CANCILLERESCA, SCRIPT. — In palaeography, the term cancellaresca designates the script characteristic of chancelleries, and in particular that of imperial and papal diplomas. It does not constitute a script in its own right, but is rather a modification, carried beyond the limits of natural evolution, of particular cursive and semi-cursive scripts that succeeded one another over the centuries. Nevertheless, certain specific features—summarised in a solemn and elaborate ductus, with an excessive development of the ascenders below and even more above the line, and with artificial ligatures—enable it to be distinguished as a particular type of script.
The earliest example is provided by two imperial rescripts of the 5th century, from Egypt, both fragmentary, one preserved in the Museum of Antiquities in Leiden, the other in Paris, partly in the Louvre and partly in the National Library. The script is nothing other than a deformation of the Roman minuscule cursive of the imperial age, with evident Greek cursive influences; the letters display a characteristic rightward inclination.
The script of the imperial chancery, from the Carolingian period onwards, reflects the current documentary scripts, accentuating their artificial aspect and showing a tendency to preserve their characteristics even after the scripts from which they originated had declined. Thus, the diplomas of Charlemagne are still in Merovingian script (v.), a script, that is, born from the development of distinctly chancellery elements that long remained unchanged, even as the number of ligatures diminished and words began to be separated from one another. The letters b, d, h, l display very elongated and slightly curved-to-the-right ascenders, while p and q descend far below the line. The influence of Caroline minuscule, however, becomes ever more evident, and already under Louis the Pious (814–40) forms appear that closely resemble this script: the letters are, moreover, narrower and taller, the a is still open, and the ascenders are very pronounced. From the 10th century, the cancellaresca of imperial diplomas is substantially identical to Caroline minuscule, but the tendencies peculiar to the chancery distinguish it from the script of codices in the development of long strokes, the preciosity of the upper curves—especially of f, e, d, s—and in certain characteristic ligatures, chiefly the group st, in which the letters, excessively spaced apart, are joined by an arch that connects the loop of the s to the vertical stroke of the t. This type of script persists until the 12th century, which may be considered the epoch of the greatest perfection of cancellaresca. In the following century, it draws ever closer to the script of codices, in which Gothic script now predominates.
A particular type of cancellaresca, the so-called ‘Italian cancellaresca’, is a derivation of humanistic cursive; widely used in Italian chancelleries, it is not, however, found in the imperial chancery.
The history of papal cancellaresca is different. It originates from the Roman curialis, which in turn derived from the Roman minuscule cursive of the imperial age. It already appears fully formed in the earliest documents that have come down to us (8th–9th centuries): the development of long strokes, both above and below the line, is very pronounced; the a is open and presents a form reminiscent of the Greek omega; the e is circular, starting from the top right and closing slightly below the starting point, crossing the two strokes; often the circle is surmounted by a small eye; the q has a characteristic aspect linked to the minuscule; the t also has a circular form, surmounted by a wavy horizontal stroke. From the 11th century, the influence of Caroline minuscule, which also made itself felt in the papal chancery—though more slowly than in the imperial—brought evident modifications to the script of the papal curia, to which the use of parchment, which had replaced papyrus since the pontificate of Benedict VIII (1012–14), was not unrelated. In this second phase, a reduction in size is noted, whereas in the preceding age the script towered over the other letters (excluding, of course, those with ascenders above the line); the g assumes the form with a rounded head; the final strokes of m and n mostly curve downwards to the right. This script survives until Paschal II (1099–1118), but Caroline minuscule had already been introduced into the papal chancery under Clement II (1046–47): indeed, a different use of the two scripts can be observed depending on whether the act was drafted by a Roman or foreign scribe. In the 12th century, under Calixtus II (1119–24), papal documents display a script that, alongside Caroline forms, preserves some characteristic elements (open a, ligatures ri and ti) of the ancient curialis; but already under his successor, Honorius II (1124–30), even these survivals disappear entirely. The cancellaresca then assimilates itself to Caroline minuscule, though presenting characteristic deformations similar to those found in imperial diplomas (to which may be added the typical et ligature). From the 13th century, the strokes begin to appear thicker and less rounded, until from Gothic cursive develops the bullatic script (v.).