Rome and the Middle Ages

The Roman Empire and Middle Ages Lettering

Phoenician

Greeks

Etruscans

Romans

Celtic lettering

Carolingian

Romanesque

Gothic lettering

Renaissance lettering

English

The Roman Alphabet, 400BC

This alphabet spread from England to Spain to Egypt to the Persian Gulf by 100AD

Inscription on Trajan’s Column - 113AD

Roman conquest of foreign lands was memorialized in commemorative

inscriptions of capital letters emblazoned on columns and large arches.

Notice the change in size of the letters!

Deliberate Distortion of Letterforms

Deliberate Distortion of Letterforms

Deliberate Distortion of Letterforms

Deliberate Distortion of Letterforms

Trajan’s Column - 113AD

1896

Inscription on Trajan’s Column - 113AD

The Senate and people of Rome [give or dedicate this] to the emperor Caesar, son of the divine Nerva, Nerva Traianus Augustus

Germanicus Dacicus, pontifex maximus, in his 17th year in the office of tribune, having been acclaimed 6 times as imperator,

6 times consul, pater patriae, to demonstrate of what great height the hill [was] and place [that] was removed for such great works.

Septimius Arch

Square capitals

The Square capitals were engraved in stone and then painted with red-ochre paint to help them stand out.

Capitalis Quadrata

Capitalis quadrata is the written counterpart of the classic capitals.

Rustica

Rustica capitals was a condensed version of the Capitalis Quadrata.

Constantine and the divided Roman Empire

325 AD, Christianity was the recognized religion of the land. The Roman Empire adopted Christianity.

330 AD, Constantine unified the East and West portions of the Roman empire and expanded it into current-day Russia. He also moved the capitol of the empire from Rome to Constantinople.

395 AD, the Empire was segmented into the East and West dominions, ending the religious cohesiveness of the Empire.

• the Roman Empire was overrun by outsiders called the Visigoths and Barbarians from the north. • gradually the invaders overthrew the city of Rome

itself.

476 AD, The Eastern empire was overrun by Germanic barbarians who ransacked and looted cities, leading to their eventual breakdown.

What lay ahead?

The Middle Ages!

Scroll vs. Codex

Most early written documents were on scrolls made from papyrus. Papyrus was not a suitable material to write on both sides, nor could it be folded without breaking.

Scrolls

The most famous, recently discovered scrolls are The Dead Sea Scrolls. Discovered in caves at Qumran, they were stored in earthen jars.

In the spring of 1947 Bedouin goat-herds, searching the cliffs along the Dead Sea for a lost goat (or for treasure, depending on who is telling the story), came upon a cave containing jars filled with manuscripts.

Codex or book

The earliest codex or left/right paged book was two wax-coated boards tied together and written on with the pointed end of a Stylus.

This wax-coated board was used for temporary communication for notes and correspondence. The wax booklet was also used by students and scribes in training and used for writing and studying.

In a parchment (animal skin) codex; • both sides of the parchment could be used for writing;• this in turn meant that codices required less writing

material; • could be produced for less expense; • they took up less room in storage; • could be stored more easily;• and were less cumbersome when searching for a

specific area of text than the lengthy scrolls.

Codex or book

Tools & letters

Ancient Roman writing, formed with flat-tipped reed pens, effects many of our current typefaces in their thick-thin weight variations.

Hand writing

Capitals, Uncials and miniscules or half-uncial.

Uncials: named for the one inch guidelines they were drawn on. Half-uncials became our lowercase letters.

Uncials

Roman Half-uncials

Celtic Lettering

430 AD the missionary, St. Patrick set out with Bible manuscripts to convert Ireland.• Celtic manuscripts and lettering design flourished without many outside influences.

• The work shows extraordinary variations of letterforms and geometric ornamentation.

• Celtic decoration & letter innovation mark new directions in lettering and illumination styles.

• Pages introducing each of the Gospels are completely utilized to illustrate one word or phrase magnificently.

• Complex inter-lacings of precise Celtic scroll work interspersed with animals and supernatural creatures are carefully executed with geometric accuracy paid to the minute details.

• Bright, intense colors are set side by side to intensify the thick texture of twisted ornamentation highlighted in gold leafing.

• The rounded uncials appear with upper and lowercase clearly defined,

• The Celts introduced word spacing, which improved readability.

Celtic Lettering

Pages from theBook of Kells

Irish Half-uncials

Variations in the lettering styles became more pronounced as the years passed, so that scholars are able to tell where Medieval manuscripts were produced by examining the lettering and illumination style.

Lettering as a Declaration of Faith

With the increase of Bibles in codex format, the importance placed on the beauty of the sacred word became competitive and imaginative. The monks creating these sacred texts were committed to penning a beautiful Bible to exalt their God. Also, the reference to God as the Light led to the use of gold leafing to "illuminate" the words.

Initial caps of each section became highly stylized over time and included images of characters in the story (histrionic capitals); Bible covers were often imbedded with jewels.

Ornamental lettering &illumination

Development of Books 100AD

The form of a book, or codex, with a left, verso and right, recto page began to be developed at this time.

Oddly enough, the terms recto and verso come from the description of the sides of the sheet of parchment; recto is the right or good side, the inside of the skin; verso is the back side, not as smooth, the fur side.

Although scrolls and codices were used interchangeably until around 400 AD, the codex form gained popularity from 100 AD.

Monasteries

• Secluded monasteries were established for religious orders in the countryside.

• Copying of the ancient Roman and Greek manuscripts was carried out

• Manuscripts could be sold by the monastery for funds or used in trade for goods.

• Cultural achievements from this era were hampered because there was no forum for the interaction of ideas, philosophies or influences, and only limited travel.

In the monasteries, many of the ancient texts were copied, and the Medieval copies are the only remaining versions today because the originals, likely on papyrus, could not withstand the dampness of Mediterranean weather.

Monasteries

• To become a Scribe required skills in reading, writing and comprehension.

• Scribes not only wrote volumes of works on the Medieval Ages but were also often asked to research laws and other matters for kings and nobles. • The Scribe was often a historian, poet and philosopher. His acquired knowledge was advantageous at the workings of social interaction and his skills provided a written overview of the time period. • Scribes usually were of nobility in that the education needed to attain the post was not affordable or available to peasant and common classes. Most Scribes came from religious abbeys where the skills were learned within the vast libraries of the church.

• Their wages were usually standard and average, however the Scribe was entitled to all the benefits and luxuries of castle life.

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