuscripts than coastal ones.
Frequency argues, if anything, for inland.
D. The manuscript's binding was replaced in the eighteenth century.
A later binding says nothing about origin.

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