The articles in this volume focus on the beginnings and fundamental concepts of documentary practice in Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe: the creation, authentication and preservation of charters and other types of records. A common theme linking the various essays is the the geography of regional influence. Most parts of medieval Eastern Europe developed outside the sphere of influence of Roman written culture; therefore, the specific trajectories of the spread of Christian institutions were crucial for the development of local documentary practices. Interactions also arose through personal contacts of a familial or institutional nature. Likewise, the objects themselves – charters, other types of charters, seals, registers – as well as different languages can be seen as influencing factors. The papers therefore deal with the broader phenomenon of cultural transfer, a topic to which diplomatic studies, which have always been comparative in nature, have long been devoted.Die Beiträge in diesem Band befassen sich mit den Anfängen und grundlegenden Konzepten der Diplomatik in Mittel-, Ost- und Südosteuropa: der Erstellung, Beglaubigung und Aufbewahrung von Urkunden und anderen Arten von Dokumenten. Ein verbindendes Thema der verschiedenen Aufsätze sind die Einflüsse verschiedener Regionen auf einzelne regionale Praktiken. Die meisten Teile des mittelalterlichen Osteuropas entwickelten sich außerhalb des Einflussbereichs der römischen Schriftkultur; daher war die Verbreitung christlicher kirchlicher Institutionen für die Entwicklung der Dokumentationspraxis von entscheidender Bedeutung. Wechselwirkungen entstanden auch durch persönliche Kontakte familiärer oder institutioneller Art. Ebenso können die Objekte selbst – Urkunden, andere Arten von Dokumenten, Siegel, Register – sowie verschiedene Sprachen als Einflussfaktoren angesehen werden. Die Beiträge befassen sich daher mit dem umfassenderen Phänomen des Kulturtransfers: einem Thema, dem sich die seit jeher vergleichend arbeitende Diplomatik seit langem widmet.

The Catalogue of the Arabic, Persian and Turkish Manuscripts in Belgium is a union catalogue aiming is to present the Oriental manuscripts held by various Belgian public institutions (Royal Library, university and public libraries). These collections and their contents are largely unknown to scholars due to the lack of published catalogues. This first volume, consisting of a bi-lingual (English and Arabic) handlist, concerns the collection of the Université de Liège, which holds the largest number of Oriental manuscripts (c. 500). Each title is briefly described, identifying the author and offering basic material information. Most of the manuscripts described in this handlist originate from North Africa.

Mamluk Cairo, a Crossroads for Embassies offers an up-to-date insight into the diplomacy and diplomatics of the Mamluk sultanate with Muslim and non-Muslim powers. This rich volume covers the whole chronological span of the sultanate as well as the various areas of the diplomatic relations established by (or with) the Mamluk sultanate. Twenty-six essays are divided in geographical sections that broadly respect the political division of the world as the Mamluk chancery perceived it. In addition, two introductory essays provide the present stage of research in the fields of, respectively, diplomatics and diplomacy.With contributions by Frédéric Bauden, Lotfi Ben Miled, Michele Bernardini, Bárbara Boloix Gallardo, Anne F. Broadbridge, Mounira Chapoutot-Remadi, Stephan Conermann, Nicholas Coureas, Malika Dekkiche, Rémi Dewière, Kristof D’hulster, Marie Favereau, Gladys Frantz-Murphy, Yehoshua Frenkel, Hend Gilli-Elewy, Ludvik Kalus, Anna Kollatz, Julien Loiseau, Maria Filomena Lopes de Barros, John L. Meloy, Pierre Moukarzel, Lucian Reinfandt, Alessandro Rizzo, Éric Vallet, Valentina Vezzoli and Patrick Wing.

In recent years, a growing interest in “oriental manuscripts” in all their aspects, including the extrinsic ones, has been observed. Research that focuses on holograph, autograph and authorial manuscripts in Arabic handwritten script has nevertheless been casual, although these manuscripts raise important and varied questions. The study of the working methods of authors from the past informs different disciplines: paleography, codicology, textual criticism, ecdotics, linguistics and intellectual history. In this volume nine contributions and case studies are gathered that address theoretical issues and convey different, disruptive perspectives. A particularly important subject of this book, so far rarely discussed in scientific literature, is the identification of an author’s handwriting. Among the authors specifically dealt with in this volume one will find: al-Maqrīzī (m. 845/1442), al-Nuwayrī (m. 733/1333), Akmal al-Dīn b. Mufliḥ (m. 1011/1603), al-ʿAynī (m. 855/1451) and Ibn Khaldūn (m. 808/1406).Contributors: Frédéric Bauden, Julien Dufour, Élise Franssen, Adam Gacek, Retsu Hashizume, Marie-Hélène Marganne, Elias Muhanna, Nobutaka Nakamachi, Anne Regourd, and Kristina Richardson.

