Seminar on Paleography and Archival Studies

May 25 – June 6, 2015

Florence, Italy

For the fifth consecutive year, the Medici Archive Project (MAP) will be offering a two-week intensive seminar on archival research. For the first time, MAP will partner with the Archvio di Stato di Firenze, the Amici dell’Archivio di Stato di Firenze and the Biblioteca Domenicana di Santa Maria Novella “Jacopo Passavanti”.

The principal aim of this seminar is to provide an introduction to Italian archives (with particular emphasis on Florentine archival collections); to examine in-depth various documentary typologies; to read diverse early modern scripts; and to learn how to plan research in Italian archives and libraries.

Especially relevant for advanced graduate students studying Renaissance and early modern topics, this seminar is taught by a team of current and former MAP scholars, as well as university professors, MAP-affiliated researchers, and professional archivists at the Archivio di Stato in Florence.

Participating students will be taught at the Biblioteca Dominicana di Santa Maria Novella and the Archivio di Stato in Florence. Two visits to private archives are also planned. In addition, participants are encouraged to spend their mornings at the MAP office at the Archivio di Stato in Florence in order to work on their projects alongside current MAP fellows and scholars.

The seminar will run for two weeks, composed of twelve three-hour lessons (on average), and is limited to fifteen scholars (so that each participant will receive personal guidance).

Prospective applicants should send a one-page CV and a brief statement explaining how this course will benefit one’s current research to seminar@medici.org and ebrizio@medici.org by May 15, 2015. A working knowledge of Italian is required. Please note, as space is strictly limited, places will be offered on a first-come-first-served basis. The tuition fee for this seminar is US $1000, payable via PayPal upon acceptance (room and board are not included).

Lectures

1. Manuscripts and Documents

2. Archives in Florence

3. History of the Medici Archive

4. The Mediceo del Principato: Organization and Structure

5. Letters: Production, Reception, Dissemination, Form and Content

6. The Guardaroba Medicea and Florentine Inventories

7. Heraldry and Related Resources

8. Legal Archives

9. Financial Archives

10. Notarial Archives: Contracts and Wills

11. Religious Archives: Churches, Convents and Confraternities

12. Archival Research and History of Medicine

13. Avvisi and Early Modern News Networks

14. Early Modern Digital Archives