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Primary Sources: Editing and Digital Documentation

Since its foundation, the Section of Byzantine Research has placed at the center of its mission the collection, critical edition, and documentation of primary sources from the Byzantine period and the period of the Latin dominions in the Greek territories. This long-standing tradition encompasses a wide range of materials, including inscriptions, coins, archaeological evidence, manuscripts, and archival records, all aimed at building a solid scholarly foundation for the study of the Byzantine and Medieval world.

Today, the Section continues and expands this mission through three main research areas. At the same time, keeping pace with technological developments, the Department actively invests in digital documentation and the creation of specialized databases, enhancing open access to knowledge and supporting international research.

Documentation of Byzantine History and Archaeology

The principal objectives of the research area “Documentation of Byzantine History and Archaeology” are the study and processing of a wide range of artifacts and sources related to the history and archaeology of the Byzantine world and the production of high-level studies based on them. Their documentation requires the systematic recording, analytical description, and interpretation of literary and non-literary texts, as well as of material remains such as inscriptions, seals, and components of a monument’s architectural and decorative programs. This research area combines methods drawn from historical research, philology, archaeology, and art history, integrating interdisciplinary approaches that deepen our understanding of Byzantium’s social, economic, and cultural dimensions. Particular emphasis is placed on documentation carried out through systematic research practices that employ both traditional and novel technological methods.

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Archival, Diplomatic and Paleographical Research

Research Area featuring infrastructure projects that aim (a) to locate unknown or scarcely known primary archival and literary sources, to bring them to light through analytical cataloguing and publication, and to exploit and study them, and (b) to investigate topics relevant to Diplomatics, Palaeography–Codicology, and the transmission of texts.

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Sources for the Latin Dominions in the Greek Territories

The written sources for the Latin dominions in the Greek territories fall into two broad categories: narrative sources and archival documents. The narrative sources comprise the chronicles and histories of the period, travel accounts, and geographical descriptions, often accompanied by cartographic material. However, for the geographical and chronological scope addressed by the Research Area, the predominant category is that of archival documents. These may be further divided into two principal subcategories: public administrative documents and notarial registers. Among these, a distinction is made between those issued in the political and administrative centre of the respective dominion or within another overarching political authority, and those produced locally within the Greek territories. The public administrative documents encompass a wide variety of types, reflecting the multiplicity of offices and officials responsible for their issuance.

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