Abstract: Documents in family archives were primarily produced and kept so they might be presented as evidence. Additionally, they met the need to attach/memories and transfer patrimonial and symbolic estates among early modern families. Document preservation and retrieval are part of a production continuum, which requires archival practices involving, among others, the creation of retrieval tools such as inventories. In fact, inventories created for a specific need — the retrieval of documents within an archive — in this case connected with the need to preserve the estate and the memory within socially rising families, such as the Figueiredo family. The archive of the house of Belmonte (ACBL), nowadays perceived as a historical collection, resulted from practical concerns in its origins, which led to the amassing of documents since the late fifteenth century. This article aims to briefly introduce the production, conservation and retrieval of documents by the Figueiredos’ lineage. The process was build up gradually after the family’s social status evolution inside the nobility itself.

What sort of progress took place in the archives of Spain from the late fifteenth to the early seventeenth century? This is the question which this article seeks to answer by reflecting on the nomenclature assigned to various repositories of documentary memory, from 'chest of privileges' to 'archival chamber', whilst also focusing on the process of 'archival consolidation' which took place in different political and institutional spheres, from the Monarchy to municipal government. With this aim in mind, the article will also review a series of official regulations, beginning with the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella, which sought both to rein in the disorder and dispersion of royal documents, and to promote the preservation of municipal and notarial papers. Given that no archive can exist without a basic system of order, this study also seeks to address the different forms of organization and control of documentary memory, emphasizing the diverse systems that were adopted and their purposes. This raises a final question, that of the uses of archives, which ranged from serving the needs of different levels of governance and administration, to the organization of an ever-growing body of information and its simultaneous use in the writing of history, as reflected in the work of diverse chroniclers in a period that was increasingly characterized by the practice of local historiography.

