This resarch programme is conducted in partnership with the Centre d’études supérieures de civilisation médiévale (CESCM) in Poitiers. It is part of Titulus—a larger research developed by the team of the Corpus des inscriptions de la France médiévale (CIFM) at CESCM, where medieval epigraphic sources from France and beyond are collected, digitized and published. This research examines about 130 Latin and French stone inscriptions, subtracted from two late medieval (13th–14th c.) corpuses from the East Mediterranean, through a typographic lens.

By analyzing the chiseled characters from this collection, the objective is to understand lapidary letter making in the late medieval period and to expose the ancient writing system implied in these corpora lapidum. Turning study into practice, a typeface based on the translation of these characters will be developed and designed for XML-TEI integration, making it suitable for transcription purposes.

In order to create a functional tool that represents these corpora as accurately as possible, the challenge will be to include the diverse applications of letterforms, styles and design. How to draw glyphs that reduce an extensive number of variating figures into a synthesis form? Which classification method should be applied to process such a vast matter? How to indicate the different engraving tools, techniques and manners? Additionally, the fluctuating use of ligatures, abbreviations, allographs, punctuation, spacing and composition, need to be incorporated.These recurring inconsistencies raise further questions regarding the common writing system and the role, knowledge and literacy of the engravers. Finding a graphic solution to include these defaults, as well as portray damaged, faded and even missing characters, will be necessary.

By working in collaboration with the epigraphic team at CESCM and making design choices based on their needs, the project seeks to support their work and build a bridge connecting epigraphy to typography.