Reading Medieval Handwriting

One important realisation that came from an attempt at writing authentically was that many of the letter shapes of medieval handwriting are almost essential to this method of writing, especially if one wants to write neatly as most scribes intended. For instance, the insistence on square letterforms over curvilinear strokes in Textura script avoids the issue of the ink blots. Even minims, the butt of many a joke, actually help consistently write the letters that use them.

Nevertheless, a combination of several factors made it difficult for me to transcribe these old hands effectively. There is the abundance of abbreviations due to the expenses of parchment when combined with middle English or Latin: where the former had archaic spelling, the latter had no grammar I could use to guide my guessing at the letters.

I was far more comfortable transcribing early modern English because I could guess at words based on context to narrow down possibilities. The circular, non-scribal hand used was also easier to parse due to its proximity with modern letterforms, especially those of my own cursive handwriting.