B020993 - DIPLOMATICS

Italian

Through a number of selected charters from the XIIth to the XIVth century, the course gives an introduction to the deciphering and understanding of medieval legal, administrative and economic documents.

Basic notions
H. Bresslau, Manuale di diplomatica per la Germania e l’Italia, Roma, Ministero per i Beni culturali e Ambientali – Ufficio Centrale per i Beni Archivistici, 1998 (trad. it. dell’ed. 1912-1915, pp. 9-17 (Nozioni fondamentali e definizioni), pp. 18-47 (Storia della diplomatica).
H. Bresslau, Manuale di diplomatica cit., pp. 1093-1123 (Le materie scrittorie)

A. Pratesi, Genesi e forme del documento medievale, Roma, Jouvence, 1979, pp. 25-30 (Nozioni fondamentali), 31-33 (Le persone), 57-65 (Caratteri estrinseci), 67-79 (Caratteri intrinseci).

Chronology
A. Pratesi, Genesi e forme del documento medievale, Roma, Jouvence, 1979, pp. 111-123 (Usi cronologici)

In-depth study
G. Tamba, Una corporazione per il potere. Il notariato a Bologna in età comunale, Bologna, CLEUB, 1998: I Memoriali bolognesi, pp. 218-250.

In-depth study


Further bibliography will be recommended in the class.

Students will acquire the ability to read and analyze primary sources and to use reference works and auxiliary materials (dictionaries, research tools, chronological manuals, databases, critical editions of documents) and will become familiar with the basic diplomatics knowledge and the historical conditions in which the documents were created and preserved, as well as with various types of diplomatic hands from the 12th to the 14th century (including specific forms of abbreviations and dating methods) and with the techniques and principles of transcription and diplomatic edition.
The sum of the theoretical and practical components will enable the development of
Ability to apply knowledge and understanding;
Autonomy of judgement;
Communication skills;
Ability to learn

The precondition of participating in the course is the knowlegde of Latin on basic level. As for Erasmus students: good skills in reading and speaking italian.

36 hours course. The main part of the course will consist of practical work sessions, both in oral reading and in written transcription. Photocopies/digital images of charters to be discussed in class will be made available in advance on the Moodle platform (http://e-l.unifi.it/) and students are expected to prepare for each class by consulting dictionaries and handbooks. There will be weekly assignments to be prepared for common work in class. The completion of all the exercises assigned during the course is mandatory for access to the final exam. Since the course puts a strong emphasis on practical skills, regular attendance and preparation is required.

Disabled students or students with learning disabilities are invited to contact the "UNIFI Include" desk in order to set up the course in the most appropriate manner for their specific needs. The agreed measures must be shared with the teacher in due time.

Written and oral examination.
The written part will consist of transcribing and summarizing a charter not studied before (to be delivered at least one week before the exam date); the test is compulsory.
The oral part of the examination will consist in
a) reading reading and commenting some of the plates illustrated during the (the list will be provided at the end of the course);
b) discussing topics dealt with during the course
c) discussing of the bibliography

Please note that all material distributed during the lessons(available on the moodle platform) is an integral part of the exam and will be discussed during the test.
The completion of all the exercises assigned during the course is mandatory for access to the final exam.

Grading will be based on a combination of class work and final exam:
class work (6/30)
written exam (6/30)
reading test (6/30)
discussion of topics dealt with in the first part of the course (6/30)
discussion of the bibliography (6/30).

Students who are disabled or have DSA or are temporarily unable for health reasons to take the examination in the manner provided are invited to contact the Unifi include desk in order to be able to carry out in the most satisfactory manner a course of study tailored to their needs and to make use of the most suitable compensatory/exempt measures.
These measures must then be shared with the teachers concerned as soon as possible.

The course will consist in training in reading charters and in getting familiar with chancery and notarial hands, formulae, forms and types of charters, mainly Italian. The course offers an introduction to the basic elements of medieval Latin paleography, and it tries to enable the students to work with primary sources in their ‘original’ form. Special attention will be paid to the script and to the system of abbreviations, as well as to the survey of diplomatic terms, parts and forms of charters and written documents, and to the techniques and principles of historical and diplomatic transcription and editing.
Main subjects:
Abbreviation system; basic notions of chronology.
What is a document in diplomatic sense.
Phisical and internal features of the medieval document.
Private and public (imperial and papal) charters.
Use and function and documents of public notaries in the Middle Ages.
The medieval notary: his working methods and his place in society.
Text transmission.
Principles and practice of charter editing.

Nr. 4, 5 and 10