IMC 2026: Sessions

Session 1508: The Making, Using, and Keeping (or Not) of Documents in Late Medieval Central Europe, 1200-1500, I: Making Documents

Thursday 9 July 2026, 09:00-10:30

Organisers:	Jagna Rita Sobel, Instytut Historyczny, Uniwersytet Wrocławski Tomasz Walczak, Instytut Historii im. Tadeusza Manteuffla, Polska Akademia Nauk, Warszawa
Moderator/Chair:	Anna Adamska, Centrum Studiów Mediewistycznych, Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski Jana Pawła II / Utrecht Centre for Medieval Studies, Universiteit Utrecht
Paper 1508-a	Multiscriptality in the Croatian Cultural Circle during the Middle Ages: The Case of Ragusa and the Use of the Cyrillic Script (Language: English) Kristian Paskojević, Odjel za povijest i kulturu glagoljaštva, Staroslavenski institut Index terms: Archives and Sources, Charters and Diplomatics, Language and Literature - Slavic
Paper 1508-b	The Phenomenon of Rus' (Ruthenian) Documents in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Late 15th Century (Language: English) Aliaksandr Hrusha, Instytut Historii im. Tadeusza Manteuffla, Polska Akademia Nauk, Warszawa Index terms: Archives and Sources, Charters and Diplomatics
Paper 1508-c	Seals of Moravian Premonstratensians and Other Bohemian and Moravian Monasteries in the Late Middle Ages (Language: English) Martina Bolom-Kotari, Katedra pomocných věd historických a archivnictví, Univerzita Hradec Králové Index terms: Archives and Sources, Charters and Diplomatics
Abstract	Study of medieval documents in Europe has a long tradition, yet it continues to attract undiminished interest. Since the publication of Michael Clanchy’s influential book “From Memory to Written Record”, scholars have shown increasing interest in the “whole life” of medieval documentation, from its production in the chancery to its preservation – or frequent destruction. This three-part session presents reflections on this life cycle of documents in the context of late medieval East Central Europe. The first part will address selected issues relating to the production of documents, such as their language and alphabet and the legal value of the seals used for their authentication. We recommend assigning this session to the following strands: 1) Literacy and Communication, 2) Government, Law and Institutions, and 3) Central and Eastern European Studies.