Ius Illuminatum - Oficina de investigação

📜 Rediscovering Guido de Baisio’s Rosarium Decretorum

We are pleased to share this important news from the Biblioteca Nazionale di Napoli.

Among the manuscripts recently returned from restoration is the Rosarium Decretorum of Guido de Baisio (XIII A 5), an outstanding witness to medieval legal culture, illuminated by artists of the Bolognese tradition and closely connected to the transmission of canon law in late medieval Europe.

Its restoration and preservation represent an important contribution to the safeguarding and study of Europe’s legal and manuscript heritage.

Biblioteca Nazionale di Napoli Biblioteca Nazionale di Napoli news

In recent months, the international scholarly community has lost two outstanding legal historians, Ennio Cortese and Manlio Bellomo, whose work profoundly shaped the study of medieval legal culture and the history of the ius commune in Europe.

Through their research, teaching, and publications, they transformed our understanding of medieval law and inspired generations of scholars across disciplines.

Their work remains a fundamental point of reference for the study of medieval legal culture and the manuscript traditions through which legal knowledge was transmitted and preserved—fields closely connected to the research carried out by the IUS ILLUMINATUM team on illuminated medieval legal manuscripts.

The IUS ILLUMINATUM research team honours their memory with gratitude, admiration, and respect.



Instituto de Estudos Medievais Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas - NOVA FCSH Universidade Aberta de Portugal

📜💻 Manuscripts, Digital Humanities and Artificial Intelligence

How can digital technologies reshape the study of medieval manuscript traditions?

The next session of the Dialogues of Art, History and Law will present the Burchards Dekret Digital Project, an international initiative dedicated to the classification, analysis and digital edition of the manuscript tradition of Burchard of Worms’ Decretum.

Bringing together expertise in manuscript studies, textual transmission, digital editing and AI-assisted research, this session will explore new methodologies for investigating one of the most influential textual traditions of medieval Europe.

🎙 Speakers
• Ingrid Baumgärtner (Technische Universität Darmstadt)
• Daniel Gneckow (Technische Universität Darmstadt)
• Michael Schonahrdt (Technische Universität Darmstadt)

🎤 Moderator
Maria Alessandra Bilotta

📅 26 June 2026
🕟 16:30–18:30 (Lisbon Time | GMT+00:00)
💻 Microsoft Teams

✨ From medieval manuscripts to digital analysis: a journey through textual transmission, scholarly editing and new research technologies.

📩 Registration (free but compulsory):
[email protected]

Instituto de Estudos Medievais Instituto Português de Heráldica Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas - NOVA FCSH Universidade Aberta de Portugal Fondazione Tesoro del Duomo Vercelli La Capitolare

🎓 Congratulations to João Silva on the successful defence of his Master’s dissertation!

On Friday, 22 May, at the Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas of the Universidade Nova de Lisboa, João Silva, long-standing research intern of the Ius Illuminatum team, successfully defended his Master’s dissertation entitled:

Rege Mandante: Royal Power in the Reign of Afonso III (1248–1279)

(Em português: Rege Mandante: O Poder Régio no Reinado de D. Afonso III (1248–1279)

Rooted in the study of medieval legal culture, political thought, legislation, chancery documentation, and the role of jurists in the construction of royal authority, João’s dissertation explored the conceptualisation of royal power in thirteenth-century Portugal during the reign of Afonso III. Through the analysis of legal and documentary sources, the research offered a stimulating contribution to the understanding of medieval kingship, governance, and political culture.

(Em português: A dissertação de mestrado de João Silva, Rege Mandante: O Poder Régio no Reinado de D. Afonso III (1248–1279), centrou-se na conceptualização do poder régio no século XIII através da legislação, da documentação de chancelaria, da cultura jurídica e do papel dos juristas no reinado de D. Afonso III, contribuindo para a reflexão sobre a cultura política medieval portuguesa.)

The examination committee was composed of Professor Hermenegildo Fernandes (Director of the Faculdade de Letras and Full Professor, Universidade de Lisboa), Professor Maria João Branco (Supervisor and Associate Professor with Habilitation, Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas, Universidade Nova de Lisboa), Professor João Luís Fontes (Assistant Professor, Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas, Universidade Nova de Lisboa), and Professor Maria Alessandra Bilotta (Coordinator and Principal Investigator of the Ius Illuminatum research team, and Assistant Professor at Universidade Aberta).

