Script Type : minuscule
Date : 15th century
Location : England
Function : Book hand , although similar scripts were also used as document hands.
Distinctive letters : This script has essentially similar letter forms to the bastarda book hand of the Hoccleve example also shown in this example set, but the style is notably less neat and formal. The spelling and some antiquated vocabulary can make reading the text a little tricky.
Ascenders and descenders of letters such as b, d, g, or h tend to be curled into loops. The letter k is quite elaborate, but w is simplified compared to many earlier scripts. There are two forms of s, the tall and the short and curly, and two forms of r, both tending to minimalistic. The letter j is differentiated from i by curly flourishes. The smaller letters derived from those formed with minims in formal Gothic scripts have the usual tendency to be similar, so that u,v and n can easily be confused, although there is some variation in form. The special thorn character for th is generally only used in abbreviated words, th being written out in full in most cases.
There are a few abbreviations.
Pass the cursor down the rows of text to get a taste for it. For further details, have a go at the paleography exercises. You might find this one a bit surprising.
Script
Index Palaeography
exercises using Flash 
Requires at least the Flash 5 plugin
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