Secrets of medieval ink; how was it made?
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- Опубліковано 9 тра 2019
- Medieval writing needs ink. Where do you get it and how is it made? #medieval #ink #writing
Credits:
Gossamer
Direction, Camera, Sound, Editing Kasumi
Presenter Jason Kingsley OBE
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I very much appreciate your inclusion of phrases such as: "I imagine" or "my guess is." It seems to me, far too many people speak with an air of false authority when speaking on subjects like this.
It's a gentleman's honesty missing from most modern discourse I feel.
I think it is because he has passed the point of amateur historian and knows just how much either he doesn't know or is just not known, which is quite a lot when discussing most of history.
"Steady girl"
Horse freezes.
Speech: 100
PenguinActual
Animal handling +15
It's a testament to the bond between them; love, trust, respect.
2:37 " Steady Girl" I absolutely love love loved this of how calm and loving, and patient his words are. I wish I was that lucky beautiful horse. Someone to love me like that, understanding, calm and kind. Just makes me cry seeing how beautiful a true friend is.
Maximum Bonding
He mentions that some of the batches of ink were too acidic, and being the nerd that I am I immediately turn to my husband and explain that it would be due to not adding sufficient vitriol. For the record, he did not ask. I just started explaining without prompting. He puts up with so much.
bare minimum, love
2:35 Horse: "Yeah, yeah, yeah... oak balls are fascinating and whatever. Pay attention to _me_ now!" 😂
Meowmocha *galls
@@Greendragon434 hahhahah
Medieval chemistry at work! As a chemistry professor and someone who likes to think of the discovery process, you've done a wonderful job of combining just the right amount of the chemistry and biology to explain and demonstrate how a person could, in fact, create the means to record one's thoughts and starting from purely natural sources. Also, you have a wonderful inquisitive approach to just how ordinary people went about life 500-1000 yrs ago.
Thanks for your kind support. It’s always a puzzle to give enough inno, but not too much for people. I try to summarise but be accurate, and encourage people to do their own research, and I like trying things myself too. It comes from my science education.
As soon as you mentioned the tannins in the oak gall, I suspected there would be some iron component to the ink recipe, and was pleased to find out I was correct. As a woodworker, I'm familiar with the issue of using iron clamps (e.g. pipe clamps) on oak, as the iron reacts with the tannins in the wood to form dark black stains. This channel is endlessly fascinating and very well presented. Now excuse me as I move on to the next video.
holy frig! I had no idea this reaction happens! If you are using steel clamps does the same reaction occur? Aluminum clamps? RSVP if you have time.
Every time I see this guy's videos I learn not only from him but also the comments. :)
@@Scriptorsilentum To be honest I'm not sure if it also happens with steel clamps, although steel is mostly iron so potentially. I'm assuming probably not with aluminum. Admittedly it's been a while since I've worked with oak, I just remember it happening to me years ago and I've heard others talk about it. Might be worth experimenting to get your answers though.
Do you have his answers yet or nah
@@cahallo5964 Reading my comment again I can see how that may have been misleading. I meant HE could experiment to get his own answers. Maybe if I have time I'll throw something together but no guarantees. Sorry for the confusion.
@@MechanicalMind7 it's ok man :) hope you have free time
We used boiled walnut shells in homeschool and it worked on my calligraphy pen! It was fun experimenting. Jane Austen, in the 19th century, used to make her own ink to write her novels.
The fact that you keep making these incredible vids even though they get nowhere near the amount of views that they deserve, really shows you love what you do. Keep it up, im gonna go binge your channel now 👌
Thanks, I’m quite pleased how the channel is growing though.
Been a casual student of this period for much of my life. You’re really an inspiration, sir. It seems that much of your setting is within a medieval-style home? Did you build this yourself? Whatever the case, I’m chuffed! Well done!
@@ModernKnight I totally appreciate your content. I'm an English literature students and your videos help to go through boring pages of history books!
I love the medieval period- thanks for such an interesting video.
Subbed 👍🏴
I'm surprised just how much you got right.
