Carolingian Miniscule owes its fame to Charlemagne, though not its actual creation, it was around long before Charlemagne made it the norm in his empire. Crowned Holy Roman Emperor in 800 A.D. by Pope Leo III, his reign only lasted until 814, Charlemagne was able to bring a large amount of change to Europe and bring back an intellectual populace that had not been known since before the splitting of the Roman Empire into East and West. With education reforms that Charlemagne put in place, the stage was set for a simple, easy to read script meant for the lay person to take over from the many evolved cursive forms used in very formal and courtly documents. ...continue reading "Carolingian miniscule"