Metadata

Dates

In header materials all dates are New Style, and any differences in individual documents (e.g. starting the new year on 25 March) are noted within the transcription or notes. Some documents can only be more vaguely dated to a month (*.7.1480), to a year (*.1480), to a period (c.1506-10 or before 1511 or after 17.6.1489). Documents with multiple dates (e.g. a series of payments) are placed under the first date (we plan to add cross-references at other dates at a later stage), with subsequent dates (or a range of dates) noted in the header material and transcription. For further comments on dates, and to calculate which day of the week a document was made on, see the Daily perpetual calendar developed by the Liceo Foscarini.

Location

This category of information gives finding information for every document in the database. This will usually be reference to an archive, and its sub-location, volume and folio number within that archive. In some cases archives have multiple collocation systems (e.g. old and new style, or old and new pagination) and these references are also given wherever possible. In some cases documents which were referred to in the past are now missing, and this will also be noted wherever possible.

Language

Most of the documents included in the database are written in Latin or in Italian or in both. There are a few in German and Greek. Eventually the database may expand to include documents in other languages, e.g. English or German. It should also be noted that medieval Latin or Italian is frequently corrupted, and that this can be further complicated by idiosyncratic spelling and punctuation, and by divergent transcription standards.