Autographs of French Kings from the collection of Nikolay Likhachev

Abstract

This article continues the study of the acts and letters of the King of France Louis XI (1461– 1483), stored in the Scientific and Historical Archives of the St. Petersburg Institute of History RAS and originating from the collection of Nikolay Petrovich Likhachev (1862–1936). In the process of preparing documents for publication, the author had to face the problem of attribution of autographs. Since researchers have long known that some secretaries of Louis XI had the right to sign documents on behalf of the king, the authenticity of these signatures needs to be proven. The question of signature was traditionally developed in French historiography. So, in 2015 the work devoted to the birth and development of the signature in France in the Middle Ages was published. Among other things, the author examines autographs of Louis XI trying to solve the problem of the authorship of signatures. However, he does not always manage to come to any conclusion. We have tried to supply the method of palaeographic research used by the author by forensic handwriting expertise. The analysis showed that the handwriting of Louis XI can be called a medium-developed one. It is distinguished by the rhythm, the high degree of the motor skill and the regularity (consistent heights and widths). The signature of Louis XI can be attributed to the signatures of a complex design, which are not easy to imitate. At the same time, the royal secretaries, who had the right to imitate the King’s handwriting, belonged to the category of high-level specialists, therefore, the signature they made differed only by insignificant details. One of the brightest signs of imitation of the handwriting of another person is the reduction of the coordination of movements, which is manifested in the large and small sinuosity and angularity of strokes, prevalence of adhesions over conjoint elements, thickness at the beginnings and terminations of strokes, unjustified stops of a feather as well as undifferentiated pressing. All these characteristics were found in the autographs of Louis XI from the Scientific Archives of St. Petersburg Institute of History. Thus, it can be concluded with a certain degree of probability that these signatures didn’t belong to the king himself.