to me being the manuscript of St. Augustine written in the Abbey of Luxeuil in A.D. 669.[26] But there are a few manuscripts of which we can say with certainty that they were written either before or after some given date.  And these manuscripts which furnish us with a terminus ante quem or post quem, as the case may be, are extremely important to us as being the only relatively safe landmarks for following development in a field that is both remote and shadowy.

  [Footnote 26:  See below, p. 16.]

The Codex Fuldensis of the Gospels, mentioned above, is our first landmark of importance.[27] It was read by Bishop Victor of Capua in the years A.D. 546 and 547, as is testified by two entries, probably autograph.  From this it follows that the manuscript was written before A.D. 546.  We may surmise—­and I think correctly—­that it was shortly before 546, if not in that very year.  In any case the Codex Fuldensis furnishes a precise terminus ante quem.

  [Footnote 27:  See below, p. 16.]

The other landmark of importance is furnished by a Berlin fragment containing a computation for finding the correct date for Easter Sunday.[28] Internal evidence makes it clear that this Computus Paschalis first saw light shortly after A.D. 447.  The presumption is that the Berlin leaves represent a very early copy, if not the original, of this composition.  In no case can these leaves be regarded as a much later copy of the original, as the following purely palaeographical considerations, that is, considerations of style and form of letters, will go to show.

  [Footnote 28:  See below, p. 16.]

Let us assume, as we do in geometry, for the sake of argument, that the Fulda manuscript and the Berlin fragment were both written about the year 500—­a date representing, roughly speaking, the middle point in the period of about one hundred years which separates the extreme limits of the dates possible for either of these two manuscripts, as the following diagram illustrates: 

Berlin Paschal Computus                Codex Fuldensis of the Gospels
A D  447 |<-----------------+------------------->| ca A D  546
A.D. 500

If our hypothesis be correct, then the script of these two manuscripts, as well as other palaeographical features, would offer striking similarities if not close resemblance.  As a matter of fact, a careful comparison of the two manuscripts discloses differences so marked as to render our assumption absurd.  The Berlin fragment is obviously much older than the Fulda manuscript.  It would be rash to specify the exact interval of time that separates these two manuscripts, yet if we remember the slow development of types of writing the conclusion seems justified that at least several generations of evolution lie between the two manuscripts.  If this be correct, we are forced to push the date of each as far back as the ascertained limit will permit, namely, the Fulda manuscript to the year 546 and the Berlin fragment to the year 447.  Thus, apparently, considerations of form and style (purely palaeographical considerations) confirm the dates derived from examination of the internal evidence, and the Berlin and Fulda manuscripts may, in effect, be considered two dated manuscripts, two definite guide-posts.