WOODWORKSTEAMPUNKRAILROADSLIBRARY
by Magister Eldred Ælfwald,
© 2007, 2025 Eldred Ælfwald / J. T. Thorpe
One of the goals of the scribal community in the SCAis to produce beautiful award documents to commemorate people's elevations to various Orders
or bestowal of other accolades by Monarchs or Landed Baronage. Loosely, we term these documents "scrolls" for dubious reasons. In period, most
legal documents conferring titles, rank, privilege, or terms of vassalage were relatively unadorned. There were typically few or no decorations
on such documents--perhaps a confined to the initial capital and perhaps a rendering of a coat of Arms. Later in period, the College of Heralds
might transcribe a record of such a document into a Book of Peerage (earlier, they were recorded on...rolls of parchment) and the text illuminated
or illustrated with the coat of arms or a recipient might commission a scribe to make a more elaborate copy of such a document.
It was in the early 2000s that we started to see simple writs and charter-style scrolls used on a somewhat regular basis in Atlantia. However, they are still somewhat rare--often for a Peerage. With over 40 years of tradition (60 at the time of this revision), most award documents produced still emulate illuminated manuscripts or the highly decorated pages of a Book of Peerage.
This is not a debate about the merits of calligraphy over illumination (or vice versa). Nor is it meant to be a criticism of anyone's artistic talents. It is about taking an honest look at the overall effect of our work in terms of medieval re-creation and making improvements in that work. There are some C&I teams out there that can produce a large number of scrolls with medieval element, but if one artist is limited to one or two styles of illumination or the other is limited to a single style of calligraphy, their mutual limitations can be frustrating when they want to produce a work that will be considered to be more than "service level" C&I.
My own approach to this subject is that of an engineer who has some artistic ability, but without much initial knowledge in medieval art. Some of my own early works would make a competent scribe or historian say "Eww!" I am not ashamed of the scrolls. I made them as gifts for the people who received them. However, those scrolls are what I would consider "service level scrolls" because they lack the coherence and consistency of scrolls that more accurately follow medieval style and artistic construction. As I gained access to better resources and understood what I was doing, I started concentrating on making those gifts look more authentic. "Service level" scrolls are indeed appreciated by their recipients and they have a place in the grand scheme of C&I--they can be a starting point for new scribes, and they help maintaint the largesse of the Crowns.
When one is creating a scroll that is purely calligraphy, there isn't much of a need to match hand to a particular time period other than the standard pre-17th century variety...and attempting to find something suitable for the recipient's persona. In those cases, the calligraphy should be able to stand on its own. However, suppose you had created a manuscript-style scroll with illuminations from/inspired by the Tres Riches Heures fo the Duc de Berry. When it comes time to add text to this work of art, how will you choose a calligraphy style? Does it really matter?
We can pick up any number of books on illumination (pr find the images online) and use them as a model for our art, but how often do we pay attention to the accompanying text and why should we? Some people are only interested in either calligraphy or illumination, but when one accompanies the other, it would be best if they looked temporally consistent. If you do not match the calligraphic text to the illumination, the scroll will have the same sentimental meaning to the recipient, and it will document the award, title, ressponsibilities, etc. that were bestowed. However, if we don't attempt to make our work look as authentic as we can, we fall short of our goal of medieval re-creation.
We want the the test of an award to not only convey the words and intent of the Crown, we want it to look elegant and beautiful. Arguably, one could illuminate almost any text and that would satisfy that goal. Unfortunately, if you have poor calligraphy, or too great a mismatch between calligraphy and illumination, it will look jarring to anyone who has seen actual images or period manuscripts. Alternatively, nice text with poor illumination can have the same effect.
When I started learning to do calligraphy, my exemplar was the lettering guide that came with my pen set. The risk of using your pen set's lettering guide is that most of the scripts depicted are modern calligraphic hands that have been adapted from medieval ones, or one that has been crafted to appeal to the modern eye. Modern calligraphy books can give youa good foundation for technique, but usually offer little or nothing about medieval calligraphy itself.
Marc Drogin has a couple of books available on medieval calligraphy. They are a good place to start learning some of the more commonly known period hands and how to form the letters. Once I understood that "Osmiroid Uncial" is not period and untrained myself from those practices, my lettering started looking significantly more authentic. There are plenty of other resources available for calligraphers. Master Ranthulfr has assembled an extensive set of exemplars from various eras and regions. They are an appendic in the Midrealm Scribal Handbook. If you have mastered the techniques of calligraphy, this set of examples can be invaluable, and I often reference them myself when the calligraphy that would have accompanied an illumination I am working on is not sufficiently depicted in the example from which I am working.
