A Hidden Treasure in Catalan Libraries: The Little-Known World of Medieval Italian Manuscripts in Northeastern Iberia, Big and Small Knowledge Networks in the Mediterranean, 9th International Conference of the Society for the Medieval Mediterranean, Lisboa, June 23, 2026 By Matthias M Tischler

https://www.academia.edu/169344297/A_Hidden_Treasure_in_Catalan_Libraries_The_Little_Known_World_of_Medieval_Italian_Manuscripts_in_Northeastern_Iberia_Big_and_Small_Knowledge_Networks_in_the_Mediterranean_9th_International_Conference_of_the_Society_for_the_Medieval_Mediterranean_Lisboa_June_23_2026?email_work_card=title The exchange of manuscripts between Italy and Catalonia, which has been increasingly documented since the mid-tenth century, has thus far received little attention. The reasons for this are manifold and lie, not least, in the still insufficient cataloguing and, not least, the limited digitisation of the Iberian manuscript and fragment collections. This paper offers an initial glimpse into a fascinating network of knowledge that can explain at which cultural sites throughout Italy Catalan abbots, bishops, and other high-ranking figures had rare ancient and modern texts copied for their own collections, either by local or their own scribes. Based on these and future observations, it will be possible to write a history of Western Mediterranean relations that forms the prehistory of the international networks of knowledge operating since the twelfth century within the emerging religious orders and the world of Scholasticism. ...