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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.'"

4 of 226 comments (clear)

  1. ::facepalm:: by Pojut · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Yeah...because god, the creator and lord of all things, is going to enforce human laws.

    "God must be greater than the greatest of human weaknesses and, indeed, the greatest of human skill. God must even transcend our most remarkable-to emulate nature in its absolute splendor. How can any man or woman sin against such greatness of mind? How can one little carbon unit on Earth-in the backwaters of the Milky Way, the boondocks-betray God, ALMIGHTY? That is impossible. The height of arrogance is the height of control of those who create God in their own image."

    --
    Living With a Nerd
  2. Slashdot's categories are broken. by FiloEleven · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Things like this are in News, while things like research on how monkeys make the same mistakes humans do when it comes to money are thrown in Idle. This story is a novelty while that one has implications for how we do things. These are far from the only examples. What gives?

    I don't think I'd mind nearly as much if Idle's comments page wasn't so broken; it makes a story otherwise worth discussing too much of a pain in the ass.

    --
    Your brain is not a computer.
  3. Re:That's not copy protection by tenco · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Guess i'll abandon /. anytime soon. It's become News for the gulli(ble). Stuff that's illogical. With ads.

  4. Re:That's not copy protection by The+Spoonman · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    I'm an atheist, and I approve this comment.

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