Script Type : minuscule

Alternative name : littera Romana

Date : c. 11th century

Location : the papal curia in Rome

Function : document hand, specifically for use in papal bulls

Distinctive letters : As with many script changes, curialis was not abruptly abandoned for the use of diplomatic minuscule. This is a transitional variant with a mixture of old letter froms from curialis and new ones related to Caroline minuscule.

Some of the tall letters like d, f and g have much more familiar forms related to Caroline minuscule. However, the script retains certain antique idiosyncrasies, such as the open a that looks like w, the e made from a single loop and the tall q that looks like a 2. The letters r and s still look very like each other, but both have developed an elongated descender. The letter t is still short with a looped bottom. The letters u and v, as usual, are identical. There are no examples in this segment of j, k, w, x, y or z.

There are numerous ligatures that change the forms of letters quite noticeably. There are some abbreviations, mostly indicated by a simple horizontal slash. Word spacing is much clearer than in the older example.

Pass the cursor slowly along the lines and see if you can untangle a few words. The transcription is from Steffens because I was totally lost. There is no paleography exercise for this example as yet, but I might do one when I feel I can handle it, or perhaps not. Does anyone out there really want to read this stuff?