Digital diplomatics. The computer as a tool for the diplomatist?

Scholars of diplomatics never had a fundamental opposition on using modern technology to support their research. Nevertheless no technology since the introduction of photography had such an impact on questions and methods of diplomatics as the computer had. This book discusses the methodological consequences of doing diplomatic research on huge corpora and fast text mining technologies. It gives examples of how to enlarge the digitised charter corpus and demonstrates research applying information technology on medieval and early modern charters asking pure diplomatic questions as well as doing historical or philological research. It presents results of the international conference held on the 30th September-1st October 2011 in Naples, the second conference in a series of meetings initiated in 2007 (Munich) and continuing in 2013 (Paris-Aubervilliers). It aims at giving historians, diplomatists and IT specialists an intense insight where the digital turn in historical sciences has led diplomatics so far.