Bull's Head and Mermaid - The Bernstein Project - Österreichische ...

accessing and describing watermarks, regular international
discussions in this field are necessary, as is already done
within the framework of the International Association of
Paper Historians (IPH) in particular.
“Bull’s head” and “Mermaid” are two well-known and
widespread watermarks of the Middle Ages. They represent
here the early world of paper, the iconology of the Middle
Ages, as well as the questions facing current research on
paper and watermarks. Thus, they also stand for the relationship
between the paper production of the Middle Ages
and its presentation and analysis today.
Bartolus de Saxoferrato
10
P.R. (C.P.-K.)
Bartolus de Saxoferrato (Bartolo da Sassoferrato) (*1313/14
in Sassoferrato [March of Ancona], [u98] 1357 in Perugia),
one of the most important representatives of the so-called
scholastic jurisprudence, studied law in Bologna, and
taught from 1339 in Pisa, and then from 1342 in Perugia.
In addition to his commentary on portions of the Corpus
iuris civilis and the more than four hundred consilia that
were the result of his activities providing legal advice, he
wrote several important monographs (treatises), among
them the Tractatus de fluminibus seu Tyberiadis on river
rights, and the Tractatus de insignis et armis (Treatise on insignia
and coats of arms), left unfinished by his death,
which was the first legal examination of heraldry.
In this treatise he also deals with the signs and marks that
craftsmen used to identify their products or show where
they came from. In the discussion about these signs, the
first recorded mention is made of watermarks, and in this
context, of Fabriano, a town not far from Bartolo’s birthplace.
Text (Ill. 2) based on the edition:
Quedam vero sunt signa cuiusdam artificii seu peritie. Et hic
advertendum, quandoque sunt signa artificii in quo principaliter
operatur qualitas loci. Exemplum: in marchia Anchonitana
est quoddam castrum nobile cuius nomen est
Fabrianum, ubi artificium faciendi cartas de papiro principaliter
viget, ibique sunt edificia multa ad hoc et ex quibusdam
edificiis meliores carte proveniunt, licet ibi faciat multum
bonitas operantis. Et, ut videmus, quodlibet folium
carte suum habet signum propter quod significatur cuius
edificii est carta. Dico ergo, quod isto casu apud illum remanebit
signum apud quem remanebit edificium in quo fit,
sive iure proprietatis, sive iure conductionis, sive quovis alio
titulo, sive totum, sive in partem, sive etiam mala fide teneat,
toto tempore quo tenet non potest prohiberi uti signo
...
(Translation: Some trademarks are proper to a particular
craft or skill, and here it should be noted that sometimes
they are connected to the nature of the place in which the
product is made. For example, in the March of Anchona,
there is a certain renowned town named Fabriano, where
the manufacture of paper is the main business. Here there
are many paper mills, and some of them produce better paper,
although even here the skill of the worker is of considerable
importance. And here each sheet of paper has its
own watermark by which one can recognize the paper mill.
Therefore, in this case the watermark should belong to the
one to whom the mills itself belongs, no matter whether it
remains in his possession by right of ownership or lease, or
by any other title, wholly or in part, or even in bad faith.
During the entire time in which he has possession of the
mill, he cannot be prohibited from using the watermark ...)
Here Bartolo distinguishes between the marks or signs of
craftsmen of whom the quality of their products is primarily
dependant on the worker’s skill or experience, and those of
craftsmen whose products’ quality is also dependant on local
physical conditions. In using the paper production in
Fabriano as an example, he takes the quality of the water,
which plays an important role in paper production, for
granted. Pure soft water was indispensable for making
good paper. According to Bartolo, in cases where, in addition
to the skill and experience of the craftsman, the local
natural resources are important for a product’s quality, for
paper the water, the signs or marks are not tied to the producer,
but to the site of production, here the paper mill.
The user of the mill was allowed to use the sign only as
long as he owned the mill, regardless of which type of
ownership title he had. In other parts of the treatise Bartolo
explains – again using the watermarks of paper mills as an
example – that no one else has the right to use this mark.
The rule that Bartolo put forward was universally recognized
by the courts of the Middle Ages and never called into
question. It is thus not surprising that in the first half of
the fifteenth century, the learned jurist Pietro Baldeschi, the
grand-nephew of Bartolo’s student Baldo degli Ubaldi,
when discussing watermarks and citing the Bartolo passage
Marchia Anconitana ... operetur bonitas operantis, does not
comment on the words of the great jurist. His intention has
been merely to express that this is the unanimous viewpoint
of the jurists in Italy.
Edition of Tractatus de insignis et armis: O. Cavallar, S.
Degenring, J. Kirshner, A Grammar of Signs. Bartolo da Sassoferrato’s
“Tract on Insignia and Coats of Arms” (Studies
in comparative legal history), Berkeley 1994, 109–121 (further
prints are listed on p. 108), the cited text cf. p. 113, l.
171–183; translation: p. 149; comment of the editors to
Bartolus remarks about watermarks cf. p. 69.
Literature: Henkelmann, Bartolus de Saxoferrato; Weiß,
Papiergeschichte und Wasserzeichenkunde, ad Tractatus cf.
298; Weiß, Handbuch der Wasserzeichenkunde; Renker,
Das Buch vom Papier, 113 (ad Bartolus) and 74–76 (importance
of water for paper making); Gasparinetti, Bartolo da
Sassoferrato und Pietro Baldeschi; Ornato et al., La carta occidentale
nel tardo medioevo I. Tomo 1, 110 (ad Bartolus)
and 155 and n. 99 (ad Fabriano), including further literature.
F.L. (C.P.-K.)