How do you read medieval documents?

Mons. Federico Gallo, director of the Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan and member of the RIGG, has written a 100-page handbook on medieval documentary studies. It is the fruit of his diplomatics lessons at Notre Dame University in the USA.

Despite its brevity, the course offers a comprehensive introduction to the rules of medieval document drafting:

  • History of diplomatics
  • Definition of documents (as legal documents)
  • Internal structure of documents (protocol, context, escatalogue)
  • Language and style
  • External characteristics
  • Study of seals
  • Production (from the legal act to delivery)
  • Transmission
  • Forgeries
  • Editions
  • Papal documents

The volume does not include transcriptions of selected examples. It is suitable as preparation for attending appropriate diplomatics courses, which can be taken at the State Archives in Milan or at the Vatican Library, for example. The illustrations are too small to be able to decipher the documents, all of which are parchments from the Milan library.

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Category: Recommended reading