Example from 10th century manuscript

Carolingian or Caroline minuscule is a script developed as a writing standard in Europe so that the Roman alphabet could be easily recognized by the small literate class from one region to another. It was used in Charlemagne's empire between approximately 800 and 1200. Codices, pagan and Christian texts, and educational material were written in Carolingian minuscule throughout the Carolingian Renaissance. The script developed into Blackletter and became obsolete, though it forms the basis of more recent scripts. Example of Carolingian minuscule from 10th century manuscript This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... Calligraphy in a Latin Bible of AD 1407 on display in Malmesbury Abbey, Wiltshire, England. ... Europe is conventionally considered one of the seven continents of Earth which, in this case, is more a cultural and political distinction than a physiographic one, leading to various perspectives about Europes borders. ... ... Charlemagne (742 or 747 – 28 January 814) (also Charles the Great[1]; from Latin, Carolus Magnus or Karolus Magnus), son of King Pippin the Short and Bertrada of Laon, was the king of the Franks from 768 to 814 and king of the Lombards from 774 to 814. ... Centuries: 8th century - 9th century - 10th century Decades: 750s 760s 770s 780s 790s - 800s - 810s 820s 830s 840s 850s Years: 800 801 802 803 804 805 806 807 808 809 Significant Events and Trends Swedish town of Birka founded as a centre of trade on the island of Björk... Centuries: 12th century - 13th century - 14th century Decades: 1150s 1160s 1170s 1180s 1190s - 1200s - 1210s 1220s 1230s 1240s 1250s Years: 1200 1201 1202 1203 1204 1205 1206 1207 1208 1209 Events and Trends 1200 University of Paris receives charter from Philip II of France 1202-1204 Fourth Crusade - diverted to... first page of the Codex Argenteus A codex (Latin for block of wood, book; plural codices) is a handwritten book, in general one produced from Late Antiquity through the Middle Ages. ... Paganism (from Latin paganus) and heathenry are blanket terms which have come to connote a broad set of spiritual or religious beliefs and practices of natural or polytheistic religions, as opposed to the Abrahamic monotheistic religions. ... A Christian is a follower of Jesus Christ. ... Sample of Carolingian minuscule, one of the products of the Carolingian Renaissance. ... Blackletter in a Latin Bible of AD 1407, on display in Malmesbury Abbey, Wiltshire, England. ...

Creation

Page of text (folio 160v) from a Carolingian Gospel Book (British Library, MS Add. 11848), written in Carolingian minuscule.

The script ultimately developed from Roman Half Uncial and its cursive version, which had given rise to various Continental minuscule scripts, combined with features from the "Insular" scripts that were being used in Irish and English monasteries. Carolingian minuscule was created partly under the patronage of the Emperor Charlemagne (hence Carolingian). Charlemagne had a keen interest in learning, according to his biographer Einhard: Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1397x1829, 185 KB)Page of text (folio 160v) from a Carolingian Gospel Book (British Library, MS Add. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1397x1829, 185 KB)Page of text (folio 160v) from a Carolingian Gospel Book (British Library, MS Add. ... The Book of Kells, c. ... A modern example of ancient (or old) Roman cursive; hae sunt litterae romanae (these are Roman letters) Roman cursive is a form of handwriting used in ancient Rome and to some extent into the Middle Ages. ... The beginning of the Gospel of Mark from the Book of Durrow. ... Royal motto (French): Dieu et mon droit (Translated: God and my right) Englands location (dark green) within the United Kingdom (light green), with the Republic of Ireland (blue) to its west Languages None official English de facto Capital None official London de facto Largest city London Area – Total Ranked... Einhard as scribe Einhard (also Eginhard or Einhart) (born about 775 in the valley of the River Main, died March 14, 840, at Seligenstadt, Germany) was a Frankish historian and a dedicated servant of Charlemagne. ...

Temptabat et scribere tabulasque et codicellos ad hoc in lecto sub cervicalibus circumferre solebat, ut, cum vacuum tempus esset, manum litteris effigiendis adsuesceret, sed parum successit labor praeposterus ac sero inchoatus. ("He also tried to write, and used to keep tablets and blanks in bed under his pillow, that at leisure hours he might accustom his hand to form the letters; however, as he did not begin his efforts in due season, but late in life, they met with ill success.")

Charlemagne sent for the English scholar Alcuin of York to run his palace school and scriptorium at his capital, Aachen. The revolutionary character of the Carolingian reform can be over-emphasized; efforts at taming the crabbed Merovingian and Germanic hands had been under way before Alcuin arrived at Aachen, where he was master from 782 to 796, with a two-year break. The new minuscule was disseminated first from Aachen, and later from the influential scriptorium at Tours, France, where Alcuin "retired" as an abbot. Rabanus Maurus (left), supported by Alcuin (middle), presents his work to Otgar of Mainz Flaccus Albinus Alcuinus or Ealhwine (c. ... York is a city in northern England, at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss. ... A Scriptorium was a room or building, usually within a Christian monastery where, during medieval times, manuscripts were written. ... Aachen (French Aix-la-Chapelle, Dutch Aken, Latin Aquisgranum, Ripuarian Oche) is a spa city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, on the border with Belgium and the Netherlands, 65 km to the west of Cologne, and the westernmost city in Germany. ... Merovingian script was a medieval script so called because it was developed in France during the Merovingian dynasty. ... Events Alcuin becomes teacher to Charlemagne and his court. ... Events December - Coenwulf becomes king of Mercia. ... Location within France Tours Cathedral: 15th century Flamboyante Gothic west front with Renaissance pinnacles, 1547 Tours Cathedral. ... Abbots coat of arms The word abbot, meaning father, has been used as a Christian clerical title in various, mainly monastic, meanings. ...

