Paleography - Scripts

Carolingian minuscule

(littera minuscula Carolina)

Half-Uncial letter forms

- 7-9th c. - Straight-backed and slightly clubbed ascenders - A is usually round sometimes with a slightly open top - B and D have vertical stems, identical to the modern letters - G has a flat top, no bow, and a curved descender (somewhat resembling the digit 5) - T has a curved shaft ⟨ꞇ⟩ - N, R, and S are similar to their uncial counterparts (with the same differences compared to modern letters)

Letter forms for Roman Square Capitals

- A lacks a medial crossbar - B has small upper and big lower loop - E has an accender - E,F, and T are very short horiz. strokes - I = I and J - few contractions, ligatures, and no punctuation marks

Letter forms for Rustic Capitals

- A lacks medial crossbar - B rises above line and has big lower loop - F has longer top stroke than E and is taller

Merovingian script

- Developed by the Frankish Kingdom during the Merovingian dynasty. - 7-8th c. before the Carolingian dynasty and the development of Carolingian minuscule.

Continental Carolingian minuscule

- Minims terminating on the line with no feet

Beneventan Minuscule letter forms

- OC shape for A - T = CT - E has an ascender loop - R goes above and below line and = backwards 4 - S descends and has a round top - RI = minuscule h - CI = Ei

Carolingian minuscule (littera minuscula Carolina)

- calligraphic standard in Europe so that the Latin alphabet could be easily recognized by the literate class from one region to another. - Holy Roman Empire between 800 and 1200. - developed from the Roman half-uncial and its cursive

Insular Minuscule letter forms

- lower-grade of half-uncial script - comprised a family of different scripts used for different functions.

Beneventan Minuscule

- southern Italy, 8-13th c. & pre-Carolingian origins - features many ligatures and "connecting strokes"

Carolingian minuscule letter forms

- straight minims without feet - Uncial A - D has straight-back - R is short, S is tall - T has flat head - ambersand for 'et'

Letter forms for Uncial

- word separation - D, H, Q have new forms - E has a curved stroke - M has rounded strokes - few abbrev.

Luxeuil Minuscule

Abbey of Luxeuil, eastern France, 6-8th c., founded by Irish missionaries - had a few insular characteristics - "open-topped" A = to two c's written side-by-side - D shaft descends below the baseline - R is slightly taller more pronounced shoulder bend than S - use of ascenders with clubbed serifs at the top - ET ligature

Caroline Minuscule

Littera Minuscula Carolina

Four centers of Merovingian script. Two are?

Luxeuil and Corbie

Insular script

Used in Ireland that spread, by way of Anglo-Saxon England, to continental Europe under the influence of Irish Christianity. - Initials were surrounded by red dots - Letters with ascenders (b, d, h, l, etc.) are written with triangular or wedge-shaped tops.

Uncial (littera uncialis)

a majiscule script, 4-8th. Rounded forms as compared with square forms of capital script. - ascenders are curved and angles are rounded

Majiscule

large lettering, either capital or uncial, in which all the letters are usually the same height.