Gothic Script

(also called Gothic minuscule), handwriting in Latin script in the medieval period (12th to 15th centuries). It replaced the formerly used handwriting, Caroline minuscule. The first examples of Gothic script occurred in Italy in the tenth century and in other countries of Western and Central Europe at the end of the 11th century. The predominance of Gothic script in books began to be noted in the 12th century in Germany, France, and other countries using Latin.

Four types of Gothic script are distinguished: (1) Textura, angular script; (2) Fraktur, angular script with broken outlines: (3) Schwabacher, broken script with rounded outlines of some letters; and (4) Round Gothic, a type that is transitional between Gothic and the humanist script of the Renaissance (an imitation of Roman monumental inscriptions). In Germany, Gothic script has been used along with Antiqua, the Roman printing characters. In contemporary German publications, especially in the German Democratic Republic, the use of Gothic script is limited.