Characteristics

Carolingian minuscule was clear and uniform, with rounded shapes, disciplined and above all, legible. Clear capital letters and spaces between words — norms we take for granted — became standard in Carolingian minuscule, which was one result of a campaign to achieve a culturally unifying standardization across the Carolingian Empire.

The value of a standardized hand is vivid to anyone who has tried to read a paragraph printed in Germanic blackletter typeface, a fact that was not lost on the Nazi government in their attempt to create an isolated, purely 'Germanic' information zone. Legibility may appear to be of secondary value, even a drawback, in some cultural contexts. Traditional charters for example continued to be written in a Merovingian "chancery hand" long after manuscripts of Scripture and classical literature were being produced in the minuscule hand. Documents written in a local language, in Gothic or Anglo-Saxon rather than Latin, tended to be expressed in traditional local handwritings. Blackletter in a Latin Bible of AD 1407, on display in Malmesbury Abbey, Wiltshire, England. ... National Socialism redirects here. ... Merovingian script was a medieval script so called because it was developed in France during the Merovingian dynasty. ... The Gothic language (*gutiska razda, * ) is an extinct Germanic language that was spoken by the Goths and specifically by the Visigoths. ... Old English (also called Anglo-Saxon) is an early form of the English language that was spoken in parts of what is now England and southern Scotland between the mid-fifth century and the mid-twelfth century. ...

Carolingian script generally has fewer ligatures than other contemporary scripts, although the ampersand, ae, rt, st, and ct ligatures are common. The letter d often appears in an uncial form, with an ascender slanting to the left, but the letter g is essentially the same as the modern minuscule letter, rather than the previously common uncial g. Ascenders are usually 'clubbed' - i.e they become thicker near the top. In writing and typography, a ligature occurs where two or more letterforms are written or printed as a unit. ... Calligraphy in a Latin Bible of AD 1407 on display in Malmesbury Abbey, Wiltshire, England. ... The roman ampersand at left is stylised, but the italic one at right reveals its origin in the Latin word An ampersand (&, &, &), also commonly called an and sign, is a logogram representing the conjunction and. ... The ascenders are the parts of the characters that lie above the midline, highlighted in red. ...

The early period of the script, during Charlemagne's reign in the late 8^th century and early 9^th, still has widely varying letter forms in different regions. The uncial form of the letter a is still used in manuscripts from this period. There is also use of punctuation such as the question mark, as in Beneventan script of the same period. The script flourished during the 9^th century, when regional hands developed into an international standard, with less variation of letter forms. Modern forms such as S and V began to appear (as opposed to the "long s" and the letter u), and ascenders, after thickening at the top, were finished with a three-cornered wedge. The script began to decline slowly after the 9^th century. In the 10^th and 11^th centuries, ligatures were rare, and ascenders began to slant to the right and were finished with a fork. The letter w also began to appear. By the 12^th century, Carolingian letters became more angular and were written closer together, less legibly than in previous centuries; at the same time, the modern dotted i appeared. (7th century — 8th century — 9th century — other centuries) Events The Iberian peninsula is taken by Arab and Berber Muslims, thus ending the Visigothic rule, and starting almost 8 centuries of Muslim presence there. ... As a means of recording the passage of time the 9th century was that century that lasted from 801 to 900. ... The question mark (also known as an interrogation point, query, or eroteme) is a punctuation mark that replaces the full stop at the end of an interrogative sentence. ... Rule of St. ... The title of this article is incorrect due to technical limitations. ... As a means of recording the passage of time, the 10th century was that century which lasted from 901 to 1000. ... As a means of recording the passage of time, the 11th century was that century which lasted from 1001 to 1100. ... (11th century - 12th century - 13th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 12th century was that century which lasted from 1101 to 1200. ...

A page of the Freising manuscripts, 10^th century Slovene text written in Carolingian minuscules

Download high resolution version (635x800, 111 KB)One page of Freising manuscripts The image is taken from the Slovenian Government Public Relations and Media Offices site. ... Download high resolution version (635x800, 111 KB)One page of Freising manuscripts The image is taken from the Slovenian Government Public Relations and Media Offices site. ... The Freising Manuscripts (also Freising Monuments; Slovene Brižinski spomeniki, German Freisinger Denkmäler, Latin Monumenta Frisingensia, Slovak Frizinské pamiatky) are the first Roman-script record of any Slavic language. ...

