Organisation
Coord.: Elisa Lonati (École nationale des chartes – PSL), Anne Rochebouet (UVSQ Paris-Saclay, IUF), Irene Salvo García (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid / ENS de Lyon)
Org.: Centre Jean-Mabillon (École nationale des chartes – PSL), DYPAC (UVSQ Paris-Saclay), Institut Universitaire de France, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
Col.: ANR, MICIU/AEI
Dates, venue and access
- 22 and 23 April 2026
- Casa de Velázquez | C/ Paul guinard, 3 - Madrid
- Free admission until capacity is reached
About the workshop
Languages: french and english
History writing is characterised by two key concepts: segmentation and periodisation. These issues are magnified in the Middle Ages by the practice of compilation, a process involving the reuse of passages of varying lengths from existing texts and the imposition of a new order on these materials. From the scholastic period onwards, these divisions were increasingly reflected graphically in the layout of books.
While the analysis of rewriting and reworking processes at the textual level has led to significant publications,the interaction between the text and its material medium (its layout and visual structuring)remains largely unexplored.
This workshop thus wishes to examine the sequencing and structuring of historical texts within the manuscripts themselves, and to focus on the macro-structural organisation and on the articulations constructed by the layout and iconographic devices that materialise or interact with the text.
Since medieval historical writing is essentially a process of rewriting, our focus will be on the changes and restructurings that these texts undergo within a single tradition. Rather than on the sources themselves, our focus will be on the structural, visual and media reconfigurations that the material undergoes.