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IMC 2016: Sessions

Session 234: Archives and Archival Practices around the Medieval Mediterranean

Monday 4 July 2016, 14.15-15.45

Sponsor:ARCHIves Project 'The Comparative History of Archives in Late Medieval and Early Modern Italy', Birkbeck, University of London
Organiser:Daisy Livingston, Department of History, School of Oriental & African Studies, University of London
Moderator/Chair:Konrad Hirschler, Department of History, School of Oriental & African Studies, University of London
Paper 234-aThe Archive of the Basilica of San Vittore of Varese, 899-1299: A Remarkable Example of Medieval Ecclesiastical Archival Practices
(Language: English)
Giacomo Giudici, Department of History, Classics & Archaeology, Birkbeck, University of London
Index terms: Administration, Archives and Sources, Charters and Diplomatics, Ecclesiastical History
Paper 234-bA Composite Archive: Storing and Organising Documents in the 15th-Century Crown of Aragon
(Language: English)
Alessandro Silvestri, Department of History, Classics & Archaeology, Birkbeck, University of London
Index terms: Administration, Archives and Sources, Politics and Diplomacy
Paper 234-cArchival Practices in Egypt during the 13th-15th Centuries: The Documentary Evidence
(Language: English)
Daisy Livingston, Department of History, School of Oriental & African Studies, University of London
Index terms: Administration, Archives and Sources, Islamic and Arabic Studies
Abstract

In recent years, the history of archives and recordkeeping has benefited from a new wave of scholarly interest. Nonetheless, not all world regions and historical periods have been equally served by this shift. Taking a multi-regional approach to the history of archives, this session opens the possibilities of comparative discussion across geographical areas that have usually been studied separately, and the comparison of which has often been hampered by generalisations. It addresses some of the major issues that have arisen from the study of archival history, investigating individual archives, archival networks spanning long distances, and small-scale practices attested in the material features of particular documents. It focuses on the political, religious, and pragmatic incentives and developments driving certain archival forms, placing emphasis on the ideological as well as the community function of archives.