The Middle Ages is the middle period of the three traditional divisions of Western history: classical antiquity, the medieval period, and the modern period.
The medieval period is itself subdivided into the Early, High, and Late Middle Ages.
Changes in calligraphic fashion did not happen cataclysmically.
There were trendy modern scribes and stuffy old fashioned scribes at any point in time, and there were scribes who could write modern or traditional, depending on how you wanted it.
We are very particular about dating our written productions today.
Books will have a date of publication entered, along with a list of the dates of all previous editions if we have been so lucky. Dates are essential to all legal and business documents, otherwise the toaster would not know when the warranty had expired so it could burn out.
The still-sizeable Byzantine Empire survived in the east and remained a major power.
Early documents, such as medieval deeds, for example, may be dated by reference to a day of the week, a nearby religious feast day and the year of the reigning monarch - a system which has little in common with the current method of noting day, month and calendar year.Nevertheless, there are general patterns that can be used to date handwriting, provided you are not too ambitious.For illuminated manuscripts, stylistic analysis of the decoration also helps to provide a date.Throughout the unit, illustrative images are taken from the collections held by Manuscripts and Special Collections at the University of Nottingham. The Cross of Mathilde, a crux gemmata made for Mathilde, Abbess of Essen (973–1011), who is shown kneeling before the Virgin and Child in the enamel plaque. Probably made in Cologne or Essen, the cross demonstrates several medieval techniques: cast figurative sculpture, filigree, enamelling, gem polishing and setting, and the reuse of Classical cameos and engraved gems.