The Emperor Charlemagne (742–814) was a devout Christian who saw the need for a revision of both the texts and the scripts in which they were written, so that the copying of the Bible could conform to an improved standard. A highly legible and clearly structured letter developed, largely helped in its spread by the English scholar Alcuin, whose scriptorium at Tours produced many distinguished and refined Bibles written in what we now call the carolingian minuscule, the predecessor of our antiqua/old style letters. This form of minuscule was copied by scribes all over Europe.

The carolingian minuscule hand is a wonderfully clear script with an energetic bounce and an open and friendly appearance. 

It is a natural part of the calligrapher’s palette of scripts, and the predecessor of the so called Foundational Hand, which was based on a late English carolingian hand.  It was also inspiring the Renaissance printed littera antica – oldstyle letters and led to the evolution of the italic (cancelleresca) letter.

We will be working on writing, planning and excecuting a finished piece as well as diving into historical and contemporary sources. We will also discuss design and the hierarchy of scripts.

This workshop is for all levels of practitioners, but some confidence in broad edge pen writing is helpful.