What is the best font that is closest to the middle ages writing?

Answer 1

Medieval writing was highly varied, and you really have to know what effect you want. Several fonts are based on it.

Blackletter fonts, which were popular in German and England, gave rise to Old English. I don't particularly like this font, which is really a nineteenth century adaptation, and there are others I like better, but Old English is fairly well known and available.

The original printing fonts used in Italy were based on Spanish longhand and Italian hand printing styles. The Roman alphabet of Nicolas Jensen is a good example, if you can find it. The Italic of Aldus Manutius is another. The Italic, by the way, did not originally have capital letters, but used small capitals like those from Jensen's font instead. They were only a bit taller than the lower cases letters without ascenders (such as 'm' or 'n') and were a distinctly shorter than the lower case letters without ascenders (such as 'h' and 'k'). These fonts, Roman and Italic, are probably too much like ordinary modern book fonts to be appealing.

There is a style called uncial or semi uncial that is a copy of Irish writing of the Early Middle Ages. It is ancestral to our lower case. You might find uncial and semi uncial alphabets.

An interesting calligraphic alphabet called LeGriffe might be appealing. I do not think of medieval times when I see it, but it might do for what you want.