Script Type : minuscule

Script Family : This might be catagorised by some as a form of Bastard Secretary, but others do not like that term, as what is generally called Secretary in England came after this, and you can't have a bastard before its parents were born, so we will not say that again, but take refuge in that all purpose term transitional.

Date : 16th century

Location : England

Function : Document hand

Distinctive letters : This 16th century hand is very upright, with extravagant angular loops. The letters g, h and x have closed loops below the line, while b and d have closed loopy ascenders. The letter e is very variable, sometimes looking as we know it, sometimes lke a figure of eight, and sometimes apparently back to front. The letter w is enlarged and curly. There are two forms of s, the long form and the short and curly, but r appears in a simplified form that drops below the line. The descender of q is open and bends to the left, like a modern g.

The letters n, u and v are indistinguishable, which leads to endless debates about how certain words should be spelled, such as graunted or grannted. As the spelling is, to our eyes, eccentric and often inconsistent, this is probably a fruitless argument.

There are no examples of j or z present.

The sample shown is only from the top left corner of the indenture, so it is not continuous text. To pick out a few phrases, pass the cursor slowly over the lines of text. To examine the whole thing you need to proceed to the paleography exercises. There you will also find out the significance of this early modern document to medieval history and the story of medieval writing.

Paleography exercises using Flash

These require at least the Flash 5 plugin