:''See

Rotte (lyre) :''See Rotte (psaltery) for the medieval psaltery, or Crwth, Rote for the fiddle'' Rotte or rotta is a historical name for the List of early Germanic peoples, Germanic lyre, used in northwestern Europe in the early medieval period (circa 450 A.D ...

for the medieval lyre, or Rote for the fiddle'' During the 11th to 15th century A.D., rotte (German) or rota (Spanish) referred to a triangular

psaltery :''See Rotte (psaltery) for medieval harp psaltery & Ancient Greek harps for earlier psalterion'' A psaltery () (or sawtry, an archaic form) is a fretboard-less box zither (a simple chordophone) and is considered the archetype of the zither and ...

illustrated in the hands of King David and played by

jongleur A minstrel was an entertainer, initially in medieval Europe. The term originally described any type of entertainer such as a musician, juggler, acrobat, singer or fool; later, from the sixteenth century, it came to mean a specialist enterta ...

s (popular musicians who might play the music of

troubadour A troubadour (, ; ) was a composer and performer of Old Occitan lyric poetry during the High Middle Ages (1100–1350). Since the word ''troubadour'' is etymologically masculine, a female equivalent is usually called a ''trobairitz''. The tr ...

s) and cytharistas (Latin word for a musician who plays string instruments). Besides being played in popular music, the church may have used them as well; a letter from Cuthbert, Abbot of Jarrow, England survives, in which he asks an archbishop to send him a ''cytharista'' to play the ''rotta''. The instruments least 10 strings on each side and were held like a harp in front of the musician. Rottes were also described as having 17 stings and 22 strings on each side. The playing position was different from other psalteries, as the Rotte might be held like a harp, leaned sideways (flat against the musician's chest), or rested on the lap. Two styles of rotte have been inferred from images: the first is a triangular box with strings on one side, the other has strings on both sides (both hands playing at once, resembling a harp). The instruments are shown played with both plectrum and with fingers. The names ''chrotta'', ''rotte'', ''rotta'', ''rota'' and ''rote'' have been applied to different stringed instruments, including a psaltery,

lyre The lyre () (from Greek λύρα and Latin ''lyra)'' is a string instrument, stringed musical instrument that is classified by Hornbostel–Sachs as a member of the History of lute-family instruments, lute family of instruments. In organology, a ...

and to a

Crwth :''See Rotte (psaltery), Rotte for the psaltery, or Rotte (lyre), Rotte for the plucked lyre.'' The crwth ( , ), also called a crowd or rote or crotta, is a bowed lyre, a type of string instrument, stringed instrument, associated particularly w ...

(necked lyre played as a fiddle or lute). In the 15th century it was also used to name a fiddle, synonymous with the

rebec The rebec (sometimes rebecha, rebeckha, and other spellings, pronounced or ) is a bowed stringed instrument of the Medieval era and the early Renaissance. In its most common form, it has a narrow boat-shaped body and one to five strings. Origins ...

. Knowing a rotte (psaltery) from a triangular harp in the medieval miniatures can be challenging; rottes may have sound holes visible, if the artist is putting that level of detail into the painting. Similarly, harps show background through the strings if the artist painted sufficient detail.

Harp versus zither

:''See

Psaltery :''See Rotte (psaltery) for medieval harp psaltery & Ancient Greek harps for earlier psalterion'' A psaltery () (or sawtry, an archaic form) is a fretboard-less box zither (a simple chordophone) and is considered the archetype of the zither and ...

for more versions &

Ancient Greek harps The psalterion (Greek ψαλτήριον) is a stringed, plucked instrument, an ancient Greek harp. Psalterion was a general word for harps in the latter part of the 4th century B.C. It meant "plucking instrument". In addition to their most imp ...

for earlier psalterion'' Another complication in interpreting images involves the writers and artist from the past. The artists and church in the 4th-5th centuries A.D. wrote about a triangular-shaped psalterium, holy to them because the 3 sides represented the

Trinity The Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the Christian doctrine concerning the nature of God, which defines one God existing in three, , consubstantial divine persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ) and God the Holy Spirit, thr ...

. This fondness for the idea of the psalterium didn't overcome the early church's (1st-2nd century A.D.) overall program of shunning the use of musical instruments, which they associated with paganism. They were so successful in this that the harp was largely unknown in Christian Europe for centuries. In the

Carolingian Renaissance The Carolingian Renaissance was the first of three medieval renaissances, a period of cultural activity in the Carolingian Empire. Charlemagne's reign led to an intellectual revival beginning in the 8th century and continuing throughout the 9th ...

