The Archives of the Holy See and the Roman Catholicism:
Instructions for use and new research perspectives
Winter Seminar
25 – 29 January 2027
Deadline for applications: 30th November 2026
The Sangalli Institute for the religious history and cultures of Florence is pleased to announce its sixth workshop on the archives of the Holy See and on the Roman Catholicism, which will be held in Rome from 25th to 29th January 2027.
This workshop is addressed to young scholars in Humanities (students enrolled in graduate and Ph.D. programs in Medieval, Early Modern, Modern and Contemporary History and History of Art but also archivists, museum curators, anthropologists and established scholars who are currently working on global Catholicism). The participants will be introduced, through a multi-disciplinary approach, to the study of the Papal Curia, to its archives and to the sources for the history of the Catholicism and will learn how to know, read, and understand the different kinds of documents preserved therein.
The seminar will consist of morning lectures on the history of the Roman Curia and the Catholicism, archival research, and palaeography. Participants will be encouraged to introduce their current or future research in order to have useful feedbacks from the archivists and professors involved in the seminar. The afternoon sessions will be devoted to visit a selected group of archives. The morning classes will include practical exercises and reading/comprehension of the documents and will be held at the Sala Convegni della Fondazione Camillo Caetani, Palazzo Caetani, via Botteghe Oscure 32, in the very centre of Rome. Lessons and guided visits will be in English.
During the seminar the following archives will be visited:
- Archives of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (formerly known as “Holy Office”)
- Historical Archives of the Apostolic Penitentiary
- Historical Archives of the Dicastery for the Evangelization (formerly known “de Propaganda Fide”)
- Historical Archives of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints
- Roman State Archives (Offices of the Papal State)
- Vatican Apostolic Archives (virtual visit)
The seminar’s list of lectures will include:
Introduction to Archival Research in Rome and virtual visit to the Vatican Apostolic Archives; Archival Research in the Archives of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith; The Historical Archives of the Dicastery the Evangelization: Brief History and Structure; Archival Research in the Archives of the Causes of Saints; Archival Research in the Roman State Archives (Administration of the Papal State); Archival Research in the Archives of the Apostolic Penitentiary; Laboratories on Manuscripts and Documents: Language, Scripts, Conventions, Dating and Documentary Typologies.
The lectures and the laboratories will be held, among the others, by Proff. Matteo Binasco (Università per Stranieri di Siena); Giorgio Caravale (Università Roma Tre); Enrico Flaiani (Archivio Apostolico Vaticano); Giovanni Pizzorusso (Università di Chieti e Pescara); Irene Fosi (Università di Chieti – Pescara); Ludwig Schmugge (Uni Zurich-DHI Rom).
A basic knowledge of Italian is recommended, but no previous archival and palaeographic experience is required. Students will be encouraged to develop and improve their current research by meeting with the archivists and the professors in order to plan future research-trips to Rome, and more broadly to Italy.
Perspective applicants should send to the following e-mail address: segreteria@istitutosangalli.it
1) a one-page CV
2) a brief statement letter (no more than one A4 page) in which they explain how this seminar will improve their research.
The above e-mail address should also be used for any queries pertaining to administrative details, course tuition and general information.
Information about possible accommodation in Rome will also be provided.
Cost of the seminar (including the morning lectures and visit to the archives): 1.000,00 € (one thousand euros). Please verify, before making the application, if your institution will cover the subscription fee and eventually other expenses.
Up to a maximum of 5 registrations amounting at € 600,00 (six hundred euros) each will be reserved to master students, not yet graduated nor enrolled in a Ph.D. program. The selection will be made on the basis on their motivations to the participation to the workshop and the relevance of their research.
The registrations will be closed as soon as the number of 15 participants will be reached. We invite therefore, if interested, to send the applications as soon as possible, in order to book ahead flights and accommodations in Rome during that week.
Deadline for applications: 30th November 2026