Engross

To copy a document in a formal, ornate way for ceremonial purposes. Today, 'engrossing' connotes the rendering of a certificate or resolution in a 19th century style of lettering, often employing Gothic, Copperplate and Lombardic capitals (sometimes all in the same piece of work). This style is typified by the meticulous work in the Zanerian Manual of Alphabets and Engrossing (1895, 1981). Until the mid-1970s, many Americaln scribes who made their living hand lettering awards called themselves engrossers. Since then, the label 'calligrapher' is much more common. (Rose Folsum)

Quill Pen

Quill Pen- Made from a primary flight feather of any large bird, usually a goose or turkey, but also a swan, crow, peacock, etc. The feather is soaked in water, cured (hardened) in hot sand, a small slit is made for the middle of the nib, and the quill is cut to form a pen. Some scribes prefer to omit curing and store the cut quills in water always.
The direct ancestor of the quill was the reed pen cut to a broad edge. Reeds wrote beautifully on papyrus, but as this began to be replaced by parchment around the 6th century A.D., the sharp, crisp quality of a quill better suited the silky smooth surface of the skin. Also, feathers were more plentiful in Europe than were the reeds used by Mediterranean scribes. As paper largely replaced parchment in Europe in the late 15th century, the quill remained. It was not until the flexible steel nib was developed in the 1830s that the quill began to die out as the Western World's writing tool. Nonetheless, many scribes today favor the quill for its incomparably crisp strokes and hairlines as well as its sensitive balance of strength and flexibility in writing, especially on parchment. (Rose Folsum)

Freedmen

Here's an example of art during the era of Early Medieval Art.
The Scribe Ezra Rewriting the Sacred Records, from the codex Amiainus, Jarrow, early 8th century. Biblioteca Medicea-Laurenziana, Florence.

In ancient and medieval society, the class which had been freed from servitude as opposed to having been born free. (Gardner)