Medieval Scripts

The medieval scripts described on the Sexy Codicology website are those listed in the Art & Architecture Thesaurus^[1]. This list serves as a well defined starting point and gives us solid foundations for further  expand and describe these medieval scripts. The Art & Architecture Thesaurus follows this hierarchy:

Medieval Scripts

• Beneventan minuscule
• Caroline minuscule

Gothic scripts

• Bastarda
• Gothic cursive
• Textura (Gothic script)

Half uncial

Humanistic scripts

• Antiqua
• Humanistic cursive

Insular scripts

• Insular majuscule
• Insular minuscule

Later Roman cursive

Merovingian scripts

• Luxeuil script
• Merovingian chancery script

Older Roman cursive

Protogothic

Rustic capitals

Square capitals

Uncial

Visigothic minuscule^[2]

This list, retrieved from the Art & Architecture Thesaurus Online does not include “Minuscule” and “Majuscule”, as they are defined respectively as Scripts some of whose letters have ascenders or descenders above or below a general base line and top line^[3], and Alphabetic scripts whose letters are confined between head and base lines with no ascenders or descenders^[4]. Copperplate (script) has also been removed from the list since it represents a style dominant in the 18th century^[5] and falls outside of the scope of this “medieval scripts” list.

Additional Resources

• Medieval Writing, by Dr Dianne Tillotson
• Medieval writing systems as listed by Wikipedia.