Multi-Dimensional Connectionist Classification is amethod for weakly supervised training of Deep Neural Networksfor segmentation-free multi-line offline handwriting recognition.MDCC applies Conditional Random Fields as an alignmentfunction for this task. We discuss the structure and patterns ofhandwritten text that can be used for building a CRF. Since CRFsare cyclic graphical models, we have to resort to approximateinference when calculating the alignment of multi-line text duringtraining, here in the form of Loopy Belief Propagation. This workconcludes with experimental results for transcribing small multi-line samples from the IAM Offline Handwriting DB which showthat MDCC is a competitive methodology.