, they looked at images and descriptions of the triangular-shaped psalterium and didn't realize that it was an "open, vertical,

angular harp Angular harp is a category of musical instruments in the Hornbostel-Sachs system of musical instrument classification. It describes a harp in which "the neck makes a sharp angle with the resonator," the two arms forming an "open" harp. The harp ...

" of Asian style, once familiar to Christians. These religious academics understood the contemporary (for them) rotte triangular psaltery, which they illustrated in the hands of King David, but they did not understand the details of the ancient psalterium ( Ancient Greek harp). File:Psalterion 001.jpg, Woman playing triangular frame-harp, a psaltērion or trigōnon, in red-figure pottery from Apulia, ca. 320–310 BC C. Anzi (British Museum). File:Cappella Palatina-ceiling-ISL15002.jpg, Likely psaltery, as no sound holes are visible. Solid wood color and lack of detail between strings also indicate this is not a harp. Palatine Chapel, circa 1140 A.D. File:King David with a harp, from the Vivian Bible, Paris, Bibliothèque nationale, Latin 1, folio 215v.jpg, Detail visible through the harp stings.

First Bible of Charles the Bald The First Bible of Charles the Bald ( BNF Lat. 1), also known as the Vivian Bible, is a Carolingian-era Bible commissioned by Count Vivian of Tours in 845, the lay abbot of Saint-Martin de Tours, and presented to Charles the Bald in 846 on a vi ...

, 9th century A.D. The harp in this picture has been called "an unreal psaltery in the form of an almost equilateral triangle," an attempt to illustrate ancient instruments from the Bible, by 9th-10th century Europeans. File:Britannica Cithara Asiatic Cithara.jpg, ''Rotta'' applied in the 20th century to an ancient musical instrument in lyre form, in transition to become a

cythara The cythara is a wide group of stringed instruments of medieval and Renaissance Europe, including not only the lyre and harp but also necked, string instruments. In fact, unless a medieval document gives an indication that it meant a necked inst ...

lute or

crwth :''See Rotte (psaltery), Rotte for the psaltery, or Rotte (lyre), Rotte for the plucked lyre.'' The crwth ( , ), also called a crowd or rote or crotta, is a bowed lyre, a type of string instrument, stringed instrument, associated particularly w ...

-style fiddle. File:Obradoiro David 02-01.JPG, 1168 to 1211 A.D. Sculpture by Master Mateo of David playing probable rotte (by this era, harps had a different shape). Instrument is similar to those drawn in Utrecht Psalter.

Harps in Europe

:''See

Origin of the harp in Europe The origins of the triangular frame harp are unclear. Triangular objects on the laps of seated figures appear in artwork of Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales, as well as other parts of north-west Europe. This page outlines some of the schola ...

'' According to the New Grove Encyclopedia of Musical Instruments, there are no evidence in images or sculpture to "suggest the existence of harps in western Europe" between the 4th century BCE and the 8th century CE. "Triangular harps" can be seen in manuscript miniatures and in sculpture starting about 900 A.D. Ancient examples in "Italo-Greek" vases in the 5th to 4th centuries BCE depict Asian harps. Christian art furnished examples of the existence of the harp in the late 8th to early 10th century CE, in the Dagulf Psalter made in

Aachen Aachen is the List of cities in North Rhine-Westphalia by population, 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, 27th-largest city of Germany, with around 261,000 inhabitants. Aachen is locat ...

and the Utrecht Psalter. The Harley Psalter, copied the Utrecht Psalter, but the artist changed the look of the instruments. File:David, Musée du Louvre Objets d'art MR 370.jpg, Dagulf Psalter, artwork for cover, late 8th century CE Utrechts-Psalter PSALM-67 instruments.jpg, Utrecht Psalter. Harp; both hands are visible through the strings. Utrechts-Psalter PSALM-80 cithara and harp.jpg, Utrecht Psalter. This is a harp, because the far hand is visible through the strings. Utrechts-Psalter PSALM-149-PSALM-150 timpanum drum psalterio.jpg, Both

and harp visible Harley Psalter folio 24v instruments.jpg, Harley Psalter, in which the harp is shown with better detail File:Westminster Psalter David.jpg, circa 1200 A.D. David playing European harp.

Rottes

File:Utrechts-Psalter PSALM-107 psaltery and cithara.jpg, 850 A.D., Utrecht Psalter. Cited as the "first representation" of a rotte along with a spade-shaped

lute A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck (music), neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted. More specifically, the term "lu ...