Medieval Archaeology has grown significantly in Portugal since 1987. This results mainly from a twofold fact: the increasing number of archaeological excavations in the framework of salvage projects and the development of systematic research projects. Despite the recent appearance of Medieval Archaeology in Portuguese archaeological research, the present synthesis is however preceded by a few others that have been published in the last few years (CATARINO, 1995/97, 2002; FONTES, 2002; GOMES, 2002; FERNANDES, 2005a; FERNANDES, MACIAS, 2011). None of these was— or aimed to be —an exhaustive overview. And, once again, this contribution will not, nor could, approach all the works and publications made in the last 30 years. It is interesting to notice that somehow these syntheses reflect the bifocal tendency that can be observed on the subject. As in Spain, Medieval Archaeology in Portugal emerged and developed within two perspectives: the archaeology of Islamic spaces, where the topics of ceramic studies, urbanism and fortifications were the most relevant; and the archaeology of the Christian communities, that focused on the first built manifestations of Christianity (necropolises and temples) and settlement systems, whose approach is closely connected to the study of rock-cut graves, fortifications, and monasteries and churches dated to the beginnings of Portuguese nationality. In the latter, the research is still marked by studies within the History of Art. In my opinion, 1992 indelibly marks the destiny of Medieval Archaeology in the country. Several scientific and social events took place in that year, a fact that enhanced a greater investment in this domain and encouraged researchers. This year also featured the publication of the first volume of the Portuguese journal Arqueologia Medieval (“Medieval Archaeology”) by Mértola’s Archaeological Field. Again in 1992, the “Fourth Meeting of Peninsular Christian Archaeology” took place in Portugal, with the proceedings being published in 1995. Most of the contributions focused on excavation results from Portuguese sites, including an important collection of data on Paleo-Christian contexts. Indeed, the 1990’s marked an important turning point in Medieval Archaeology in the country. A number of factors can be put forward. One was the increasing number of archaeological fieldworks, mainly salvage excavations in urban contexts but also in the framework of the Alqueva Dam megaproject of salvage archaeology. The creation of the Portuguese Institute for Archaeology in 1997 pushed this tendency even further and allowed the funding of multiannual research projects aiming at the study of diverse topics, such as churches and monasteries, regional settlement systems, necropolises, cities and castles. The topic of Medieval fortifications resulted in many publications and archaeological excavations. Already focused by C. A. Ferreira de Almeida (1979), it was followed by M. J. Barroca, who published several relevant papers on the subject (1990/91, 1996/1997, 2003, 2004, 2008/2009). The increase in number of excavation works in Early Medieval churches and monasteries allowed new insights and interpretations on their architectonic and decorative evolutions, which in turn provided new bases for the enrichment of these monuments’ museological discourse. This growing trend in Medieval Archaeology can also be observed in projects focusing settlement systems of given geographical areas or centred in single archaeological sites. Systematic studies of necropolises and rock-cut graves were also carried out. Despite the fact that many researchers attempted to go further than record field data, the most recent theoretical leap is due to I. Martín Viso, who developed new perspectives on the analysis and interpretation of these Early Medieval funerary structures, that are very abundant in the Portuguese territory (MARTÍN VISO, 2007, 2009, 2014, 2017; TENTE, 2015, 2017a). Regarding material culture studies, a substantial development also took place with the increase of publications and thematic meetings, in particular those focusing pottery collections. Unfortunately, the latter are not always accompanied by complete studies of their assemblages—relevance is often paid to exceptional pieces or partial assemblages, thus preventing systematic, comparative studies. Islamic productions have been retaining most of the researchers’ attention. Another topic with a remarkable growth in the last years has been the archaeology of architectures, mostly of religious buildings and castles. According to official regulations, the participation of bio-anthropologists in the excavation of funerary contexts is mandatory in Portugal since 1999. This legal obligation, which runs in parallel with the increasing number of excavations, decisively boosted bio-anthropological and mortuary studies from archaeological contexts. An important development is also noticeable in the study of subsistence strategies, namely based on palaeobotanic and zooarchaeological data. These, however, are still far from systematic. To a great extent, these studies have been limited by the employed field methodologies that often ignore the scientific value of such type of evidence. More than in the case of macrofaunal remains, the (almost) invisibility of botanic and microfaunal remains lies at the core of their (almost) absence in current research. Studies have been more abundant in the domain of zooarchaeology. Here too a stronger focus on Islamic contexts is noticeable, to some extent related to contrasting taphonomic conditions, that are more favourable to organic preservation in the southern half of the country where the presence of Muslim communities was longer and research has been more intensive. Despite the growing number of publications and scientific meetings in the last 30 years, the countless number of field works was not always accompanied by the respective publications. Some of the main published studies can be found in the Bibliography, where the main references are cited. It is also worth mentioning that syntheses, either general or regional, are still lacking. This fact converges into another limitation, which is the scarcity of theoretical reflection that would allow interpretative models to be put forward and the building of a problematizing historical knowledge. However, the future seems promising and it is hoped that the above limitations may be surpassed in the next decades as, in Portugal, we are presently witnessing an increase of academic training in this specific research area.

Date of receipt: 1 st of December, 2012 Final date of acceptance: 10 th of October, 2013 abstract This article expounds on the importance of patrimonial archives for the understanding of medieval history, specifically in Catalonia. The problems surrounding this particular type of archives will be presented in order to grasp their significance. The main issue is accessibility, which, in turn, poses several difficulties for researchers attempting to study these holdings. Possible solutions will also be suggested. The article focuses on a particular patrimonial archive, the Fontcuberta Archive, whose features and medieval holdings will be properly described. We will also deal with the actions currently in progress in order to provide access for the scientific community 1 .

In the present essay, I argue that the analysis of long-neglected manuscript works from thirteenth- and fourteenth-century Castile allows us to articulate “closeness” as a critical tool for the study of Iberian manuscript culture in manifold ways. To begin with, the study of these incomplete or ravaged manuscripts confers a new meaning to the idea of “close reading” of both texts and images (consistently segregated along disciplinary lines), since scholarly work ends up being nothing short of a sleuth-like search. On the other hand, however, this minute research also forces one to explore the subtle divide between intimacy and critical distance, between the illusion of unrestricted access to the past and the theoretical discomfort provoked by the impossible task of bringing these objects back to life.

