Textura

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Textura in a Sachsenspiegel manuscript , early 14th century. Heidelberg, University Library, Cod. Pal. Germ. 167, fol. 2r

The Textura (from Latin textura "tissue") or Textualis ( "Text font"), formerly even after their grid-like appearance Grid font called, is one in the High Middle Ages, resulting not cursive book script. It is calligraphic and belongs to the group of broken scripts . Textura is one of the best-known among the “Gothic scripts” that prevailed in the 12th century and then shaped the late medieval script. Later it also played an important role in book printing.

Origin, characteristics and nomenclature

The Textura compared with other broken scripts

In the 11th century, the process of “Gothicization” began in manuscript production, which continued in the following centuries and changed the appearance of the codices with the introduction of new stylistic features and a new aesthetic . The new “Gothic” style took shape in the course of the 12th and early 13th centuries and established itself everywhere in the West. One of the main characteristics of Gothic scripts is the breaking of the shafts , which is why the script is called broken. The extent of the refraction is very different, however.

"Carolino-Gotica" or "Romano-Gotica" denotes mixed or transitional scripts between the previously common Carolingian minuscule and the textura, which were used in the 12th century. The more sophisticated Gothic scripts arose from them. The early Gothic minuscule differs from the Carolingian minuscule in that all shafts are elongated and straight and all shafts are treated in the same way that are perpendicular to the line. The letters f and long s are on the line. These features are characteristic of all non-cursive Gothic book fonts.

In a nomenclature preferred by many palaeographers , all book fonts that have these characteristics are referred to as "Textura" or "Textualis". Both names were originally used for the writing of particularly artfully written codices. The name "Textura" - literally "fabric" - is documented as early as the 12th century. It refers to the fabric-like appearance of a calligraphic Gothic book font. “Textualis” is a noun adjective derived from textus (“text”). What is meant is the Bible text for which the most careful book script was used. “Textualis” actually means “the script of the Bible manuscripts”. In modern palaeography, however, the two terms have been defined in a different way, more appropriate for scientific purposes. However, no uniform nomenclature has been agreed. According to a terminology favored by some palaeographers, all that matters is the elongation and similar organization of all shafts standing on the line (according to Bernhard Bischoff ); the “double-storey a” is mentioned as an additional defining feature (Gerard Isaac Lieftinck, Albert Derolez). If the two-story a is missing, Derolez speaks of "semitextualis". The extent of the Gothic refraction and the narrowness of the font are not decisive for this definition of the Textura / Textualis. Thus the form of the non-cursive Gothic book script, the rotunda , which is prevalent in Italy and southern France , is also regarded as a textura, although it only performs the Gothic refraction in a moderate manner and offers a wider and rounder typeface than the non-cursive book scripts of the more northern regions. Of these, the Rotunda is differentiated as "Italian Textura" (Bischoff) or "Southern Textualis" (Derolez). Other palaeographers use the term "Textura" in a narrower sense. They only designate the group of the relatively narrow, non-cursive book fonts of Western and Central European origin and see the Rotunda “almost in opposition to the Textura” because of the difference in the typeface.

Another feature that was added at the beginning of the 13th century are the arch connections (English "biting"). The arcs of two letters facing each other (for example o and c) are moved so close together that the arc lines partially overlap. If the arcs are broken into straight strokes, the two connected letters share the vertical parts of the converted arcs. The arched connections, formed according to fixed rules, helped to create a typeface that was as coherent as possible, which corresponded to the taste of the time and which shaped non-cursive handwriting in the late Middle Ages.

Squares in a Textura

When the shaft is broken, the broken parts of the shaft are often shaped as a square or rectangle on its point. These shapes are called quadrangles ("squares"). Most of the time, the corner is connected to the base line in such a way that only three of the four corners are visible (see illustration).

Individual expressions

A distinction between variants of the Textura results from the different design of the shafts. If the shafts are broken at the top and bottom - that is, double - one speaks of "Textus quadratus" or "Quadrattextura", following a nomenclature used as early as the 15th century. With simple refraction (only above) the designation is "Textus semiquadratus". A textura without such breaks with rounded foot sections of the shafts is called “Textus rotundus” (“round text”, not to be confused with the Rotunda font ).

Hand- hatched writing, laced with pearls, around 1596, City Book Arnau ("Mertten Gernertt")

The term "Textura / Textualis formata" is used for the calligraphically designed book fonts in high-quality codices. These are very uniform fonts made up of standardized elements. Writing does not correspond to the natural pen stroke; it is tedious and time-consuming because the letters are artificially constructed. The heyday of this calligraphy included the 14th and 15th centuries. In the design, the artistic and graphic effect took precedence over easy legibility. The ability to clearly distinguish the letters was subordinated to aesthetic uniformity. This mainly affected the letters n, m, u and i, which are difficult to distinguish in Textura formata when they are placed one behind the other, but also e and c.

The final stage of using Textura

In the 15th century, the textura was pushed back in manuscript production by the cursive book fonts, the bastards , and by the humanistic minuscule / antiqua , the non-cursive book and block letters introduced by the humanists . The increasing use of paper probably also contributed to this, because paper is less suitable for writing textures than parchment.

