Parts Level:  YearMonthDay

Definition:  Date of origin of the manuscript when it is dated by the scribe (in a form more or less translatable to modern dating systems) or otherwise documented or datable to a range of time (for example, if dated in payment records from the original owner's surviving accounts; or if datable to a range of years defined by presence/absence of saints entered by the main scribe in the calendar of a liturgical book). If "datable" rather than dated in the true sense, explain this in the Notes field of the Part level.

Comment:  Use arabic numerals for year(s); use names of months in English (to avoid confusion between American and European usage of position of numbers for months and days); use arabic numerals for days; fill in as much as documented information allows; use comma to separate year from month; use space to separate month from day; use dash to indicate range of dates; if uncertain, use a question mark. If the date cited in this field is given by the scribe, i.e. if the manuscript is truly dated rather than datable, be sure to check the field "Dated" as Yes, since its default value is No.

Example:

• 1351 [(year only; the other elements not stated in the manuscript) for Plimpton MS 34]
• 1393, September [(year, month) for Plimpton MS 17]
• 1395, March 1 or 1396, February 20 [(signed: 6th day of Lent 1395, but unclear if following Pisan or Florentine dating system) for Plimpton MS 171; if desired, the problem with dating style could be explained in the Notes field]
• 1395, March 1 o.s. [if certainly "old style" date, not translated to modern terms because of uncertainty as to its actual meaning; n.s. is for "new style" when the date is certainly modernized for this database]
• 1351-1476 (as might occur with a register of accounts)

Properties:  Data type: text. Field size: 20 characters.

Required?:  No.