d his mark, or _signum manuale_,
which was attested. The cross being an easy form for a mark, it was
very commonly used and naturally became connected with the Christian
symbol. Hence, in course of time, it came to be attached very
generally to subscriptions, autograph or otherwise. Great personages
who were illiterate required something more elaborate than a common
mark. Hence arose the use of the monogram, the _caracter nominis_,
composed of the letters of the name. The emperor Justin, who could not
write, made use of a monogram, as did also Theodoric, king of the
Ostrogoths. Those Merovingian kings, likewise, who were illiterate,
had their individual monograms; and at length Charlemagne adopted the
monogram as his regular form of signature. From his reign down to that
of Philip the Fair the monogram was the recognized sign manual of the
sovereigns of France (see AUTOGRAPHS). It was employed by the German
emperors down to the reign of Maximilian I. The royal use of the
monogram was naturally imitated by great officers and ecclesiastics.
But another form of sign manual also arose out of the subscription.
The closing word (usually _subscripsi_), written or abbreviated as
_sub._, or _ss._ or _s._, was often finished off with flourishes and
interlacings, sometimes accompanied with Tironian notes, the whole
taking the shape of a domed structure to which the French have given
the name of _ruche_ or bee-hive. Thus in the early middle ages we have
deeds authenticated by the subscription, usually autograph, giving the
name and titles of the person executing, and stating the part taken by
him in the deed, and closing with the _subscripsi_, often in shape of
the ruche and constituting the _signum manuale_. If not autograph, the
subscription might be impersonal in such form as _signum_ (or _signum
manus_) + N. In the Carolingian period, while phrases were constantly
used in the body of the deed implying that it was executed by
autograph subscription, it did not necessarily follow that such
subscription was actually written in person. The ruche was also
adopted by chancellors, notaries and scribes as their official mark.
While autograph subscriptions continued to be employed, chiefly by
ecclesiastics, down to the beginning of the 12th century, the monogram
was perpetuated from the 10th century by the notaries. Their marks,
simple at first, became so elaborate from