Diplomatics
The word diplomatics was effectively coined by the Benedictine monk Jean Mabillon, who in 1681 published his treatise, De re diplomatica (Latin: roughly, "The Study of Documents").It is, however, closely associated with several parallel disciplines, including palaeography, sigillography, codicology, and provenance studies, all of which are concerned with a document's physical characteristics and history, and which will often be carried out in conjunction with a diplomatic analysis.The term diplomatics is therefore sometimes used in a slightly wider sense, to encompass some of these other areas (as it was in Mabillon's original work, and as is implied in the definitions of both Webster and Beal quoted above).The recent development of the science in non-English Europe is expanding its scope to a cultural history of documentation including aspects of pragmatic literacy or symbolic communication.[4] The first notable application of diplomatics was by Nicolas of Cusa, in 1433, and Lorenzo Valla, in 1440, who determined, independently, that the Donation of Constantine, which had been used for centuries to legitimize papal temporal authority, was a forgery.Although Mabillon is still widely seen as the "father" of diplomatics, a more important milestone in the formation of the battery of practical techniques which make up the modern discipline was the publication of René-Prosper Tassin and Charles-François Toustain's Nouveau traité de diplomatique, which appeared in six volumes in 1750–65.
Diplomacydocumentshistorical documentschartersdiplomaschancerieslegal instrumentlettersmetadataauxiliary sciences of historypalaeographytextual criticismhistorical criticismJean MabillonBenedictineWebster's DictionaryHarry Bresslausigillographycodicologyprovenancesymbolic communicationChristopher BrookeTassinToustainancientmedievalforged documentsNicolas of CusaLorenzo VallaDonation of ConstantineantiquarianReformationCounter-ReformationMabillon'sJesuitDaniel van PapenbroekMerovingianAbbey of Saint-DenisMiddle AgeshistoryRené-Prosper TassinCharles-François ToustainThomas MadoxLuciana Durantiarchival sciencehistoriansarchivesforgeriesHitler diariesHimmlerorthographyfacsimileAbraham Farleyspecial typefacedigital fontFalse documentForensic sciencePapal diplomaticsQuestioned document examinationTextual scholarshipOxford English DictionaryOxford University PressBrooke, Christopher N. L.Duranti, LucianaBresslau, HarryWikisourceMarburg University