At Ius Illuminatum, we are especially pleased to celebrate this important academic milestone and proud to have accompanied João’s research journey over the years. João’s work reflects many of the legal and documentary interests at the core of our research environment, and we are delighted to celebrate this important achievement with him.

We warmly congratulate João on this achievement and wish him every success in his future endeavours.

📚✨ New Publication | Between Miniatures and Altarpieces

We are pleased to share the publication of the new volume coordinated by Núria Ramón-Marqués, member of the IUS ILLUMINATUM research team:

Entre miniaturas y retablos: tránsitos artísticos en el siglo XV temprano (Ediciones Trea). The volume offers a renewed perspective on medieval painting and manuscript illumination in the early fifteenth century, exploring the connections between illuminated manuscripts and panel painting through an interdisciplinary approach. 

📖 Bringing together contributions from European specialists, the book examines artistic exchanges, workshops, materials, pigments, and visual languages, shedding new light on the complexity of medieval visual culture and the circulation of artistic models between manuscripts and altarpieces. 

👏 Warm congratulations to Núria Ramón-Marqués on this important contribution to the study of medieval art and manuscript culture.

📌 More information:
https://trea.es/producto/88179-16-miniaturas-retablos/

📚⚖️ New Book | Criminal Justice in Medieval Italian Communes

We are pleased to announce the publication of a new volume by Lidia Zanetti Domingues, Associate Researcher of the IUS ILLUMINATUM research team:

La giustizia criminale nei comuni italiani. Una storia sociale della violenza e del diritto (secoli XII–XIV).

Focusing on the 12th–14th centuries, the book offers a social history of criminal justice in the Italian communes, exploring courts, punishment, violence, and the cultural dimensions of legal practice in medieval society. By addressing legal procedures, emotions, gender, and religious frameworks, the volume opens new perspectives on the experience of law in the medieval world.

👏 We warmly congratulate Lidia Zanetti Domingues, Associate Researcher of IUS ILLUMINATUM, on this important contribution to the study of medieval legal history.

📖 More information on the volume:
https://www.carocci.it/prodotto/la-giustizia-criminale-nei-comuni-italiani

📜✨ Video | Le droit par l’image

We are pleased to share the video of the lecture
“Le droit par l’image : l’exemple d’un manuscrit enluminé bolonais de la fin du XIIIe siècle”.

The lecture explores how legal thought is expressed through images in illuminated manuscripts of Roman law, focusing on a Digestum Infortiatum glossed by Accursius.

🎓 With contributions by Sabine Maffre (BnF), Viviana Persi (Associate Researcher of IUS ILLUMINATUM), and Patrick Arabeyre (member of the Scientific Committee of IUS ILLUMINATUM).

🤝 Organised by the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF), the INHA, and the École nationale des chartes – PSL. BnF - Bibliothèque nationale de France École nationale des chartes l PSL

▶️ Watch the video below 👇

Trésors de Richelieu l Le droit par l’image Le droit par l’image : l’exemple d’un manuscrit enluminé bolonais de la fin du XIIIᵉ siècle17/03/2026Centre majeur de l’enseignement du droit au Moyen Âge, l...

📜✨ Hidden Treasures of Law — Highlights from Yesterday’s Special Session

We are pleased to share some moments from yesterday’s special session of the Dialogues of Art, History and Law, dedicated to illuminated legal manuscripts from the Biblioteca Nazionale di Napoli.

⚖️ The session explored the richness of the Neapolitan collections, focusing on legal codices, their connections with Abruzzo and France, and the circulation of manuscripts of Italian origin within broader European contexts.

🎓 We were especially honoured by the participation Silvia Scipioni, Director of the Biblioteca Nazionale di Napoli, whose opening address offered valuable insights into these remarkable holdings.

📖 The discussion highlighted the intersection of law, art, and manuscript culture, revealing the dual nature of these sources as both legal instruments and works of art.

🤝 We warmly thank all speakers and participants, and our partners — in particular the Istituto Italiano di Cultura di Lisboa — for their collaboration.

👏 Thank you to everyone who joined us and contributed to this stimulating exchange.



Instituto de Estudos Medievais Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas - NOVA FCSH Universidade Aberta de Portugal Istituto Italiano di Cultura di Lisbona Biblioteca Nazionale di Napoli news