The reaction can be damaged with heat.
You're creating ferric Gallic acid and ferric tannic acid. It's called "iron gall" ink today, And it's used in dip pens and some fountain pens.
If I recall, English marriage licenses still have to be written in iron gall ink because it's insanely permanent (and traditional) There are modern inks that are a bit more fade resistant without the corrosive properties of iron gall, but iron gall has a fun side effect of color changing due to the oxidation and UV light. I still use a modern iron gall in my fountain pen, diamine registrars, because it is one of the best behaved inks I have ever seen, but it does have a tendency to damage steel nibs (it would eat that steel spoon you used to stir it given time)
thanks, great info, most appreciated!
Very good information. Thank you for presenting the chemistry
In Denmark that kind of ink was called document-fast ink (actually "dokumentægte blæk") as it cannot be erased without leaving telltale traces. It is not used or produced today (under that name at least).
14:28 I love that you credit the horse and acknowledge its contribution to the video XD
If you like that, check out the horse credits in ua-cam.com/video/IxBsbzUKnAs/v-deo.html
A weird Englishman speaking about strange ink made by tree tumors caused by wasps on a particularly spoiled and dramatic horse that doesn't want to waste time on a medieval UA-cam video. Honestly, it's impossible not to love this channel. ❤❤❤
Are these videos made for TV or are they made solely for youtube? Either way, the quality is amazing, keep it up !
Sadly, UA-cam which is silly in my opinion because I would watch this series all friggin' day.
@@Doomcharger Why is that silly? I watch way more youtube than TV these days...
@@Doomcharger this is way more informative and well made than anything thats on TV these days, Jason is an excellent presenter who really knows his stuff and has a real passion for it.
@@Doomcharger Why is that silly? Why wouldn't you watch it just on UA-cam?
@@josharntt Simple, if he was given a larger budget and this was on Netflix, I'd have binged every episode about 12 times by now.
Something that came to mind when you mentioned that corrections or anything of importance was written in red: When I was in school, some of my teachers used to correct the exams with red ink. There was even a joke about it. When the exam went particularly poorly, we used to say, it is going to be more red than black (when we get it back from the teacher). I am pretty sure that is still around today. Not quite sure, but it certainly could be a relic from medieval times. This is fascinating.
I remember getting school work corrected in red (1970's) but also had a forward thinking Welsh teacher who would write positive comments in green pen and give stars
these videos are criminally underrated, undervalued and under viewed. You sir are a gentleman and a scholar
thanks for watching. our viewer number are rising steadily.
I really like this video from the start. Nice music, cute horse and history of writing.
Before bed this is as calming as fairy tale.
Btw could you please show us all of your horses in one video including their names? It will be great to know these cuties better. :)
Thank you very much!
From medieval Octopus of course...
The first thing that comes to mind lol
mood
*squid
@@dedovagency both octopi and squid can produce ink.
@@JohnyG29 You can actually say Octopuses.
Feels like when I'm scrolling UA-cam at night looking for my nightly tea video, unable to decide what to watch that these videos show up and instantly capture my attention. Always an immediate watch, and so for never a regret. Always compliments tea time.
Enjoy!
"knobbly protruberance" is my new favorite insult
Horse: jumps
Knight: *Steady girl"
Horse: Stays steady
That horse is absolutely beautiful. And smart too.
I can't help but wonder who first figured out each of these steps and how...
Trial and error and passing of knowledge from one to another, I don't think there's a definitive first person in making it. like how does people get an idea to combine an ingredient to make cake?
The reaction that makes iron gall ink black was known as early as Pliny the younger and perhaps earlier.
That's a sentiment I've had for so much things back then.
Cavemen used "ink" to paint the walls
I imagine people made marks with whatever could leave a trace (blood, berries, natural colored liquids) and gradually found more efficient and refined ways of leaving permanent marks over a long period of time.
I'm not entirely sure if "ink" as he used it only meant ink or was supposed to include colours made from a variety of pigments too.
The red letters in medieval books were painted not written often using minium a red lead oxide.