However, there is no substitute for looking at period documents and manuscripts to see how the letters are shaped and who the words flow on the page. Poorly executed calligraphy can detract from the beauty of a scroll more readily than using the wrong calligraphic hand altogether. I realize this statement may frighten some would-be scribes and illuminators, but if you perform an honest assessment of an SCA scroll in comparison to a period manuscript, the truth of it will become readily apparent.
My very first attempts at making award documents were sort of a Chinese menu approach--a captial from column A, an illumination from column B, and Osmiroid Uncial
as the appetizer. Case in point: Stephen of Abbey Blackrose's Award of Arms scroll. I've got a rendering of an English monumental brass letter as the initial capital,
a copy of a woodcut of the Monk from the Book of Trades (mid 16th-century German), an early 16th century depiction of a monastery, a modern calligraphic hand
loosely based on Irish Uncial (7th-9th century), and to cap it all off, I used watercolor markers--very nice artists' markers, but markers nonetheless. Very
anachronistic, appreciated by its recipient, but an utter failure as a reproduction or emulation of a period document or manuscript. In short, Ewww!
How did I end up with such a mishmash of styles? I made a classic beginner's blunder. I did not look at period manuscripts or illuminations in context. Dover clip-art books were cheap, plentiful, and easily accessible. These lovely books contained a variety of period illumination elements I could use to jump-start my scrolls, but they did not show the illuminations in context. I honestly did not thinbk about the availability of books on and about illumination that would show me that context. At the time, scanned manuscripts were not readily available on the Internet (we had dial-up). Even the illumination books I had access to showed just specific elements and how to build up to the final image. I blindly fumbled along until I started buying illumination books to use as inspiration.
The first half-way decent attempt I made was a Celtic-style scroll. I "discovered" Celtic knotwork via a University of Atlantia class and the plethora of Bain,
Meehan, and Davis books out there offered tantalizing glimpses of what is possible with Celtic-style knotwork and zoomorphic illustration. I used my handy
Osmiroid Uncial with this newfound technique, coupled them with some Dover zoomorphic letters, and my efforts looked more effective--or at least coherent. Alas,
this still has a modern look to it--the knotwork is mechanical and boring, and the calligraphy is still modern. A better and coherent attempt, but when completely
honest about it, there was definitely room for improvement. My later efforts were better--following Drogin's Uncial exemplar, until I simply started replicating
the letter forms I saw in the Book of Kells, and emulating the style of zoomorphs and knotwork rather than following a completely formulaic approach.
Well, I'm sure a lot of folks are thinking that this is a nice little C&I autobiography, but what is really being said? The secret is simple: use your eyes!
Do a little research. Look at that beautiful illumination book, or find that online scan of a manuscript, and not only see the images you want to paint, but
take a look at the calligraphy that sits next to it or within it. If you wand a hard and fast rule for coordinating calligraphy to illumination, you won't find one,
but some pairings are easier to identify. Any book containing a photograph of a leaf from an illuminated manuscript will tell you what manuscript and collection it
came from--usually the date, workshop (region), etc. Although this is a pretty obvious thing to look for, it is surprising how easily it can be forgotten when the
inspiration to replicate or emulate an image hits.
So what do you do when you have an image but no information about it? This is a trickier prospect, but not insurmountable. Unless you have found a truly unique piece of art, you should be able to find something stylistically similar (and now we have image searches available to us online). We are also lucky that in some calligraphic hands were prevalent over a large time period and area of Europe (Gothic Textura Quadrata, and Carolingian miniscule, to name two).
In spite of this, we have to remember that calligraphy is handwriting. Although the letter forms are similar (i.e., we all know how to write in Roman capital letters), but different scribes will have formed the letters slightly differently--as do we. For instance, the Book of Kells, the Lindesfarne Gospels, and the Book of Deer all have the same letter forms, but the handwriting is distinct. Which means if you cannot faithfully reproduce a hand to the nth degree, don't worry!
