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Medieval Copy Protection

Posted by samzenpus on from the thou-shall-write-your-own-book dept.

An anonymous reader writes "In medieval times a 'book curse' was often included on the inside cover or on the last leaf of a manuscripts, warning away anyone who might do the book some harm. Here's a particularly pretty one from Yale's Beinecke MS 214: 'In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen. In the one thousand two hundred twenty-ninth year from the incarnation of our Lord, Peter, of all monks the least significant, gave this book to the [Benedictine monastery of the] most blessed martyr, St. Quentin. If anyone should steal it, let him know that on the Day of Judgment the most sainted martyr himself will be the accuser against him before the face of our Lord Jesus Christ.'"

9 of 226 comments (clear)

  1. FBI warning by donnyspi · · Score: 4, Funny

    They should put message at the beginning of movies instead of the stupid FBI warning thing.

    1. Re:FBI warning by InsertWittyNameHere · · Score: 3, Funny

      I love how even those of us who are in Canada have to sit through the FBI warning. And Canadians have to sit through it twice (English version then French).

      They should use warning from The IT Crowd.

    2. Re:FBI warning by HermDog · · Score: 5, Funny

      If you illegally copy "Twilight" you're cursed with a copy of "Twilight"

      --
      JADBP
  2. Anti-theft device, not copy protection by decipher_saint · · Score: 3, Funny

    I think it would be pretty kick-ass to have some Saint materialize and lay on some whup-ass to would be thieves.

    *gasp* THE BISHOP!

    --
    crazy dynamite monkey
  3. No wonder by boristdog · · Score: 5, Funny

    No wonder my crops failed and there was a rain of toads on the farm after I downloaded "Superman III".

  4. Re:That's not copy protection by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Slashdot: where we don't bother reading the summary, let alone the article, when writing the headline.

  5. Re:::facepalm:: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    You're just upset because Moses yelled at you for building the golden calf.

  6. Re:Two actually by Pojut · · Score: 3, Funny

    "Coveting your neighbor's goods is what keeps the economy going! Your neighbor gets a vibrator that plays 'O Come All Ye Faithful,' so you want to get one too." -George Carlin

    --
    Living With a Nerd
  7. Holy Cow by 2names · · Score: 3, Funny

    'In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen. In the one thousand two hundred twenty-ninth year from the incarnation of our Lord, Peter, of all monks the least significant, gave this book to the [Benedictine monastery of the] most blessed martyr, St. Quentin. If anyone should steal it, let him know that on the Day of Judgment the most sainted martyr himself will be the accuser against him before the face of our Lord Jesus Christ.'

    That is the longest password I've ever seen.

    --
    "I'm just here to regulate funkiness."