Illuminating Books was extremely popular even after the printing press became widely known. The Gutenberg Bible for example has extensive decorations painted by hand.
The reaction between the ferrous sulfate and the gallic acid is rather fast. It shouldnt make a difference if left for half an hour or multiple days.
The ink made in this video will probably "eat your paper alive". The fact that the ratio of gallic acid to ferrous sulfate is likely unbalanced will cause the paper to deteriorate. This phenomenon is known as ink corrosion and will eventually lead to the paper becoming fragile below the letters and breaking at one point.
An interesting fact on iron gall ink:
Almost all important documents (i.e. treaties on high political leves etc.) Are signed using iron gall ink because its the most durable ink known (IF its produced in a balanced ratio)
Why am I watching a video about a guy making ink? who knows. I regret NOTHING. This is fantastic stuff.
Though not the topic of the video, I really enjoy watching your horsemanship. It's nice to see Gossamer is allowed to express a little excited rear without getting beaten or having her mouth torn up. Her forward ears tell all about you as a rider.
The scholarship behind your videos is excellent, and I absolutely love the practical demonstrations. I'm so pleased to have found your channel. Thanks.
I assume that’s why the teachers always corrected and marked up your work in red ink at school.
Ah the good old days ! Teachers are barred from correcting in red ink these days.
What?! How come?
@@BullRoarer_ I think he is pulling your leg.
I still get corrected in red ink :/
@x D3G3N3R8 NATION x Yes he is. People still use red ink you loonies lol 😂😂😂
I had heard "oak gall" before in reference to making ink, in stories I've read, but I'd never seen one, nor had any idea what their origin was. Fascinating!
Thank you very much for another wonderful video!
I absolutely love these videos. I'm so glad I discovered this channel. Thank you so much for making them.
Glad you like them!
This is so wild, I love seeing these old techniques that we take for granted explained.
Not only do I learn where medieval ink comes from, I also learn of the existence of oak galls!
Same here ahahah - directly went into to the research of what * the heck is an oak gall after finishing Jason's video hahah
I really love the music and just the entire shot in general as you rode up to the oak tree. So peaceful and picturesque.
With blue vitriol u can craft one potion of Superior Swallow.
U need the following incredients:
1 × White gull
1 × Enhanced Swallow
6 × Berbercane fruit
6 × White myrtle petals
4 × Celandine
4 × Crow's eye
2 × Vitriol
But mind your toxity!
You make normal stuff look so interesting. The think i like the most is that you always test the things you show us, making your channel so reliable.
By the way, i'm not the only one who was thinking about octopus ink all the time 😁
I'm glad medieval people had so many sophisticated things we don't know because we just buy stuff and don't care what is it made of
Incredible!! You explained the process with respect to history and science. I never knew that galls were used as an ingredient. Would love to see the history of paper making too :)
Marcus Tullius
They had cloth-based paper in the late medieval period, but it didn’t become the dominant writing material until the introduction of the printing press. Wood-based paper is a much more recent material - only introduced around 1800.
@@ragnkja paper was "dominant writing material" long before printing processes were becoming popular. Paper was already very important in the 12th century
Kantyran
In Asia, that is correct, but on this channel you can generally assume people are talking about Europe unless otherwise specified, and in Europe, parchment was the dominant writing material until the introduction of the printing press.
That’s not to say that paper didn’t exist before then, but it was nowhere near as commonly used as parchment.
Paper actually existed in Europe in medieval times, but not on a large scale. It existed in Spain and was introduced there by Muslims. The oldest manuscript written on paper in Europe is the Silos Missal from 11th century: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missal_of_Silos
A 12th century ink recipe called for hawthorn branches to be cut in the spring and left to dry. Then the bark was pounded from the branches and soaked in water for eight days. The water was boiled until it thickened and turned black. Wine was added during boiling. The ink was poured into special bags and hung in the sun. Once dried, the mixture was mixed with wine and iron salt over a fire to make the final ink. This was used in the medieval period in addition to the inks described in the video. Iron-gall ink used in the Middle Ages is still used for official church and secular documents in England, such as wedding certificates and other legal documents, because the ink (Registrar's ink) does not wash off or fade; it is a permanent ink.
