Abstract
On what grounds was a manuscript containing a legal document discarded? Who, when, and why decided on its preservation or abandonment? Which documentary types suffered this fate? Were there medieval and modern regulations on the practice of discarding? What paths did the discarded material take? Such are the questions from which the REDDIS project plans to approach for the first time the study of recycled medieval diplomatic fragments preserved in Italy, providing an original contribution to some of the main topics in documentary and cultural history. The first new feature is the aim of the inquiry. Despite its cultural relevance and widespread diffusion, the reuse of manuscripts containing legal documents has never been studied. Moreover, what makes REDDIS so innovative is the perspective of the investigation. We are not only interested in bringing to light previously unpublished documentation. We also want to study the distinctive elements of each functional phase undergone by the recycled diplomatic fragments. This means that we will investigate the essential data of this phenomenon, i.e., the material, visual and conceptual relationship between the recycled medieval diplomatic fragments and the geographical, chronological, and cultural contexts in which they were written, used, discarded, transformed, and reused. Each fragment is modified and, at the same time, modifies the context in which it is inserted, becoming the protagonist of a mechanism of mutual transformation and attribution of meaning. Exploring these processes of use, abundance, reception, and reinterpretation thus means reflecting on the unstable and transformative nature of the material and textual culture of documentation. We also believe that, in addition to constituting a largely unexplored field of inquiry, the study of recycled medieval diplomatic fragments might also pave the way to approach many crucial topics in Diplomatics in a radically new way: the material culture elements of documentation, for example; but also the issue of discarding linked to the perception of the usefulness of documentation with time; and also the relationship between legislation and practice concerning the modalities and those responsible for archival preservation; and so on. To achieve these objectives, a census of sources will be undertaken and a descriptive methodology will be studied to represent and enhance the specificities of the recycled medieval diplomatic fragments, while at the same time being interoperable with other descriptive systems already existing within memory institutions. Finally, particular attention will be devoted to the circulation of the research results among the wider public. Since the issue of recycling is at the centre of European environmental, economic, social, and institutional policies, REDDIS aims to connect with it by devoting specific economic and human resources to disseminate a historical approach to this highly topical issue.
Project details
Unibo Team Leader: Maddalena Modesti
Unibo involved Department/s:
Dipartimento di Filologia Classica e Italianistica
Coordinator:
Università degli Studi di ROMA Tor Vergata(Italy)
Total Unibo Contribution: Euro (EUR) 59.151,00
Project Duration in months: 24
Start Date:
30/11/2023
End Date:
28/02/2026
