The Gothic style of calligraphy was by far the most popular and widely used style. Also known as the Blackletter, the Gothic style depicts very bold and very squarely shaped letters. Gothic letters appear on the page upright, but they are written holding the calligraphy tool -- which at the time was a brush -- at a 45-degree angle to the page. Gothic letters use mostly thick strokes, compared to other styles that use both thick and thin strokes.
In contrast to the Gothic style, Chancery letters are more slanted. This style of calligraphy was developed in Italy, and its contemporary version is known as "italics." Chancery was developed to provide a method of writing more quickly. Letters are written holding the calligraphy brush at a 30-degree angle to the page. Although the style was intended to make writing more efficient, the letters are still flourished and highly decorated. Chancery letters use both thin and thick strokes.
Carolingian script, also known as Caroline minuscule, depicts rounder letters. In this style, letters were narrowly spaced, allowing for more words on a line. Carolingian letters were very uniform and less decorative as compared to other styles of the period. Still, this style was considered a cursive script. Because of its basic, simple letters, the Carolingian style was the most legible to the public, the literate members of which had less training with writing than monks and other scribes.
The Half-Uncial script is distinguished by its use of mostly uppercase letters. It is named for the ancient Uncial script since the two styles are visibly similar. Half-Uncial letters have curled extensions on both the top and bottom of the letters, making certain lowercase letters (such as "r" and "n") somewhat difficult to distinguish. This is why uppercase letters were often preferred. In this style, the letters tend to run together.