MINUSCULE CURSIVE, SCRIPT. – This expression is now generally used to designate Latin script, predominantly documentary in nature, which developed between the end of the 3rd century and the beginning of the 4th, characterized by minuscule forms and a cursive execution. Although these characteristics are not exclusive to this script, the current designation has prevailed over that of “new Roman cursive” (in opposition to majuscule or capital cursive), followed by F. Steffens; “ancient Roman cursive” (in opposition to later cursives), introduced by W. Wattenbach; and “cursive uncial” (entirely imprecise), adopted by H. B. Van Hoesen and M. Tangl. The terminus ad quem varies for the codices according to the paleographers’ point of view, in relation to their understanding of pre-Carolingian scripts (v. CAROLINA, SCRIPT AND MINIATURE), while for documents it is extended as far as the 10th century by those who also include curial and notarial writings, in which
The origin of the c. m. is one of the still unresolved problems of Latin palaeography and is connected with the fundamental question of the transition from the majuscule to the minuscule (v. PALEOGRAFIA): despite the material provided by recent papyrus discoveries and by an ever-growing number of inscriptions and graffiti (especially Christian), the documentation is still insufficient to follow this development step by step and to determine with certainty the causes that produced the evolution.
In the earliest documents in which the c. m. already appears fully formed (the Argentinense papyrus of the 4th century is typical), it is possible to discern the general characteristics of the new script: a wealth of ligatures, favored by an extremely pronounced cursive ductus, and unequal letter height. Some letters, although becoming smaller, preserve the relative proportions they had in ancient cursive (a, m, n, t, x); others rise above the line (b, d, h, l); still others descend below it (f, g, p, q); and finally others vary in size according to the letters to which they are joined from one instance to the next (c, e, i, o, r, s). The particular characteristics, however, are difficult to define, because the form, and often also the pen-strokes, of the letters varies greatly according to the ligatures, so that the original appearance of the isolated letter is more or less radically deformed.
The richest documentation for the c. m., whose importance lies in the fact that it underlies the entire subsequent development of Latin script, is provided by the papyri of Ravenna. From a chancery transformation of the c. m. alphabet derives the « imperial chancery script » (v. SCRITTURA).
BIBLI: G. Marini, I papiri diplomatici, Rome 1805; E. Steffens, Paleographie latine, French edition edited by R. Coulon. Trier and Paris 1910, pp. v-viii; H. B. Van Hoesen, Roman cursive writing, Princeton 1915; L. Schiaparelli, La scrittura latina nell'età romana (Auxilia ad res Italicas medii aevi exquirendas in usum scholar, instructa et collecta, 1), Como 1921, pp. 118-29; J. Mallon-R. Marichal-Ch. Perrat, L'écriture latine de la capitale romaine à la minuscule, Paris 1939; G. Battelli, Lezioni di paleografia, 3rd ed., Vatican City 1949, pp. 88-94.