Minuscule

minuscule

Lowercase letters in calligraphy, in contrast to majuscule, or uppercase letters. Unlike majuscules, minuscules are not fully contained between two real or hypothetical lines; their stems can go above or below the line. Developed by Alcuin in the 8th century, it allowed the division of writing into sentences and paragraphs by beginning sentences with capital letters and ending them with periods. The script was originally rounded, but gradually the strokes became heavier until it became what is now known as Gothic or black letter script.

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Minuscule 

an ancient and medieval Latin and Greek, including Byzantine, handwriting style consisting of minuscules, or lowercase letters. Minuscule developed from the cursive hand of the late eighth century. Minuscules in the Latin alphabet include the Caroline minuscule of the late eighth to 15th centuries and the Gothic minuscule of the 12th to 15th centuries. The Greek cursive of the ninth and tenth centuries is a minuscule script based on the Greek alphabet. From the 13th century both majuscule and minuscule letters were used in the Latin script, serving different functions.