when compared with Luxeuil minuscule: Carolingian letterforms, well proportioned and
uniformly written, sit firmly on the text line; regular word division and clear punctuation
enhance legibility. Whether the texts being copied were biblical, liturgical, or patristic,
the standardization of graphic conventions and book production ensured that every
Carolingian manuscript would be intelligible.
The Carolingian empire did not endure past the 9th century; yet Carolingian minuscule
survived in France well into the 12th century, as it continued to be the preferred style of
writing in monastic book production. The script, however, changed and developed over
time, so that its overall appearance and individual letterforms were significantly altered in
the 11th and 12th centuries. Illustration (bottom left) shows the late, transitional stage of
Carolingian minuscule; Beinecke 414 is the second part of a two-volume Bible produced
in Aquitaine or Limousin in the early 12th century. The script appears to be compressed
laterally, so that letterforms are taller, less round, and more oval. Ascenders, as in the
letters b, d, and l, have short horizontal finishing strokes added to their tops. Words are
frequently abbreviated, so that more text is accommodated on each page. As in the earlier
phase of Carolingian script, distinct portions of text are signaled by rows of calligraphic
capitals. Fine polychrome initials are a hallmark of this final stage of Carolingian book
production.
Before ca. 1200, monks in monasteries produced most of the manuscript books,
transmitting texts from one generation of readers to the next; in the period ca. 1200–1500,
book production shifted to professional workshops associated with wealthy patrons or to
stationers who marketed university textbooks. In both instances, there was increasing
demand for books in the vernacular languages as well as in Latin.
The university at Paris was a main center of textbook production throughout the later
Middle Ages. As the university prospered, large numbers of students required texts for
study. University books copied in Parisian workshops differed significantly from books
written in monasteries in the preceding centuries; the layout, script, and method of
production all changed to meet the needs of the students and teachers who used the
books. Two 13th-century manuscripts from Paris illustrate the dramatic transformation of
medieval books and the way that they were produced.
The works of Aristotle in Latin translation were standard texts in the university
curriculum at Paris; after 1255, many were required reading. Illustration (opposite right)
reproduces a fine Aristotle manuscript, attributed to Paris in the third quarter of the 13th
century (Yale Medical Historical 12). The text of Aristotle occupies a narrowly defined
central space; the remainder of each leaf has ample margins ready to receive notes and
diagrams. Attractive historiated initials begin each treatise; paragraph marks in red or
blue denote internal divisions. The text is written in a Gothic bookhand that developed
from the late Carolingian minuscule. The lateral compression noted earlier in the 12th
century (bottom left) is now pronounced, with letterforms often touching and joined
together. The fusion, or “biting,” of letters is characteristic of formal Gothic script. The
oval shape of such letters as o has become more angu
Medieval france: an encyclopedia 1304