. File:Utrechts-Psalter PSALM-48 psaltery.jpg, 850 A.D., Utrecht Psalter. Unable to see detail through strings. File:Utrechts-Psalter PSALM-91 harp and cythara.jpg, 850 A.D., Utrecht Psalter. Unable to see detail through strings. File:Rotte from harley ms 4951 folio 295v.jpg, 11th century A.D.,

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

, France. Rotte from harley ms 4951 folio 295v File:Rota, from the Harley MS 2804 fro the Worms Bible, Germany 12th century.jpg, Rota, from the Harley MS 2804 from the Worms Bible, Germany 1025-1075 A.D. File:Anonyme Le Roi David et ses musiciens (ME 102) 1.jpg, 12th century A.D., France, at the cloister of the priory of La Daurade in Toulouse. King David and his musicians File:BasílicaDeSanVicente20110619105342P1120397.jpg, 1150-1200 A.D.,Spain, Basilica de San Vincente. Man playing the rota, from the Cenotaph of Saints Vicente, Sabina and Cristeta. File:King David playing rotte, Psalter of Polirone, Mantua, Teresiana Library, ms. 340, f. 1v-2r.jpg, Circa 1100 A.D., Italy. King David playing rotte accompanied by a man playing fiddle, from the Psalter of Polirone, Mantua, Teresiana Library, ms. 340, f. 1v-2r File:Rotte psaltery from Klosterneuburg, Augustinian Canonry, Cod. 987 'Prayer book of Leopold the Saint'.jpg, Circa 1075-1100 A.D.,

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony is a States of Germany, German state (') in Northern Germany, northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ' of the Germany, Federal Re ...

. Rotte psaltery from Klosterneuburg, Augustinian Canonry, Cod. 987 'Prayer book of Leopold the Saint' File:King David holding a psaltery or rota, from the Stavronikita monastery, Stavronikita Ms No 46.jpg, 12th century A.D., Greece. King David playing rota, from the Stavronikita monastery, Stavronikita Ms No 46 File:King David playing rotte, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Latin 2508, folio IIv.jpg, 1125 A.D., Italy. King David with a rotte. File:Elders with a psaltery and rota, Santo Domingo de Soria.jpg, 12th century, Spain. Two of the 24 Elders of the Apocalypse with a psaltery and rota, Santo Domingo de Soria. File:Elder of the Apocalypse with rota, Santo Domingo de Soria.jpg, 12th century A.D., Spain. One of the 24 Elders of the Apocalypse with a rota, Santo Domingo de Soria. File:Digenes Akritas and his wife Eydokia, detail from silver cup, made in Cilician Armenia.jpg, 1150-1159 A.D.,

Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia The Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, also known as Cilician Armenia, Lesser Armenia, Little Armenia or New Armenia, and formerly known as the Armenian Principality of Cilicia, was an Armenian state formed during the High Middle Ages by Armenian ...

. Digenes Akritas and his wife Eydokia,from romance story Digenes Akritas. Digenes playing a rotta or possibly harp. His far hand grips the outside of the instrument, making it appear solid like a rotta. File:Musicians playing rota, busines and drum welcome Emperor Nikephoros II Phokas, from Skylitzes Chronicle (Cod. Vitr. 26-2, folio 145v).jpg, 13th century, Palermo Sicily. Musicians playing rota, busines and drum welcome Emperor Nikephoros II Phokas, from Skylitzes Chronicle (Cod. Vitr. 26-2, folio 145b) File:Skylitzes Manuscript, Madrid, National Library, codex vitr. 26-2, page 173 (folio 78r), cropped for musicians, medium sharpening.jpg, 13th century, Palermo Sicily. Madrid Skylitzes (Cod. Vitr. 26-2, folio 78r) File:María3.jpg, 13th century, Spain, from the Codice Rico. File:TI-1 fol-023R King playing psaltery.jpg, 13th century, Spain, from the Codice Rico. A rotte with 15 strings visible. File:King David with Rotte (psaltery), Saint-Florent-le-Vieil - abby.jpg, circa 14th century A.D., Saint-Florent-le-Vieil abby, Normandy. King David with Rotte File:View 16 from Liber astrologiae by Georgius Fendulus.webp, 1301-1400, France. A rotte (rota), viola with bow and European harp, from view 16 of Liber astrologiae by Georgius Fendulus

References

{{Reflist Medieval musical instruments Early musical instruments Box zithers