Since the end of the XI century, the character of the established Carolingian uncial writing has changed: the writing of the letters becomes denser, their rounding is broken, and the vertical stroke is enhanced. The concentration of the reader began to shift from a single letter to the image of the word. The emerging Gothic font defined a new historical milestone.
Gothic letter
A word or text, depending on the type of letters, can produce all kinds of emotional impressions. Gothic writing, representing a family of handwritten fonts of the Latin script of the Medieval era, inspires a certain cover of mystery and power. Using such fonts, the author conveys to the addressee not only information, but also forms involvement in ancient traditions or the corresponding era. Antique shops, manufacturers of religious products, and Western European newspapers have successfully used this technique, filling out the names and headings in Gothic letters.
Gothic writing owes its name, which appeared much later, to the ancient Germanic union of tribes - the Goths. The humanists of the Italian Renaissance of the 15th century considered the fonts barbaric and in naming this writing showed their negative attitude, contrasting it with the ancient Roman one.
The appearance of the gothic font
In which country did Gothic writing originate? In this matter, many slopes mention Germany, linking it with the fact that the late Gothic period was formed there. But according to the surviving sources and some studies of art historians, the first style samples originated in monasteries in northern France by the middle of the XI century. On the basis of the Latin alphabet, during the constant correspondence of manuscripts of the Holy Scriptures, a new type of writing began to appear - spiky monastic writing. The image of the letters changed, broken lines began to appear in it, while the vertical lines intensified more and more with respect to the binders until they became barely noticeable.
The appearance of a new style could well have been provoked by the high cost of paper and parchment of that time, as well as the complexity of their manufacture or the ability to standardize letters, minimize the difference in several handwritings in one book.
The early Gothic (or proto-Gothic) font spread throughout Western Europe and was widely used until the middle of the 13th century.
Distinctive features
The general appearance of the symbols of Gothic writing was determined by the use of goose feathers as writing instruments, which, depending on the cut and slope (45 degrees), produced the corresponding lines. The main feature of the letter was the strict parallelism of strokes among themselves, which included all the elements (bold and hairline, angular bends). Gothic letters such as m, n, u, and i represented vertical lobes (e.g. minim). In the case when the word included all the indicated letters, it became extremely difficult to read it.
The tendency to seal the line became characteristic of Gothic writing, it was expressed in the merger of adjacent connecting lines. Now the letters o and e next to each other have been converted into such a construction that the reading process is much more complicated.
The main types of Gothic writing
Gothic writing has gained many options over the course of its history. In different countries, while maintaining general recognition, the Gothic style acquired specific properties, and fonts acquired their individual names. The font, which has survived to the present time, arose by the efforts of German calligraphers in the 15th century.
Texture (from Latin textualis - fabric) is the main variety of Gothic writing. The elongation of capital Latin letters gives a characteristic difference between this font. The text evenly and densely covers the entire parchment, creating a picture of a dark writing resembling a fabric.
The rotunda (from Italian rotonda - round) represents the Italian version of Gothic writing, which appeared in the XII century. This font is noted by the rounded character spelling and the absence of breaks in the lines.
Fracture (from the Latin littera fractura - broken letter) represents one of the later styles of Germanic Gothic writing, which appeared at the end of the 15th century. For this type of writing, pointed broken lines are inherent. In subsequent centuries, fracture became the dominant style in the countries of Northern Europe.
Gothic style in Russian writing
Slavic fonts, unlike Latin ones, went on a completely different path of development. The views of scientists are quite controversial in this regard, so most of the issues today remain open.
In Russian writing, the Gothic style was poorly reflected in round ligature (1497), which was used in early prints in Russia. Combinations and arrangements of letters of a gothic character are well traced in the spelling of the words of this font. It is known that at first the ligature was used only in headings in the form of a combination of several interwoven letters, but soon it wrote whole lines. Like Gothic writing, the ligature is very difficult to read.
In the first half of the 18th century, thanks to Peter's reforms in the Russian Empire, Russian modifications of popular fonts in Western Europe began to develop.
Perception difficulties
Gothic writing, despite all the spectacularity and manner of presentation, was too difficult both for writing and for normal visual perception. Uppercase Latin letters, overlapping each other, gave a generally dark, obscure and heavy picture of the letter. This in turn led to a low rhythm of reading and perception of the text.
Thus, satisfying aesthetic requirements, Gothic writing did not at all correspond to practical ones. The subsequent Renaissance era brought a new font, called the humanistic antiqua, which was based on the Carolingian minuscule.
Conclusion
From the perspective of the present, it can be seen that if at first the birth of the Gothic style of writing was caused by economic considerations (parchment was quite expensive material), then later this font style reflected already certain tastes of aristocratic circles and could carry a specific message. There was a kind of fashion for unreadable letters. In addition, the Gothic font perfectly harmonized and resonated with the general style in art.
Gothic writing prevailed in European manuscripts until the 15th century and passed from it into the first printed publications. In Germany, the late version of this letter — the frac- ture — was actively used until the first half of the 20th century and is still used in the design of signboards for shops, hotels, offices, and in advertising texts. That is why Gothic writing is otherwise called German. At the moment, Gothic fonts remain in demand in different communities of many countries, but for the most part they are stylized as the Italian style of rotunda.