Medieval manuscripts letters12/27/2022 ![]() In Ductus, the following is noted: “In de luxe manuscripts a medial or raised punctus was sometimes used to separate words in order to facilitate the reading of the text . ![]() In simpler terms, the punctus is a dot which can take on a variety of functions and sit wherever it wants to.” In this case, it is denoting an end to a word or abbreviation. ![]() This was a common practice during this time as a way to separate words, functioning “ much like the modern comma, semicolon and period. On the Trajan column, the words (or their abbreviations) are separated by dots or points, called punctus, at the medial point of the line. The third thumbnail includes a quick (albeit incomplete) view sample letters from the major scripts (T. Humanist (from around 1400 onward), which helped develop modern European handwriting.Ĭlick on one of the first two thumbnails below to see a larger view of each researcher’s individual “family tree” of script development.Gothic (12th to 16th centuries), which included different styles that depended on the region or country it was associated with (Textura, Cursive Anglicana, Litera Hybrida, etc.).Protogothic (11th to 12th centuries), which was developed in England and moved into France, incorporating Anglo-Saxon Minuscule into the earlier Caroline script.Martin’s at Tours and was greatly used throughout Europe Caroline (developed around 800), which was developed at the Abbey of St.Pre-Caroline (7th to 8th centuries), which was comprised of “national” scripts, such as Visigothic, Lexeuil, Corbie, and Insular Minuscules.Roman writing systems, which has the following developmental pattern: Square Capital => Rustic Capital => Uncial => Mixed Uncial => Semi-/Half-Uncial.According to Ductus, the six major phases of script development can be (basically) summed up as the following: Ductus also mentions that script evolution would at times become so convoluted that people would attempt to return to a more legible script of the past. Because script was not static, there were consistent developments in handwriting over time, so the phases of script development did not have a clear beginning or ending period. What does it mean if a script is bilinear?Īccording to Ductus, “ix main stages of development of Western handwriting are sometimes distinguished, though this suggests a neat and clear linear evolution which was not the case” ( Ductus, “Preliminaries: Introduction”).How do the terms majuscule and minuscule relate to the Roman Square Capital, the Roman Rustic Capital, the Uncial, and the Semi- or Half-Uncial?.After the end of the 6th century, how were Rustic Capitals and Square Capitals mostly used?.Jerome have about Uncials? Why was Jerome irritated? How did the way that the pen was held affect writing?.Why was space not left between words in this early period of writing?. ![]() What kind of writing is on the Trajan column in Rome? Are dots used to separate words on the Trajan column? Was this common practice? Is the script legible? Why?.What were the six major phases of script development?.Click the link on any question you’d like to know more about to go directly to that section. This digitisation of the Royal Letter Book in the Centre for Research Collections is available on a CC BY 3.0 licence.This page attempts to answer some important questions about the development of Roman writing systems. However, the collection also includes letters between other individuals. The overall date range of the original letters appears to be between ca.1340 and ca.1412.Īs for the contents of the letters, this covers a very wide range of domestic and international affairs of state, and most of the original letters would have emanated from either the privy seal office or the signet office of either Edward III or Richard II, or they are addressed to one of these two kings. The manuscript further contains a few copies of letters from the reign of Henry IV (1399-1413) and the copy of a single letter from the reign of Henry V (1413-1422), as well as several letters between other correspondents. ![]() MS 183, the Royal Letter Book, is an English late medieval manuscript containing contemporary copies of 374 letters, most of which belong to the reigns of Edward III (1327-1377) and Richard II (1377-1397). ![]()
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