Roundtable Discussion: “Between the Lines: Late Medieval Notarial Records as a (Un)Reliable Reflection of Reality”

What actually lies behind the dry and strictly formulated language of medieval notarial records? Can historians fully trust these documents, or are they merely carefully constructed and partially obscured reflections of past reality?

These challenging and thought-provoking questions formed the basis of the roundtable discussion “Between the Lines: Late Medieval Notarial Records as a (Un)Reliable Reflection of Reality,” held on June 12, 2026, at the State Archives in Zadar as part of the International Archives Week programme. Organized by the State Archives in Zadar, the event emerged directly from cooperation with the Croatian Science Foundation project “The Formation of the Territorial State in Late Medieval Croatia, Dalmatia and Slavonia: Socio-Political and Administrative Transformations” (CroDaSTrans, IP-2025-02-4345), conducted at the Catholic University of Croatia.

The discussion brought together medievalists and project team members Mladen Ančić, Tomislav Popić, and Antun Nekić, while the project leader, Ivan Majnarić, moderated and guided the dynamic exchange of ideas. The scholarly dialogue began with an examination of the very nature of archival records. When historians analyse the processes of state formation and the growth of “infrastructural power,” they often rely on the expansion of administrative literacy as a key indicator. However, as the participants emphasized, the abundance of preserved records also presents significant methodological challenges. The living vernacular speech of individuals appearing before notaries had to be translated into rigid Latin formulae and legal frameworks.

Particular attention was devoted to the historiographical challenge of balancing microhistorical perspectives with large serial datasets. Medieval historians today face the difficult task of identifying crucial individual facts within a vast body of quantitative data and only partially preserved records, while at the same time maintaining a broader understanding of long-term social transformations.

A central theme of the discussion was the historian’s effort to “read through” bureaucratic formulas. Participants addressed the phenomenon of complex and hidden realities commonly found in notarial records from Zadar and the eastern Adriatic. Behind what appeared to be voluntary and routine business transactions often lay intricate debt relationships and various forms of social asymmetry.

Emphasizing a hermeneutic approach to source analysis, the participants defined the notarial record as a deliberate construct that intentionally simplifies and standardizes complex realities through formulaic language. A particularly lively debate emerged around the question of how historians can methodologically approach what was intentionally left unwritten. It is precisely within these administrative gaps and silences that the key to reconstructing genuine social strategies and hidden economic relationships of late medieval society may be found, beyond the formalized language of notarial documents.

The concluding part of the roundtable looked toward the future of medieval studies. In an era of rapid digitization and the emergence of new technological tools, including artificial intelligence for the automated recognition of historical manuscripts, the participants offered a balanced perspective on future research. While large-scale transcription technologies will undoubtedly accelerate the processing of archival material, technology alone cannot bridge the gap between recorded text and historical reality. Classical hermeneutics - deep, critical, and patient reading of sources—remains indispensable. Consequently, the participants highlighted the need to develop a particular methodological sensitivity among young historians working with notarial records.

The roundtable once again confirmed the importance of the State Archives in Zadar as an indispensable partner and archival centre for the implementation of the CroDaSTrans project. The project leader and research team would therefore like to express their sincere gratitude to Dr. Ante Gverić, Director of the State Archives in Zadar, for his generous support in organizing the event, his warm hospitality, and his continued recognition of the importance of project activities and cooperation between the Archives and the research community.