The articles in this volume focus on the beginnings and fundamental concepts of documentary practice in Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe: the creation, authentication and preservation of charters and other types of records. A common theme linking the various essays is the the geography of regional influence. Most parts of medieval Eastern Europe developed outside the sphere of influence of Roman written culture; therefore, the specific trajectories of the spread of Christian institutions were crucial for the development of local documentary practices. Interactions also arose through personal contacts of a familial or institutional nature. Likewise, the objects themselves – charters, other types of charters, seals, registers – as well as different languages can be seen as influencing factors. The papers therefore deal with the broader phenomenon of cultural transfer, a topic to which diplomatic studies, which have always been comparative in nature, have long been devoted.Die Beiträge in diesem Band befassen sich mit den Anfängen und grundlegenden Konzepten der Diplomatik in Mittel-, Ost- und Südosteuropa: der Erstellung, Beglaubigung und Aufbewahrung von Urkunden und anderen Arten von Dokumenten. Ein verbindendes Thema der verschiedenen Aufsätze sind die Einflüsse verschiedener Regionen auf einzelne regionale Praktiken. Die meisten Teile des mittelalterlichen Osteuropas entwickelten sich außerhalb des Einflussbereichs der römischen Schriftkultur; daher war die Verbreitung christlicher kirchlicher Institutionen für die Entwicklung der Dokumentationspraxis von entscheidender Bedeutung. Wechselwirkungen entstanden auch durch persönliche Kontakte familiärer oder institutioneller Art. Ebenso können die Objekte selbst – Urkunden, andere Arten von Dokumenten, Siegel, Register – sowie verschiedene Sprachen als Einflussfaktoren angesehen werden. Die Beiträge befassen sich daher mit dem umfassenderen Phänomen des Kulturtransfers: einem Thema, dem sich die seit jeher vergleichend arbeitende Diplomatik seit langem widmet.

The Catalogue of the Arabic, Persian and Turkish Manuscripts in Belgium is a union catalogue aiming is to present the Oriental manuscripts held by various Belgian public institutions (Royal Library, university and public libraries). These collections and their contents are largely unknown to scholars due to the lack of published catalogues. This first volume, consisting of a bi-lingual (English and Arabic) handlist, concerns the collection of the Université de Liège, which holds the largest number of Oriental manuscripts (c. 500). Each title is briefly described, identifying the author and offering basic material information. Most of the manuscripts described in this handlist originate from North Africa.

Mamluk Cairo, a Crossroads for Embassies offers an up-to-date insight into the diplomacy and diplomatics of the Mamluk sultanate with Muslim and non-Muslim powers. This rich volume covers the whole chronological span of the sultanate as well as the various areas of the diplomatic relations established by (or with) the Mamluk sultanate. Twenty-six essays are divided in geographical sections that broadly respect the political division of the world as the Mamluk chancery perceived it. In addition, two introductory essays provide the present stage of research in the fields of, respectively, diplomatics and diplomacy.With contributions by Frédéric Bauden, Lotfi Ben Miled, Michele Bernardini, Bárbara Boloix Gallardo, Anne F. Broadbridge, Mounira Chapoutot-Remadi, Stephan Conermann, Nicholas Coureas, Malika Dekkiche, Rémi Dewière, Kristof D’hulster, Marie Favereau, Gladys Frantz-Murphy, Yehoshua Frenkel, Hend Gilli-Elewy, Ludvik Kalus, Anna Kollatz, Julien Loiseau, Maria Filomena Lopes de Barros, John L. Meloy, Pierre Moukarzel, Lucian Reinfandt, Alessandro Rizzo, Éric Vallet, Valentina Vezzoli and Patrick Wing.

In recent years, a growing interest in “oriental manuscripts” in all their aspects, including the extrinsic ones, has been observed. Research that focuses on holograph, autograph and authorial manuscripts in Arabic handwritten script has nevertheless been casual, although these manuscripts raise important and varied questions. The study of the working methods of authors from the past informs different disciplines: paleography, codicology, textual criticism, ecdotics, linguistics and intellectual history. In this volume nine contributions and case studies are gathered that address theoretical issues and convey different, disruptive perspectives. A particularly important subject of this book, so far rarely discussed in scientific literature, is the identification of an author’s handwriting. Among the authors specifically dealt with in this volume one will find: al-Maqrīzī (m. 845/1442), al-Nuwayrī (m. 733/1333), Akmal al-Dīn b. Mufliḥ (m. 1011/1603), al-ʿAynī (m. 855/1451) and Ibn Khaldūn (m. 808/1406).Contributors: Frédéric Bauden, Julien Dufour, Élise Franssen, Adam Gacek, Retsu Hashizume, Marie-Hélène Marganne, Elias Muhanna, Nobutaka Nakamachi, Anne Regourd, and Kristina Richardson.