116v

[-JKP-]

JKP - I read your post and find it very plausible. The messy word does look as if the scribe changed his mind and tried to write out the ligature more fully, then changed his mind again and just started a new word. 

Are you sure it's cere and not tere though?

I'm not sure of any of it, it's just one way of possibly reading not only the shapes, but the situation.

To me the messy word looks more accidental than intentional (like a mistake) in which case who knows what was originally intended.

If it were originally a "t" with something following that was changed, then "tere" (or something else) is entirely possible.

If it were originally written as a VMS bench, then it might not be a "t".

If it were originally a conventional Latin "bench" ligature then many combinations of characters are possible.



The interpretation hinges partly on whether the word that follows (cere) is a corrected rewriting of the previous messy text or somewhat independent of it. If the second word is not a correction of the previous, then the messy word could be many different things, "tev", "tav", "ter", "cer", "tær" or "tœ", for example.