Textura in the Gutenberg Bible , ca.1455

Since the solemn textura was the traditional script of the biblical codices and the liturgical manuscripts, only it came into consideration when Johann Gutenberg wrote the Gutenberg Bible , the first incunable , in 1452/1454 . At that time, however, the Textura had already passed the peak of its development and was in a frozen form. Gutenberg's type shows the characteristics of a late Textura formata in a striking way: emphasis on the vertical, refraction of all curves, textus quadratus, grid-like impression, very closed typeface, strictly geometric character. This gives it a monumental effect.

In the period that followed, numerous other prints were made with Textura types for church use. Textura was a common font for liturgical books in Germany until the 16th century. It also remained in use for a long time as a markup font for titles and chapter headings. Outside of these limited areas of application, however, it could not establish itself in Germany. In France, the spread of print textura was largely limited to the northern regions. It was popular in the Netherlands and England, where it was called "black letter".

literature

  • Bernhard Bischoff : Palaeography of Roman antiquity and the western Middle Ages . 4th edition, Erich Schmidt, Berlin 2009, ISBN 978-3-503-09884-2 , pp. 171-183
  • Michelle P. Brown, Patricia Lovett: The Historical Source Book for Scribes. University of Toronto Press, Toronto 1999, ISBN 0-8020-4720-3 , pp. 87-94
  • Albert Derolez: The Palaeography of Gothic Manuscript Books. From the Twelfth to the Early Sixteenth Century. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2003, ISBN 0-521-80315-2 , pp. 72-101
  • Joachim Kirchner: Scriptura Gothica libraria a saeculo XII usque ad finem medii aevi LXXXVII imaginibus illustrata. Oldenbourg, Munich 1966 (table work, contains numerous illustrations)
  • Otto Mazal : paleography and paleotype. On the history of writing in the age of the incunabula. Hiersemann, Stuttgart 1984, ISBN 3-7772-8420-3 , pp. 9-13, 37-64
  • Wolfgang Oeser: Observations on the structuring and formation of variants of the texture. In: Archiv für Diplomatik 40, 1994, pp. 359–439

Web links

Commons : Textura  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Remarks

  1. ^ Wolfgang Beinert: Carolingian minuscule - Carolina (palaeography). In: typolexikon.de. 2019, accessed on June 4, 2020 (German).
  2. ↑ Bernhard Bischoff: Palaeography of Roman Antiquity and the Occidental Middle Ages , 4th edition, Berlin 2009, p. 173.
  3. ^ Albert Derolez: The Palaeography of Gothic Manuscript Books , Cambridge 2003, p. 73; Otto Mazal: Paläographie und Paläotypie , Stuttgart 1984, p. 9.
  4. ↑ See on this and on the problem of the definition Martin Steinmann : From research on Gothic script in the last fifty years. In: Archiv für Diplomatik 50, 2004, pp. 399–415, here: 401 f.
  5. ↑ Bernhard Bischoff: Palaeography of Roman Antiquity and the Occidental Middle Ages , 4th edition, Berlin 2009, pp. 173–177; Albert Derolez: The Palaeography of Gothic Manuscript Books , Cambridge 2003, pp. 72 f., 102, 118.
  6. ^ Elke von Boeselager: Schriftkunde , Hannover 2004, p. 39; Otto Mazal also uses the terms: Textbook of Handwriting , Wiesbaden 1986, p. 115.
  7. ↑ Bernhard Bischoff: Palaeography of Roman Antiquity and the Occidental Middle Ages , 4th edition, Berlin 2009, p. 176.
  8. ↑ See on the quadrangles Bernhard Bischoff: Palaeography of Roman antiquity and the occidental Middle Ages , 4th edition, Berlin 2009, pp. 174, 179 f.
  9. ^ Bernhard Bischoff: Palaeography of Roman antiquity and the occidental Middle Ages , 4th edition, Berlin 2009, p. 174; Wolfgang Oeser: Observations on the structuring and formation of variants of the texture. In: Archiv für Diplomatik 40, 1994, pp. 359-439, here: 361 f., 409-411.
  10. ^ Otto Mazal: Paläographie und Paläotypie , Stuttgart 1984, p. 10 f .; Martin Steinmann: From research on Gothic script over the past fifty years. In: Archiv für Diplomatik 50, 2004, pp. 399–415, here: 402 f .; Elke von Boeselager: Writing , Hanover 2004, p. 37.
  11. ↑ Bernhard Bischoff: Palaeography of Roman Antiquity and the Occidental Middle Ages , 4th edition, Berlin 2009, pp. 180, 198; Albert Derolez: The Palaeography of Gothic Manuscript Books , Cambridge 2003, p. 101.
  12. ↑ Otto Mazal: Paläographie und Paläotypie , Stuttgart 1984, p. 37, 40 f.
  13. ↑ Otto Mazal: Paläographie und Paläotypie , Stuttgart 1984, pp. 43 f., 55, 59–63.