The So-Called Visigothic Semicursive Script: a Terminological and Methodological Proposal Applied to the Documentary Corpus of the North-Western Iberian Peninsula Prior to the Year 1200

Abstract

ABSTRACT: The use of a specific term to describe the type of script of a graphic sample is undoubtedly useful, both to define its characteristics and to facilitate communication among specialists. This is, as long as its use is consistent, the choice of term is justified, and the associated concept is well defined, leaving little room for subjective criteria. Assigning an absolute socio-cultural context to such a type has the opposite effect, limiting the inherent variability of each scribe and hindering both its study and contextualisation. This twofold problem becomes evident in the case of the so-called “Visigothic semicursive” script, a writing style described by a term originally used to describe the speed of strokes but here used to refer to its morphological characteristics, and which has become associated with a socio-cultural context of poor production, linked to scribes with very limited graphic training and a rudimentary degree of perfection. The aim of this paper is to review what lies behind the examples classified under this term and to argue for the need for a change in terminology based on more objective criteria.