From gothic to humanistic writing in the documentation of the Lisbon City Council: Around the 16th century municipal desk

Abstract

The Gothic writing was one of the last traces of medievality in Portugal, remaining in use during much of the sixteenth century, under different types and graphic styles, until the entrance of the humanistic rule, the basis of current writing. This paper focuses on the final period of that medieval writing, within the ambit of the bureaucratic activity of the city council of Lisbon, which highlights the craftsmanship, activity and written production of the council clerk. In that sense, this article characterizes its clerk’s office and analyzes the graphical practice within the service of the municipal desk.