Wow, I just realized that Jason is an actual knight! So amazing that these videos about medieval England are made and presented by a modern-day knight. 😊
The ferrous sulphate is the same green as oxidised copper, so it does make sense that they referred to it with a copper name.
I'm so early the Crusades haven't even started.
@@hatchingdraggon8073 Deus Vult
Ave Maria!
@@hatchingdraggon8073 Desu vult!
MAKE ISTANBUL CONSTANTINOPLE AGAIN
I'm so early the jihad hasn't happened yet.
I love writing with iron gall ink, it's not thick like modern ink, gives you very sharp lines and a nice deep black
Very interesting video! Talking about it's acidity, you can make it less acid (therefore less aggressive) using less green vetriol, but the reaction will be slower.
Also: the nibs of the first fountain pens were made of gold because it does't react with acids, an iron one would have been eaten by the iron gall ink acidity
His closing comments are sheer poetry. What an enthralling video!
fig has a natural latex in the sap, perhaps the fig wood is about adding this as a binding agent
What a fabulous recreation! I work with documents which are a paltry few hundred years old in my own research, and sometimes that oak gall ink truly has eaten away at the pages - it's always heartbreaking! But working with them inspired me to acquire dip pens and inks and practice my scribal hand. I've never tried to make my OWN ink, though now I'm rather tempted... What always astounds me about medieval manuscripts is the elegance of the orthography. Those unknown scribes, for all the scribal errors, had exquisite hands.
The scribes would have been mostly monks .Monasteries had Scriptoriums where groups monks worked and copied all sorts of books , medical books, books that had been translated from Greek into latin .....
These scriptoriums may have had clear glass windows if the monastery was wealthy or just open windows , or windows covered with mica sheets , isinglass or very thin translucent stretched animal skins if they weren’t wealthy...and the location of scriptorium within the monastery was important , they needed this room to receive the best light for the longest time.......
There would be an elder monk who was in charge and many monks working away at rows of desks/tables. Some of the monks who had a beautiful,handwrighting and made the fewest mistakes might be given the task of illustrating a book , a book of devotions called
“ a book of hours” or a Bible.
Copying books have been a source of income for the monastery . They may have copied books to sell or to trade for other books from other monasteries and they copied Bibles.
Some monasteries were also schools and taught boys to read and write , and they woukd teach any young boys ( called oblates) who had been given to the Church by their parents. Being able to read and write opened doors for a person. You could become a monk and rise in the Cnurch’s hierarchy maybe someday even be an abbot of your own monastery! , or become a scribe to a merchant , or a noble to help them keep their accounts and finances , you could get a job wirh the King’s goverment ( like a clerk) or maybe a job in the judicial,states as a cler.
UA-cam recommendations: Would you like to know more about medieval ink?
Me: Of course I do!
I've seen recipes where iron was used instead of green vitriol - the prefered iron was old horseshoe nails. They were a particular sort of iron that was soft and of relatively consistant quality, and apparently worked better than other iron sources. The nails were kept in the solution for quite some time, although the black color started forming almost immediately.
Absolutley fascinating!
Now I'm just silly yank,however the way you bring us European history is so...engaging! I would normally say this stuff is too dry for me, but there is something about your presinatation that grabs me and I'm sure many others. I just had to let you know that you truly are reaching people who otherwise would have stayed ignorant of our peoples history. I can't even imagine how many youngin's you'll likely turn to an intrest in european history. Your doing a wonderful thing and i hope all the best blessings in your journey good sir!
2:01 - 2:41 horse is moving around ears up! he says to his jittery horse, “Steady girl”. and, i swear, she turns and looks into the camera and says, “You see what i have to put up with? sometimes i just Don’t want to Stand still. snort.” 🙄 🐴
She a beauty and so bright. :) 🌷🌱
I like how this channel is definitely not his primary source of income so it's purely a hobby I didn't think because of that it's so informational, He's not making it to appeal to everybody but simply to put the information out there and I love that fact
yes, and thanks for watching!
