606 Pucelle, Jean
Blythe (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press,
1997); James M. Blythe, Ideal Government and the Mixed
Constitution in the Middle Ages(Princeton, N.J.: Princeton
University Press, 1992).
Pucelle, Jean(ca. 1295–ca. 1334)French illuminator of
manuscripts
We know little about Jean’s place of birth or the training
of this manuscript illuminator. Between 1319 and 1327,
he directed an important studio for decorating
manuscripts at PARIS. Two of his known and signed
works were accomplished in collaboration, the Belleville
The execution of de Molay and de Charnay
the other hand, his masterpiece, the Hours of Jeanne d’
Évreux(1325–28), was probably created entirely by him
alone. He drew it in grisaille, a Flemish style in shades of
gray. This work was commissioned by King Charles IV
the Fair (r. 1322–28) for his third wife, Queen Jeanne
d’Évreux. It is now in the Cloisters at the Metropolitan
Museum in New York. According to stylistic similarities,
other manuscripts have been attributed to Jean Pucelle
and his studio: the Breviary of Blanche of France,the
Hours of Jeanne of Savoy,the Hours of Yolande of Flanders,
the Hours of Jeanne II Navarre,and the Psalter of Queen
Bonne of Luxembourg.
Known for his complex programs of uneven quality,
he usually surrounded the text with grotesque figures.
His taste for pictorial space and naturalistic PAINTING
probably derived from a trip to ITA LY, where he visited
PISA,FLORENCE, and SIENA. He created somewhat awk-
ward perspective and foreshortening. Pucelle was an early
participant in the development of the international
GOTHICstyle and dominated Parisian art in the first half
of the 14th century. He died in Paris sometime after 1334.
See alsoILLUMINATION.
Further reading:François Avril, Manuscript Painting
at the Court of France: The Fourteenth Century,
1310–1380,trans. Ursule Molinaro with the assistance
of Bruce Benderson (New York: G. Braziller, 1978); Bar-
bara Drake Boehm, Abigail Quandt, and William D.
Wixom, The Hours of Jeanne d’Évreux: Acc. No. 54.I.2,
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Cloisters Collection,
New York(New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art,
2000); Kathleen Morand, Jean Pucelle(Oxford: Claren-
don Press, 1962).
Puglia SeeAPULIA.
punctuation(pointing) The use of punctuation in
medieval texts and writing was a way of clarifying visu-
ally the elements of meaning or the grammatical struc-
ture of a written text as they might be clearly enunciated
and distinguished in speech. Punctuation was also useful
in reading aloud, according a clear rhythm. Conventions
of punctuation developed over time according to a num-
ber of variables and needs, including the language used
and the purpose of reading. A result of the growth in lit-
eracy, punctuation developed to make writing readable by
a wider audience, who might not be completely familiar
with a text. Its development showed clear growth and
changes in the number, range, and meaning of its signs
over time, as texts were read silently more often and dis-
sociated from oral performance. In addition to marks of
punctuation, there were changes in the conventions of
textual layout such as the use of capital or majuscule let-
ters, spacing between words, lineation, and division into
chapters, books, or sections. All of this was ultimately
intended to contribute to clarifying the meaning of writ-
ten texts.
Separation between words was not consistently prac-
ticed until the Carolingian period. Ancient grammarians
had employed three signs for marking divisions of
speech, the point low down, or comma, for a brief pause;
the point halfway up, or the colon, for medial-length
pauses; and the point at the top, or the period, for the
end of sentences. This simple classical system became the
basis for medieval punctuation. It was further modified
by the introduction of new signs such as the semicolon
and the two-point colon for medial pauses and the ques-
tion mark during the Carolingian era. Other marks of
punctuation were added in the later Middle Ages to
divide texts according to content, such as the paragraph
sign (¶ and the section mark (§). The use of all of these
conventions varied with time and place. Modern punctu-
ation was derived from these medieval conventions.
See alsoCASSIODORUS,SENATOR; PALEOGRAPHY; PRINT-
ING, ORIGINS OF.
Further reading:Bernhard Bischoff, Latin Paleogra-
phy: Antiquity and the Middle Ages,trans. Dáibhí óCróinín
and David Ganz (Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 1990); Peter Clemoes, Liturgical Influence on Punc-
tuation in Late Old English and Early Middle English
Manuscripts(Binghamton: CEMERS, 1980); Malcolm B.
Parkes, Pause and Effect: An Introduction to the History of
Punctuation in the West(Berkeley: University of California
Press, 1993).punishment SeeCRIME, PUNISHMENT AND THE COURTS;
LASTJUDGMENT.purgatory Purgatory designated the place where the
SOULof those who had not yet expiated their venial sins
went after DEATH. This idea gradually took shape from a
slow development of ideas, beliefs, and practices con-
cerning the destiny of the soul immediately after death.
Purgatory did not have a scriptural basis. It was tied
essentially to the custom and practice of praying for the
dead, which in turn was linked to the belief that the con-
dition of life beyond the grave could be alleviated by