I am trying to find some downloadable fonts of authentic German and French Medieval fonts. I have found lots of excellent examples of fonts in historical documents, but a majority of the fonts are either horrendously distorted or just plain unreadable in the modern age (specifically due to the absence of letters such as y, z, or lack of distinction between u and v). There are some better fonts toward the end of the gothic period and the beginning of the humanistic period, and this website can provide a very good reference for those wanting to get a better idea of what I am looking for.

http://medievalwriting.50megs.com/writing.htm

I intend to use the font for personal use in building a family crest as I research our family history.

Thanks for your time and patience.

You should browse through some of the pages on Luc Devroye's site, http://luc.devroye.org/fonts.html. Among font designers, look at the work of Manfred Klein, Dieter Steffmann and Peter Wiegel in particular, all of whom have produced many high quality fonts in the genre you seek.

Manfred Klein: You will not be able to contact him. He retired from typography in 2008, to care for his wife, who was quite ill. Based on anecdotal information from a knowledgeable third party, I believe he was experiencing symptoms of Alzheimer's Disease around that time. If you want to use any of his fonts commercially, make a donation to a charitable foundation of your choice.

Dieter Steffmann: As far as I can tell, the conditions to use a Dieter Steffmann font commercially are that you ask politely on the comments section of his site, and he grants permission to people who show him this measure of respect. I don't think there is ever a fee involved.

Peter Wiegel: Peter does free, free for personal use, and commercial fonts. You'd want to check the terms of use for the font in question, if you plan to use one of his.

All three of these gentlemen have huge numbers of fonts available on DaFont, and many more available elsewhere.

Thank you for your generous assistance and I appreciate any new information or sources as you come across them. I think I have enough leading material on hand to keep me busy for several days.

Something like this?



I named it Maid of Lorraine. Medieval French 1480, still on the drawing board.

Remarque: Style Medieval French 1480

Yep. Isn't that what I said? Yet ...

Il n'y avait pas de lettre w en Francois en 1480.

Sure? Sure?
Next time when you slam the front door behind you go to the Louvre in Paris and have a look at this sample.

mumble ...

This section is more for my personal notes so I can remember which ones I've looked at so far. I also just realized I am an idiot because the latin language (and therefore the text) doesn't include the letter Y except for borrowed greek words. At least it narrows down my search field.

And thanks for the example you provided koeiekat, but I think I am leaning more toward the gothic and french cursive side of the lettering for its' more recognizable type and aesthetic look.

http://medievalwriting.50megs.com/scripts/examples/textura7.htm

http://medievalwriting.50megs.com/scripts/examples/prescissa.htm

http://medievalwriting.50megs.com/scripts/examples/batarde1.htm

http://medievalwriting.50megs.com/scripts/examples/batarde2.htm

http://medievalwriting.50megs.com/scripts/examples/cursive8.htm

http://medievalwriting.50megs.com/scripts/examples/cursive9.htm

Old French book, (C'est du vieux français).

http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=rbc3&fileName=rbc0001_2002rosen0449page.db

I like it but I can't quite place the type. It looks very similar to batarde, but the letters don't seem angular enough for batarde. Do you happen to know what type it is?

More self-notes. Still looking. Have to put this on hold while I catch up on reports that need to be filed (bleh).

http://www.dafont.com/quadrata-preciosa.font?fpp=100&af=on

http://www.dafont.com/manuskript-gothisch.font?fpp=100&af=on

http://www.dafont.com/gregorianflf.font?fpp=100&af=on

http://www.dafont.com/traditional-gothic-.font?fpp=100&af=on

http://www.callifonts.com/

Maybe worth to have a look here too: http://www.gilleslecorre.com/pages/fonts.html