Carolingian or
Caroline minuscule is a
script developed as a writing standard in
Europe so that the
Roman alphabet could be easily recognized by the small
literate class from one region to another. It was used in
Charlemagne's empire between approximately
800 and
1200.
Codices,
pagan and
Christian texts, and educational material were written in Carolingian minuscule throughout the
Carolingian Renaissance. The script developed into
Blackletter and became obsolete, though it forms the basis of more recent scripts.
The script ultimately developed from Roman Half Uncial and its cursive version, which had given rise to various Continental minuscule scripts, combined with features from the "Insular" scripts that were being used in Irish and English monasteries. Carolingian minuscule was created partly under the patronage of the Emperor Charlemagne (hence Carolingian). Charlemagne had a keen interest in learning, according to his biographer Einhard
Temptabat et scribere tabulasque et codicellos ad hoc in lecto sub cervicalibus circumferre solebat, ut, cum vacuum tempus esset, manum litteris effigiendis adsuesceret, sed parum successit labor praeposterus ac sero inchoatus.
Although Charlemagne was never fully literate, he clearly understood the value of literacy and a uniform script in running his empire.
