thumb|[[Dominican Rite|Dominican Missal, c. 1240, with rubrics in red (Historical Museum of Lausanne)]]

thumb|Rubrics in an illuminated [[gradual of c. 1500]]

A rubric is a word or section of text that is traditionally written or printed in red ink for emphasis. The word derives from the Latin , meaning red ochre or red chalk, and originates in medieval illuminated manuscripts from the 13th century or earlier. In these, red letters were used to highlight initial capitals (particularly of psalms), section headings and names of religious significance, a practice known as rubrication, which was a separate stage in the production of a manuscript.

Rubric can also mean the red ink or paint used to make rubrics, or the pigment used to make it. Although red was most often used, other colours came into use from the late Middle Ages onwards, and the word rubric was used for these also. Medievalists can use patterns of rubrication to help identify textual traditions.

Various figurative senses of the word have been extended from its original meaning. Usually these senses are used within the set phrase "under [whatever] rubric", for example, "under this rubric, [X is true]", or "[X was done] under the rubric of Y". Such senses include: "an authoritative rule"; "the title of a statute";

Instructions for a priest explaining what he must do during a liturgy were traditionally rubricated in missals and the other liturgical books, whereas the texts to be spoken aloud were in black. From this, "rubric" has a secondary denotation of an instruction in a text, regardless of how it is actually inscribed. This is the oldest recorded definition in English, found in 1375. Less formally, "rubrics" may refer to any liturgical action customarily performed, whether or not pursuant to a written instruction. The history, status, and authority of the content of rubrics are significant, and sometimes controversial, among liturgical scholars. In the past, some theologians distinguished between rubrics which they considered of Divine origin and those merely of human origin. Rubrics were probably originally verbal, and then written in separate volumes. The earliest extant liturgical books do not contain them, but from references in texts of the first millennium it appears that written versions existed. In liturgical books such as the Catholic Roman Missal, lengthy general rubrics, probably printed in black, pertain to such matters and preface the actual order of liturgies, which contain shorter, specific rubrics that still are usually rubricated. Red is also often used to distinguish words spoken by the celebrant and those by the congregation, or by other specific persons involved in the liturgy, e.g., those marrying.

After the development of printing

thumb|right|Page from the 1896 Kelmscott Press edition of the 13th century Laudes Beatae Mariae Virginis, with numbers and first lines of the [[Psalms rubricated in between prayers in black.

Around 1900, rubrication was incorporated into a red letter edition of the King James Version of the Bible to distinguish the Dominical words, i.e., those spoken by Jesus Christ during his corporeal life on Earth, because that translation lacked quotation marks. Other versions of the Bible have since adopted the popular practice.

Rubrics in education

A rubric is an explicit set of criteria used for assessing a particular type of work or performance and provides more details than a single grade or mark. Rubrics, therefore, help teachers grade more objectively and "they improve students' ability to include required elements of an assignment".

See also

  • Code of Rubrics
  • Rubrication
  • Scriptorium

References

  • Glossary of Manuscript Terms British Library
  • Rubrics of the Anglican Low Mass (from 1931) Very full set of rubrics (more than a normal service book would include); perversely, the words to be spoken are here shown in red, and the rubrics in black.
  • Catholic Order of Mass Rubrics showing who speaks are in red; others in small italics.
  • Kelmscott Press Examples of Kelmscott Press pages showing use of red accents.
  • So this then is the preachment entitled Chicago tongue A "flip book" presentation of the Roycroft Press edition , illustrating use of rubrics in the Arts and Crafts tradition.
  • Good Recipes This cookbook published by the Woman's Society of the Winnetka Congregational Church in 1906 shows the influence of Arts and Crafts rubrics on everyday typography in the early 20th century.