12 giugno 2018. Dopo la pubblicazione dell'edizione digitale dei documenti della prima metà del XIII secolo provenienti dall'archivio dell'abbazia di S. Maria in Gruptis a Vitulano, presso Benevento, è non solo possibile ma anche doveroso rendere pubblico, "ad cautelam et memoriam", il documento della conferenza discussa a Leeds il 4 luglio 2016, nella sessione 335 (Southern Italy in the Norman and Staufen Periods, III: 'Documents and Digital Technologies'). La conferenza del luglio 2016, accompagnata da una presentazione PPT: <https://www.academia.edu/36830061/The_private_deeds_of_the_Abbey_of_Santa_Maria_della_Grotta_Patterns_and_functions_in_Notarial_Practices_10th_13th_centuries_LEEDS_International_Medieval_Congress_04_07_july_2016_PPT_Slides>, ha riguardato le più antiche 92 pergamene dell'Abbazia di S. Maria della Grotta presso Vitulano (Benevento), datate tra il 1101 e il 1199 (pubblicate dalla dott. Antonella Ambrosio dell'Università di Napoli Federico II), e di 69 documenti inediti redatti dal 1200 al 1231, che fanno parte dell'edizione digitale dei documenti prodotti dall'Abbazia tra il 1200 e il 1250, appena pubblicata on line il 31 maggio 2018 (http://monasterium.net/mom/SMG1200-1250/collection) e in corso di stampa per Carlone Editore. L'analisi dei documenti dell'Abbazia, confrontati con le forme assunte dalla documentazione in altre città dell'ex Principato longobardo di Benevento fino al XII secolo, può contribuire a definire un quadro dello sviluppo notarile e delle pratiche di documentazione nell'antico Principato longobardo di Benevento nell'Italia meridionale. Questo studio si collega ad una riflessione più approfondita su questo tema, iniziata molti anni fa, riguardante i modelli documentari adottati dai notai e sull'evoluzione di questi modelli tra il X secolo e il primo trentennio del XIII, per individuare gli elementi di continuità e di discontinuità che sono al tempo stesso la ragione e la conseguenza di una società in trasformazione. June 12, 2018. After the publication of the digital edition of the documents of the first half of the 13th century from the archive of the abbey of S. Maria in Gruptis in Vitulano, near Benevento, it is not only possible but also dutiful to make public, “ad cautelam et memoriam”, the conference paper discussed at Leeds on 4th July 2016, in the session 335 (Southern Italy in the Norman and Staufen Periods, III: ‘Documents and Digital Technologies’). The conference of July 2016, accompanied by a PPT presentation: https://www.academia.edu/36830061/The_private_deeds_of_the_Abbey_of_Santa_Maria_della_Grotta_Patterns_and_functions_in_Notarial_Practices_10th_13th_centuries_LEEDS_International_Medieval_Congress_04_07_july_2016_PPT_Slides>, dealed with the oldest 92 parchments of the Abbey of S. Maria della Grotta near Vitulano (Benevent), dated between 1101 and 1199 (published by Dr. Antonella Ambrosio of the University of Naples Federico II), and of 69 unpublished documents written from 1200 up to 1231, that are part of the digital edition of the documents produced from from the Abbey between 1200 and 1250, just published on line on May 31, 2018 (http://monasterium.net/mom/SMG1200-1250/collection) and being printed for Carlone Editore. The analysis of the documents of the Abbey, comparing them to the forms taken by the documentation in other towns of the ex Lombard Principality of Benevent up to the 12th century, may help to define a picture of the notarial development and of documentation practices in the ancient Lombard Principality of Benevento in Southern Italy. This study is connected to a deeper reflection on this topic, started many years ago, concerning the documentary models adopted by notaries and on the evolution of these patterns between the 10th century and the first thirty years of the 13th, to identify the elements of continuity and discontinuity that are at the same time the reason and the consequence of a changing society.