The Midrealm Scribe's Handbook (the examples start on page 166, not 156 as the Table of Contents indicates) does an excellent job of outlining times and regions for calligraphy, and I use it as a guide if I do not have a sample of calligraphy with the illumination I am inspired by. I have made a few notations to it and extended some of the information based on Drogin's Medieval Calligraphy, but most of what follows is mostly quoted straight from the handbook. The major divisions are by region then country.
| MOST OF PRE-CHRISTIAN EUROPE AND ASIA MINOR ENCOMPASSED BY THE ROMAN EMPIRE | ||
| Time Period | Primary Script | Notes |
| BCE to 3c. CE | Roman Square Capitals | A majuscule script based on the text carved into Roman monuments. Scribes employed this script for more formal documents. |
| BCE to 6c. CE | Roman Rustic | A majuscule script developed from Roman square capitals, This was the book hand script developed by scribes. It was the dominant hand used throughout the Empire. |
| 3c. to 8c. CE | Uncial | A faster script for scribes to employ for formal documents. It was more prevalent by the 4th century. Developed from Roman Square Capitals using rounded letterforms of formal Greek script (3rd c. BCE). |
| ALL OF CHRISTIAN NORTH WESTERN EUROPE AND NORTH CENTRAL EUROPE | ||
| Time Period | Primary Script | Notes |
| 7th to 10th c. CE | Artificial Uncial | When used, capitals are either large versions of the same letters or Roman Square Capitals. |
| 7th to 9th c. CE | Roman Half Uncial | Capitals are either large versions of the same, Roman Square Capitals, or Pre-Caroline Versals. This script contains miniscule letter forms and appears in minor Church manuscripts, and the correspondence of Church officials and monasteries |
| 11th c. onward | Gothic Versals | These are often used as capitals and especially as display initials and other decorated initials. |
| 11th to 13th c. CE | Early Gothic | The main scripts with Roman Square Capitals within the text, and Gothic Versals for large decorated letters. |
| 13th c. onward | Gothic Littera Bastarda | Bastarda Capitals within the text as intial capitals, and Gothic Versals for decorated letters. Alternatively, formal works would often use Gothic Textura Quadrata with Gothic Versals for text capitals and decorated letters. |
| BRITAIN & IRELAND | ||
| Time Period | Primary Script | Notes |
| 7th to 9th c. both |
Insular Miniuscule or Insular Majuscule |
Used with with Insular Versals This is the hand attributed to the Book of Kells and the Lindesfarne Gospels |
| 10th c. onward Ireland |
Insular | Scripts survive in modified forms through the SCA period, but take progressively more angular characteristics from the 10th c. onward. This style persisted in Ireland to the 13th century at which time British influenced scripts became more characteristic. |
| 10th to 12th c. Britain |
Carolingian Minuscule | The primary text used Carolingian Minuscule with Roman Half Uncial or Roman Square Capitals. The appointment of Norman bishops and abbots during William the Conqueror's reign casued this style to replace the Insular scripts in Britain. |
| 11th to 13th c. | Early Gothic | Roman Square Capitals were used as initial capitals within the text and Gothic Versals for large decorated letters. |
| Late 12th to mid 14th c. | English Gothic Book Hand Minuscules | English Gothic Book Hand Capitals used for intial letters within the text and Gothic Versals for large decorated letters. Drogin refers to this style as Gothic Textura Prescisus sine pedibus. It is similar to the blackletter style,, but without serifs at the base of the letters. Because of its lack of legibility, it diminished in popularity during the later Gothic period. |
| 13th c. onward | English Gothic Littera Bastarda | Bastarda Capitals within the text for intial letters and Gothic Versals for large decorated letters. Alternatively, formal works would often use Gothic Textura Quadrata with Gothic Versals for text capitals and large decorated letters. |
| FRANCE AND NORTHWEST EUROPE | ||
| Time Period | Primary Script | Notes |
| 7th to 8th c. | Luxeuil Miniscule | Pecuilar to France. This script used Roman Half Uncial or Roman Square Capitals for initial letters. The style is named after the Irish monastery founded in easter France. Thee letterform is a more calligraphic and stylized version of Roman Half Uncial This is a difficult script to read owing to the plethora of ligatures that are incorporated into the text. It is a highly unique style and virtually disappeared by 800 CE. |
| 8th to 12th c. | Carolingian Minuscule | Initial capitals were either Roman Half Uncial or Roman Square Capitals. This was the predominant script adopted throughout Charlemagne's Empire and beyond. |
| 11th to 13th c. | Early Gothic | Initial letters were either English-style Gothic Book Hand Capitals or Roman Square Capitals, and decorated letters used Gothic Versals for decorated letters. This script is an evolution of the Carolingian style and developed into Gothic Littera Bastarda |
