PV2A304 Seminar on Medieval Diplomatics and Sphragistics

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2025
Extent and Intensity
0/2/0. 3 credit(s). Type of Completion: z (credit).
In-person direct teaching
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Lukáš Führer, Ph.D. (lecturer)
doc. PhDr. Dalibor Havel, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
doc. PhDr. Dalibor Havel, Ph.D.
Department of Auxiliary Historical Sciences and Archive Studies – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Olga Barová
Supplier department: Department of Auxiliary Historical Sciences and Archive Studies – Faculty of Arts
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The aim of the course is to acquaint students with methods of analysing diplomatic sources of the Přemyslid period. It will focus on traditional and modern methodological approaches to the analysis of documents of the Přemyslid era, discussion of the application and limits of these approaches, and also the practical application of these diplomatic and sphragistic methods with specific and appropriately selected samples.
Learning outcomes
After completing the course, the student will be able to:
- analyse medieval diplomatic and sphragistic material;
- be familiar with basic techniques and work procedures;
- interpret both the formal and content aspects of individual diplomatic and sphragistic sources;
- obtain from these sources relevant information for historical research.
Syllabus
  • For selected samples, methods and procedures will be discussed and applied with regard to:
  • - diplomatic and sphragistic approaches to official materials (Sickel’s method, graphic and stylistic analysis of documents, relation to the document, circumstances and method of the origin of the document in a particular area of diplomatics, formal analysis of seals, etc.), with reasons for and ways of using them and their limitations;
  • - diplomatic criticism of documents of official provenance;
  • - the textual tradition of documents (the importance of early modern and modern copies for medieval diplomatics and sphragistics, etc.);
  • - the use of sphragistics in diplomatics and diplomatics in sphragistics;
  • - describing seals and an iconographic analysis of them (in relation to the owner of the seal, using prosopography, etc.);
  • - using other (not only) auxiliary disciplines for understanding and interpreting the form and content of documents (chronology, heraldry, metrology, paleography, state and church administration, historical methods, etc.).
Literature
  • KRMÍČKOVÁ, Helena, Zbyněk SVITÁK, Jana NECHUTOVÁ and Jarmila KREJČÍKOVÁ. Codex diplomaticus et epistolaris regni Bohemiae VI. 1 (1278-1283) (Codex diplomaticus et epistolaris regni Bohemiae). Praha: Academia, 2006, 327 pp. VI.1. ISBN 80-200-1522-1. info
  • BRESSLAU, Harry. Handbuch der Urkundenlehre für Deutschland und Italien. Bd. 1. 2. Aufl. Leipzig: Veit & Comp., 1912, 746 s. info
  • SVITÁK, Zbyněk. Lze vznik listin ve 13.století omezit jen na vydavatelské a příjemecké prostředí? (Is it possible to limit a origin of the documents in the 13.century to the publisher and receiver only?). Časopis Matice moravské. Brno: Matice moravská, 1998, vol. 117, No 2, p. 311-322. ISSN 0323-052X. info
  • FÜHRER, Lukáš and Dalibor HAVEL. Codex diplomaticus et epistolaris regni Bohemiae. Reflections on the Methods of Processing Part VII of the CDB in the Digital Age. Studia historica Brunensia. Brno: Masarykova univerzita, 2016, vol. 62, No 2, p. 7-17. ISSN 1803-7429. Digitální knihovna FF MU info
  • • SVITÁK, Zbyněk. Kdo byl písař V II 4? Sborník prací filosofické fakulty brněnské univerzity. Řada C-historická 46, 1997 [vyd. 1998], č. 44, s. 37-57.
  • Codex diplomaticus et epistolaris regni Bohemiae. Edited by Gustav Friedrich - Jindřich Šebánek - Sáša Dušková. 1. vyd. Pragae: Sumptibus Academiae scientiarum Bohemoslovacae, 1981, 621 s. URL info
  • • ŠEBÁNEK, Jindřich: Zásady vydání českého diplomatáře, SPFFBU C 4, 1957, s. 5-28.
  • • ŠEBÁNEK, Jindřich: Český diplomatář, SPFFBU C 2, 1995, s. 43-53.
  • KREJČÍKOVÁ, Jarmila and Tomáš KREJČÍK. Úvod do české sfragistiky. Ostrava: Klub genealogů a heraldiků, 1989, 86 s. info
  • KREJČÍK, Tomáš. Pečeť v kultuře středověku. Vyd. 1. Ostrava: Tilia, 1998, 365 s. ISBN 8070424990. info
  • MARÁZ, Karel, Dalibor HAVEL, Lukáš FÜHRER, Martina SMOLOVÁ, Jana NECHUTOVÁ and Jan KALIVODA. Codex diplomaticus et epistolaris regni Bohemiae. Tomi VII fasciculus sextus inde ab a. MCCLXXXIII usque ad a. MCCCVI sigilla continens (Bohemian diplomatary, the sixth volume of seventh tomus including the seals of the Years 1283-1306). Brno: Matice moravská pro Výzkumné středisko pro dějiny střední Evropy: prameny, země. kultura, 2013, 92 pp. CDB VII/6. ISBN 978-80-86488-86-8. info
Teaching methods
At the seminar, students will discuss diplomatic and sphragistic methods, the possibilities for their application, and the limits associated with these procedures. With specific examples, students will learn the basic procedures for the interpretation of Přemyslid period diplomatic and sphragistic material under the guidance of the teacher.
Assessment methods
The conditions for awarding credit for the course are active participation in the seminar, the successful completion of the assigned tasks, and the submission of a seminar paper on a pre-agreed topic.
Language of instruction
Czech
Further Comments
The course is taught annually.
The course is taught: every week.
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2022, Spring 2023, Spring 2024.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2025, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/spring2025/PV2A304