Course Enrollment: ME-302 Palaeography: Reading and Understanding Historical Documents

Important notice: The ME-205 Latin for Genealogists course is a mandatory Methodology course and a prerequisite to ME-302 Palaeography: Reading and Understanding Historical Documents as of 1 January 2025. All students who have not finished the full Basic and Intermediate Methodology Certificates by 31 December 2024 will need to add this course to your program. 

Required Print Course Material: Palaeography Workbook Only

NOTE: The Workbook was updated on 

*Course materials will only be sent to students who are registered in the course.

Tackle unfamiliar documents spanning the past five hundred years. The primary goal involves transcribing the unfamiliar writing in old documents to the modern-day hand. As Britain had a major influence on the cosmopolitan development of North America, examples will be taken from British and Canadian resources. Introduction to the following topics:

• Writing Materials
  
• Palaeography
  
• Roman Numerals
  
• Currency
  
• The Calendar
  
• The Religious Calendar
  
• Weights and Measures
  
• Origin of Family Names
  
• Social Structure in Britain
  
• Occupations
  
• Introduction to Latin Terminology
  
• Bibliography
  

The workbook provides physical hand/eye coordination practice needed for evaluating antique documents.