| 13th c. onward | Gothic Littera Bastarda | Bastarda Capitals were used for intial letters and Gothic Versals for large decorated letters. Formal works would often use Gothic Textura Quadrata with Gothic Versals for capitalization and large decorated letters. |
| GERMANY AND NORTH CENTRAL EUROPE | ||
| Time Period | Primary Script | Notes |
| 10th to 12th c. | Carolingian Miniscule | Used with Roman Half Uncial or Roman Square Capitals for initial letters |
| Late 12th to mid-14th c. | German Gothic Book Hand | Gothic Versals were used for large decorated letters. |
| 13th c. onward | Regular Gothic Littera Bastarda | Bastarda Capitals were used for captialization and Gothic Versals for large decorated letters. Formal works would often used Gothic Textura Quadrata with Gothic Versals for capitals and decorated letters. |
| ITALY | ||
| Time Period | Primary Script | Notes |
| 11th to 14th c. | Italian Book Hand | There is honestly little to differentiate between this script and those found in northern central Europe |
| 15th to 16th c. | Humanist | Sometimes referred to as Italian Humanist. Unlike the rest of Europe, these letter styles were also used for large decorated letters. It is largely based on Carolingian Minuscule in the mistaken belief the Humanist script was that of ancient Rome. |
| SCANDINAVIA AND NORTH ISLANDS | ||
| Before Christianization--around 10th c.--there was little writing on the page in Scandanavia, so missionaries and travelers would use whatever script they brought with them to the north. Contact with Britain and Ireland meant that the Scandanavians who settled there would use what scripts existed there already. Your best bet for "Viking age" scripts would be to follow Anglo-Saxon and German styles. Insular Minuscule, Artificial Uncial, Roman Uncial, and Early Gothic are all good candidates. Runes were not usually used on scrolls or manuscripts. The eth and thorn letters are used. | ||
| IBERIAN PENNINSULA (SPAIN & PORTUGAL) | ||
| Time Period | Primary Script | Notes |
| 5th to 14th c. | Visigothic Minuscule, Pre-Carolina Versals |
Arabic was used by the Islamic population until their expulsion in the late 15th century. |
| EASTERN EUROPE | ||
| Eastern Europe of the Byzantine Empire used forms of Greek, and in Russia, Greek evolved throughout the Middle Ages into the Cyrullic alphabets. (2025 update: There are, of course, calligraphic styles that are unique to Eastern Europe, Asia Minor, and Russia. At the time this article was written, the SCA focus was on WESTERN EUROPE, so those styles of calligraphy were overlooked. A future update or possibly separate article will hopefully follow). The Hewbrew alphabet was used in every European nation by the Jewish community with illumination that matched contemporary tastes. | ||
If you are emulating an illuminated page of text, it is useful to know how that text would have been arranged in the type of manuscript you are replicating--from a small text area with a large illumination, to varying numbers of columns of text (up to 3--I've seen no examples of pages with more than 3 columns of text). From examples I have seen, most manuscript text layouts follow similar rules for proprtions and offsets of text to illuminiation and for margins. A lot of those conventions are still used by the publishing industry today.
But layout is not just about proportions. You must make sure you have sufficient space for the text to be written in regular and consistent proportions. This is where a computer and printer may come in handy until you develop an eye or instinct for it yourself. Find a computer font similar to the hand you plan to use, and print the text out into an area that is matches the planned text area of your page. You'll have to play with spacing and font sizes until you get a good match, but it is worth the effort. Also keep in mind you'll need to use a pen nib that fits that scale.
Asplund, Randy. The Middle Kingdom Scribes' Handbook. 2001.
Drogin, Marc. Medieval Calligraphy: Its History and Technique. New York: Dover Publications, Inc. 1989.
Johnson, Charles, and Hilary Jenkinson. English Court Hand A.D.1066 to 1500 Part I: Text New York: Frederick Ungar Publishing Co. 1967.
Johnson, Charles, and Hilary Jenkinson. English Court Hand A.D.1066 to 1500 Part II: Plates New York: Frederick Ungar Publishing Co. 1967.
Von Neubecker, Ottfried. Heraldry: Sources, Symbols, and Meaning. London: Tiger Books International. 1997.
Wright, Cyril Ernest. English Vernacular Hands From the Twelfth to the Fifteenth Centuries. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 1960.
Amberdrake, Eowyn. "Tournaments Illuminated 83": A series of how-to articles on the construction of zoomorphs per the early Insular gospels.Corbie, William de. "A Primer in Calligraphy and Illumination". Complete Anachronist 47.
Rive, Megan ni Laine de Belle. "A Pallete of Period Pigments". Complete Anachronist 43.
Shebring, Melinda. "An Encheiridion - The Education of a Scribe". Complete Anachronist 61.
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Ealdercote and the images contained therein are © 1997-2025 J.T.Thorpe and C.M.Grewcock
Last updated August 2025 |