News

A.R.C.H.I.ves

On Monday 2 June 2014, I participated in a very stimulating palaeography workshop on the topic 'The materiality of the Record'. The workshop was held at the Birckbeck University of London and was part of a series of international workshops organised by the A.R.C.H.I.ves project.

A.R.C.H.I.ves is a four-year project funded by the European Research Council and led by Dr Filippo de Vivo in the Department of History, Classics and Archaeology in the School of Social Sciences, History and Philosophy. The project is devoted to the history of documentary production and archival preservation in late medieval and early modern Italy. Since one of my main research interests lie in palaeography, and my methodological approach focusses on the study of both the materiality and textuality of manuscripts, it was my keen desire to participate in the workshop. I felt that this would be a unique opportunity to meet experts on the field and discuss my research with them. Thanks to the generous support of a bursary offered by the Birckbeck University, I was also able to cover my travel expenses.

The workshop focused on different genres and types of fifteenth- and sixteenth-century documents from the point of view of their material form, combining textual, linguistic, diplomatic and palaeographic analysis. Historians, linguists, diplomatists and palaeographers gave short presentations followed by a very stimulating discussion. I am very happy with this productive experience and I am sure that the ties I have forged with this group of researchers will go to the benefit of my scientific growth.

Rocco Di Dio, PhD student in the Centre for the Study of the Renaissance

On Thursday 5 June 2014, Rosa Salzberg and I co-hosted a very stimulating workshop on the topic 'Arriving in the Renaissance'. Facilitated by a generous donation to the Faculty in support of interdisciplinary work, we were able to invite an international group of speakers, all of whom with interests in migration, spatial mobility and the hospitality trade. We heard papers on channeling visitors to Siena, Venetian / Florentine inns, the iconography of German public houses, cultural exchange in Bristol/Bordeaux, welcoming strangers to Amsterdam and the migration network of a Jerusalem friary. Participants from ten academic institutions found plenty of scope for discussion, including issues like voluntary/involuntary mobility, the social status of migrants, contrasting local attitudes towards immigration, principal entry points, systems of surveillance and conceptual approaches in the field. We all agreed that the topic merits further collaboration and comparative analysis, not least given its relevance for the societies of today. Beat Kümin, CSR Director