Spread

The new script spread through Western Europe most widely where Carolingian influence was strongest. It reached far afield: the 10^th century Freising manuscripts, the first Roman-script record of any Slavic language, which contain the oldest Slovene language are written in Carolingian minuscule. In Switzerland, Carolingian was used in the Rhaetian and Alemannic minuscule types. Manuscripts written in Rhaetian minuscule tend to have slender letters, resembling Insular script, with the letters a and t, and ligatures such as ri, showing similar to Visigothic and Beneventan. Alemannic minuscule, used for a short time in the early 9^th century, is usually larger and broader, very vertical compared to the slanting Rhaetian type. In Austria, Salzburg was the major centre of Carolingian script, while Fulda, Mainz, and Würzburg were the major centres in Germany. German minuscule tends to be oval-shaped, very slender, and slants to the right. It has uncial features as well, such as the ascender of the letter d slanting to the left, and vertical initial strokes of m and n. The Freising Manuscripts (also Freising Monuments; Slovene Brižinski spomeniki, German Freisinger Denkmäler, Latin Monumenta Frisingensia, Slovak Frizinské pamiatky) are the first Roman-script record of any Slavic language. ... The Latin alphabet, also called the Roman alphabet, is the most widely used alphabetic writing system in the world today. ... The Slavic languages (also called Slavonic languages) comprise the languages of the Slavic peoples. ... This article needs cleanup. ... Flag of Salzburg Salzburg (population 145,000 in 2005) is a city in western Austria and the capital of the federal state of Salzburg (population 520,000 in 2003). ... Fulda is a city in Hessen, Germany; it is located on the Fulda River and is the administrative seat of the Fulda district. ... Mainz is a city in Germany and the capital of the German federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate. ... Würzburg is a city in the region of Franconia which lies in the northern tip of Bavaria, Germany. ...

In northern Italy, the monastery at Bobbio used Carolingian minuscule beginning in the 9th century. Outside the sphere of influence of Charlemagne and his successors, however, the new legible hand was resisted by the Roman Curia; nevertheless the Romanesca type was developed in Rome after the 10^th century. The script was not taken up in England and Ireland until ecclesiastic reforms in the middle of the tenth century; in Spain a traditionalist Visigothic hand survived; and in southern Italy a 'Beneventan minuscule' survived in the lands of the Lombard Duchy of Benevento through the thirteenth century, although Romanesca eventually also appeared in southern Italy. Stone arch bridge over the Trebbia river Bobbio is a city in the Piacenza province of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. ... The Roman Curia (sometimes, if inaccurately, called the Vatican) is the administrative apparatus of the Holy See, coordinating and providing the necessary organisation for the correct functioning of the Catholic Church and the achievement of its goals. ... City motto: Senatus Populusque Romanus – SPQR (The Senate and the People of Rome) Founded 21 April 753 BC (mythical), early 1st millennium BC (archaeological) Region Latium Area  - City Proper  1285 km² Population  - City (2004)  - Metropolitan  - Density (city proper) 2,553,873 almost 4,300,000 1. ... Visigothic script was a type of medieval script, so called because it originated in the Visigothic kingdom in Spain. ... Rule of St. ... The Lombards or Longobards or Langobards were the Germanic tribe who gave their name to Lombardy, an administrative entity in Northern Italy. ... Benevento is a town and archiepiscopal see of Campania, Italy, capital of the province of Benevento, 32 miles northeast of Naples. ...

Role in Cultural Transmission

Scholars during the Carolingian renaissance sought out and copied in the new legible standardized hand many Roman texts that had been wholly forgotten. Most of our knowledge of classical literature now derives from copies made in the scriptoria of Charlemagne. There are over 7000 manuscripts written in Carolingian script surviving from the 8^th and 9^th centuries alone. Sample of Carolingian minuscule, one of the products of the Carolingian Renaissance. ...

Though the Carolingian minuscule was superseded by Gothic hands, it later seemed so thoroughly 'classic' to the humanists of the early Renaissance that they took these Carolingian manuscripts to be true Roman ones and modelled their Renaissance hand on the Carolingian one, and thus it passed to the 15^th century printers of books, like Aldus Manutius of Venice. In this way it is the basis of our modern typefaces. Indeed 'Carolingian minuscule' is a style of typographic font, which approximates this historical hand, eliminating the nuances of size of capitals, long descenders, etc.. Gothic script was a medieval script used throughout Western Europe from approximately 1150 to 1500. ... (14th century - 15th century - 16th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 15th century was that century which lasted from 1401 to 1500. ... Aldus Manutius (1449/50 - February 6, 1515), the Latin form of Aldo Manuzio (born Teobaldo Mannucci) was the founder of the Aldine Press. ... A Specimen of typeset fonts and languages, by William Caslon, letter founder; from the 1728 Cyclopaedia. ...

See also

• Ada Gospels

Folio 85v of the Ada Gospels contains the evangelist portrait of Luke The Ada Gospels (Trier, Staatsbibliothek, Cod. ...

External links

• Carolingian minuscule, in Dr. Dianne Tillotson's website devoted to medieval writing.