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Content archived on 2024-05-30

A comparative history of archives in late medieval and early modern Italy

Objective

Most historians work in archives, but generally have not made archives into their primary object of research. While we tend to be preoccupied by documentary loss, what is striking is the sheer amount of paperwork preserved over the centuries. We need to study the reasons for this preservation.

This project wishes to study the history of the archives and of the chanceries that oversaw their production storage and organization in late medieval and early modern Italy: essentially from the creation of the first chanceries in city-states in the late twelfth century to the opening of the Archivi di Stato that, after the ancient states’ dissolution, preserved documents as tools for scholarship rather than administration. Because of its fragmented political history, concentrating on Italy means having access to the archives of a wide variety of regimes; in turn, as institutions pursuing similar functions, archives lend themselves to comparison and therefore such research may help us overcome the traditional disconnectedness in the study of Italy’s past.

The project proposes to break significantly new ground, first, by adopting a comparative approach through the in-depth analysis of seven case studies and, second, by contextualising the study of archives away from institutional history in a wider social and cultural context, by focusing on six themes researched in six successive phases: 1) the political role of archives, and the efforts devoted by governments to their development; 2) their organization, subdivisions, referencing systems; 3) the material culture of documents and physical repositories as well as spatial locations; 4) the social characteristiscs of the staff; 5) the archives’ place in society, including their access and misuse; 6) their use by historians. As implied in the choice of these themes, the project is deliberately interdisciplinary, and aims at the mutually beneficial exchange between archivists, social, political cultural and art historians.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

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Topic(s)

Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.

Call for proposal

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ERC-2011-StG_20101124
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Funding Scheme

Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.

ERC-SG - ERC Starting Grant

Host institution

BIRKBECK COLLEGE - UNIVERSITY OF LONDON
EU contribution
€ 1 107 070,00
Address
MALET STREET
WC1E 7HX London
United Kingdom

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Region
London Inner London — West Camden and City of London
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
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Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

No data

Beneficiaries (1)

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