Summer Seminar
Franciscans and Jesuits from Italy to the world.
Charisma, History, Arts, Missions
Period: 25th – 29th May 2026
The Sangalli Institute for the religious history and cultures of Florence is pleased to announce its fourth workshop on the central archives of the religious orders, which will be held in Rome from 25th to 29th May 2026, with a specific focus on two seminal orders for the history of Catholicism, the Jesuits and the Franciscans. The importance of these latter is further heightened by the fact that the workshop coincides with the eight centenary of Saint Francis’ death.
This workshop will focus on the archives of the above mentioned orders and on their materials, providing especially, but not only, to young scholars in Humanities a new perspective on global Catholicism from Middle and Modern Ages to the Contemporary Era. The workshop will offer a multi-disci plinary approach to the role played by these religious orders and their impact from an historical, educational, ethno-anthropological and art historical point of view, and on a global scale. The participants will be introduced to the study of the history of Franciscans and Jesuits and their archives and will learn how to know, read and understand the different kinds of documents preserved therein. The participants will also have the opportunity to visit the places where the archives and libraries have been created, thereby being important from the architectural, artistic and historical point of view
This workshop will be particularly useful for any students enrolled in graduate and Ph.D. programs in history and history of pedagogy and schools, but also for archivists, museum curators, art historians, anthropologists and established scholars who are currently working on global Catholicism. This workshop will be particularly useful for any students enrolled in graduate and Ph.D. programs in history and history of pedagogy and schools, but also for archivists, museum curators, art historians, anthropologists and established scholars who are currently working on global Catholicism. The seminar will consist of morning lectures on the history of some crucial catholic religious orders, 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 of the same religious orders. Morning lectures and guided visits will be held in English.
During the seminar the following archives will be visited:
1) Archives of the Irish College of the Minor Friars of Saint Isidore
2) Archives and Library of the church of San Francesco a Ripa
3) General Archives of the Conventual Minor Friars of the Basilica dei Santi XII Apostoli
4) General Historical Archives of the Order of the Minor Friars
5) Provincial Historical Archives of the Minor Friars at Aracoeli
6) Archivum Romanum Societatis Iesu (Jesuits)
The lectures and the laboratories will be held, among the others, by , Matteo Binasco (Università per Stranieri di Siena); Michele Camaioni (Università degli studi Roma Tre); Roberto Cobianchi (Università degli studi di Messina); Paolo Evangelisti (Archivio Storico della Camera dei Deputati, Roma); Enrico Flaiani (Archivio Apostolico Vaticano); Camilla Russell (Archivum Historicum Societatis Iesu); Filippo Sedda (Biblioteca Provinciale Francescana di San Francesco a Ripa, Roma).
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 researches 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 email 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 visits to the archives): 1.000,00 € (one thousand euros).
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 of their motivations to the participation to the workshop and the relevance of their research. A special rate of € 800,00 (eight hundred euros) will be reserved to the Ph.D. students who have participated to the past winter course on Papal Archives, and € 500,00 (five hundred euros) for master’s degree students who have already partecipated to the same course.
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, especially considering this jubilee year.
Deadline for application: 25th March 2026