@@ModernKnight yes it's much appreciated and I will definitely do so
Saw about 10 seconds of video and 1 or 2 comments, immediately subbed. This is my JAM!!
Thanks!
Wow! As a chemist I am absolutely mesmerised to hear about this. Never heard about it at all but it does make sense
There's still modern inks used in Fountain pen or dip pens that use the Oak Galls. Most of them are call Iron Gall ink, most of them are a dark blue or brown but a few companies are offering purples greens and golds, all muted and dark but still interesting so see such versatility in the ingredient.
I think it’s awesome that Gossamer’s name gets top billing!
In my old school, red pens were used by teachers to correct pupil's work. Green pens were for self-correction or correcting other pupil's work.
Dissolving the crushed oak galls in wine actually does make a bit of sense, because grapes also contain tannins.
The ink Jason is creating is also called iron gall ink. For calligraphy and penmanship is was used routinely from the end of the Roman period to the 19th century or 1400 years. The American Declaration of Independence and Constitution were both written in iron gall ink, a mix of iron salts and tannin.
I have plenty of these where I live! I was told they were only good for kindling! I'm definitely trying this out!
It'd be interesting to see your results too :D
Poke weed berries make a nice ink too. Fun projects for rainy days. I would make my own paper (recycling other paper) and incorporate seeds then plant them in the garden when the kids were done playing.
1:11 My word, that's absolutely gorgeous. It's like a painting.
Copper oxide is green, so I expect the name comes from that.
Best channel ever.
Fascinating, and Gossamer is looking lovely too.
Omg the green vitriol is so BEAUTIFUL!!! ITS SO PRETTY lol
This reminded me of the beautiful animated film The secret of Kells where they made ink for manuscripts! ❤️
You made my day!!! My hands, at least the nail beds of my right hand were stained black and I couldn't figure it out for an embarrassingly long time--here the dissolved iron in my well water reacts this way to any tannins and my fingers were black from squeezing my tea bag with my fingers. I feel better that a similar product is actually ink! Bonus weird water fact--it turns baking soda a green color.
How interesting, I wonder if that’s potentially the way it was discovered back in antiquity?
This is exactly the kind of content that should be on TV. Love your work, sir! Please keep the videos coming.
Seem like a great horseman. You handled that well. Btw, I know nothing about riding or horses but that looked cool
Jason’s been riding since he was eight years old.
Wonderful! I just finished reading (last night in fact) Keith Houston's fantastic book on the history of the book, called (wait for it...) "The Book". Iron gall ink is discussed extensively, and now I know just what an oak gall looks like and how the ink is made. Thank you!
I worked as a Lithographer for the US Navy for a few years. We used very old styles of printing with old inks on a printing press. As it was once my profession I find videos like this very fascinating. I lost half my sense of smell from the ink and toner in the Navy. The smell you mentioned, I hope it was more natural smelling than solvents! You make the best videos! Please never stop!
Jason is awesome creating all these videos, he obviously doesn't need
the money being a successful and respected businessman! thank you Jason!
Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us on the midevil times. I love Learning about history and not just dates, important people but how they actually worked and lived.
3:50 horse is tickled by the leaves lol. Love that beautiful beast! Great videos XoXo
Your videos are very informative for me. I find it interesting that you would carry on and actually make the ink as it was made then to confirm the theory . Thank you for this.
Adding a small amount of egg white to the mixture when you are first extracting the tannins will also act to collect the tannins
thanks for the tip.
Thank you for all the informatietion you share. I enjoy your videos very much. As a living history enthusiast, I also make my ink myself. I make my ink in a similar way but without adding chemicals. I boil the crushed oak apple in a little water for twenty minutes. Then leave it in a jar for a few days with some rusty nails in it. Remove nails and squeeze the stuff through a cloth. If necessary, allow to dry out to the desired concentration. If jou let is age a little it's even better (just as you stated). The ink is less acidic like this.
