The uncial ⟨B⟩ and half-uncial ⟨b⟩ introduced by the Gregorian and Irish missions gradually developed into the Insular scripts' ⟨b⟩. These Old English Latin alphabets supplanted the earlier runes, whose use was fully banned under King Canute in the early 11th century. The Norman Conquest popularised the Carolingian half-uncial forms which latter developed into black letter ⟨ b ⟩. Around 1300, letter case was increasingly distinguished, with upper- and lower-case B taking separate meanings. Following the advent of printing in the 15th century, Germany and Scandinavia continued to use forms of black letter (particularly Fraktur), while England eventually adopted the humanist and antique scripts developed in Renaissance Italy from a combination of Roman inscriptions and Carolingian texts. The present forms of the English cursive B were developed by the 17th century.

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