Archivio Muratoriano
Item
Country
IT
Name of institution (English)
Estense Library
Name of institution (official language of the state)
Language of name of institution
ita
Contact information: postal address
Largo Porta Sant'Agostino 337, 41121 Modena
Contact information: phone number
0039 0594395711
Contact information: web address
Contact information: email
ga-esten@beniculturali.it
Reference number
Archivio Muratori
Type of reference number
Archival reference number
Title (English)
Muratoriano Archive
Title (official language of the state)
Archivio Muratoriano
Language of title
ita
Creator / accumulator
Lodovico Antonio Muratori
Date note
Predominantly 17th and 18th centuries
Language(s)
ita
Extent
c. 100,000 documents
Type of material
Textual Material
Physical condition
Good
Scope and content
The Archivio Muratoriano is composed of over 100,000 documents divided into two large sections: one containing manuscripts of Muratori's works, as well as his youth notebooks, academic diplomas and various other materials; and the other comprising correspondence, both in original (received letters) and in minutes (sent letters). The correspondence included in this archive amounts to over 20,000 letters exchanged with 2054 correspondents, including attached material of various types. Among these correspondents, there is the Livornese Jewish scholar Joseph Attias (1672–1739), whose letters to Ludovico Muratori are contained in the file 52.03. Attias' letters published in Campli & Forlani (1995), pp. 305-328. A digital copy is available on Internet Culturale website.
Archival history
The Archivio Muratoriano is mostly composed of the personal library of Lodovico Antonio Muratori (1672-1750), the librarian and archivist of the Duke of Este in Modena. In addition, it also includes two other collections of documents related to Giuseppe Orsi, Muratori's friend, and Giovanni Francesco Soli Muratori, who succeeded Lodovico in the "prepositura" (direction) of Pomposa and the position of ducal archivist.
The entire archive was acquired by the Biblioteca Estense in May 1902 from Alessandro Muratori, the last heir of the Muratori's library. In recent years, the collection has been digitalised, and part of its items are now available online on:
The entire archive was acquired by the Biblioteca Estense in May 1902 from Alessandro Muratori, the last heir of the Muratori's library. In recent years, the collection has been digitalised, and part of its items are now available online on:
Administrative / Biographical history
Lodovico Antonio Muratori (Vignola, 1672 - Modena, 1750) was a scholar and a pioneer of modern Italian historiography. After studying at Modena, he was ordained priest and employed in the Ambrosian library at Milan. There he published the Anecdota (2 vol., 1697–98; two further volumes added, 1713), a selection of texts that he had discovered among the manuscripts belonging to the library. In 1700, he went to Modena as a librarian for Duke Rinaldo I. Legal disputes between the Este family and the Holy See over the ownership of the territory of Comacchio led Muratori to study, in the original documents, some of the juridical and ideological problems of the Italian middle ages. This archival research resulted in the collection of a series of chronicles, diaries, and legal documents that he comprised in the 28-volume work Rerum Italicarum Scriptores, 28 vol. (1723–51). At the same time, Muratori was working on his work Antiquitates Italicae Medii Aevi (6 vol., 1738–42), which includes the Muratorian Canon, a 2nd-century list of the books of the New Testament. In 1744, he began the publication of the Annali d’Italia (12 vol., 1744–49).
Besides a historian and a man of letters, Muratori was also a priest who fought against superstition and medieval scholasticism, as revived by the Jesuits.
Besides a historian and a man of letters, Muratori was also a priest who fought against superstition and medieval scholasticism, as revived by the Jesuits.
Access points: locations
Access points: persons, families
Access points: subject terms
Access points: document types
System of arrangement
The fonds is arranged sequentially.
Links to finding aids
Author of the description
Carla Vieira, 2022
Published primary sources
Linked resources
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| Title | Alternate label | Class |
|---|---|---|
| Biblioteca Estense Universitaria | Collections (official language of the state) |