I'll try adding Arabic gum next time. Thanks for the tip 👍
That beautiful horse stole the show 💗
This channel is outstanding! You need your own show on the history channel
I would expect one of the most important effects of the added viscosity of the gum arabic to be the increased suspension of the iron particles in the ink (reduced sedimentation), which would make the ink more even in colour and hence reduce the clumping visible at the end of strokes when writing/drawing. In that sense, it has great benefits also when writing on a horizontal surface.
So is the black in the ink actually black iron oxide, that would spontaneously form if the sulphur in the green vitriol binds with the tannic acid and releases its iron and oxygen atoms? Then the added oxygen in the air allow for even more iron oxide to form during the drying process?
The black of the ink is from the reaction of the iron(II) ions with the tannins in the oak gall, not from iron oxide. Upon exposure to oxygen, it forms the deep black ferric tannate.
Holidays are still written in red on Norwegian calendars.
And Denmark and Sweden. :-)
In Philippines too sunday's and hollydays
And the words of Jesus are sometimes STILL printed in red ink.
Same thing with Eastern Europe ans Russia.
I click on these videos so fast. Hope they never stop coming, Jason is my favourite presenter going.
2:33 Hey, Jason just penned, a new word ; Fascinatingly ........while pointing...! good one, Sir !
I love when instructive UA-cam channels teach me things I never asked myself and never knew I wanted to know!
You mentioned wondering when to pick oak apples and deciding that late winter would seem like a good time. My Mum was a child in the rural North East of England and I remember her quoting a children's rhyme which goes, 'Oak apple day, 25th of May if you don't give us a holiday we'll all run away'. I think this was an old rhyme and although not necessarily medieval might have been passed down in a stable rural community. The end of May might be considered late winter in the North and collecting oak apples sounds like something children would do. I didn't know they were used for ink so thank you for that.
in admiration for the high quality historic information and the presentation, should be on national TV
This video filled me with happiness because it is history and also ink, combined into one video.
It is better to filtrate the extract from the galls before adding green vitriol. Makes for a cleaner ink. And if gum arabic is not available I assume that the gum from cherry trees will work just as well.
For those curious the writing table/board that he describes at 4:30 or so is still in use today and is commonly used for calligraphy and art. Edit: Which makes sense when you remember that most medieval writing was done in calligraphic styles.
Chemically this is similar to the chemical reaction that was used to make leather black (vinegaroon). Iron (II) acetate (iron dissolved in vinegar) is put on the leather and reacts with the tannin in the leather to turn the piece black. Amazing how resourceful our forebearers were.
Interesting stuff! Obviously, we've learnt a lot since these times, but it shows clearly what we have forgotten.
Usually the skins of sheep were prepared for manuscripts most likely by apprenticing young monks new to the order. Then the drawings were done first and the artists left room for the writing done by other monks. It was kinda done in as an assembly line. Each person was assigned a task when they were done they moved it to the next person. When all the pages were completed they were brought to the binder who hand stitched the binding. But this is a technology first invented in monasteries going back to the early Byzantine period. Gum Arabic a popular medium is still used today for watercolor and egg tempra painting. The other ingredient used might be duck or goose eggs. The high fat content in the yolks were used to increase the color saturation of the paint & stretch out more expensive pigments like lapis lazuli.
I really appreciate and love your passion that's showing in your videos.
This is by far my most favorite YT channel. Thank you, Jason, for these series.
Also thanks to Kasumi, for her excellent filming and great choice of music to accompany the videos. Wonderful job! 👍🏻
Thanks for watching us.
That’s fascinating! Thanks Jason.
Fascinating, as always!
I really love the fact that besides telling us about how things were done in the past you also test the methods yourself
Very cool! Thanks for doing it.
Thank you for uploading this! You always make my day better!
Absolutely love this channel! Keep up the good work mate!
What a beautiful horse!
Thank you!
Wonderful channel! Thank you Jason!
Red letter day - most interesting. Thank you.
This is all so fascinating, I'm so grateful for this channel!
Love these videos could watch them all day