CID 2026 SYMPOSIUM
Oct. 15–16 2026, Porto and Coimbra

Royal Chanceries Revisited: Research Paths_ CID 2026 Colloquium

Thirty-five years after the CID Technical Colloquium on the Typology of Royal Acts was held in Porto and Coimbra, it is time to return to the documentary production and the specific spaces that made up the chancelleries of the sovereigns. In addition to the essential assessment of what has been produced since then, it is increasingly important to broaden the reflections provided by traditional comparative diplomacy, and to take into account not only the characteristics of the various documents, their composition, but also the writers and the conditions in which they were written.

It is necessary to delve into various approaches to the subject. First and foremost, we must understand at what point the chancellery of a king, queen, or prince emerges as a structured institution and when it can, in fact, be properly designated as such. It is also important to analyze the tasks performed in these spaces, as well as the forms and uses of writing within these institutions.

Another fundamental area of research concerns the internal organization of the chancelleries of kings, queens and princes, understood as a result of the progressive increase in documentary production, seeking to identify continuities and systematic changes over time. In this context, it is particularly important to study the control of goods and people exercised through letters of chancery, as instruments of power and administration. We also analyzed the documents produced by the royal chancellery for the central and peripheral administrations, as well as those from these same administrative levels.

As this is a topic that has never ceased to be present in diplomatic research, this scientific meeting, held under the patronage of the International Commission on Diplomacy, aims above all to offer young researchers who are dedicated to diplomacy a space for dialog and debate. At the same time, the more experienced members of the IADC, who are expected to take part in the meeting, will help to build bridges between what has already been researched and new approaches and conceptions of diplomacy.

The program is now available.

Organizing Committee

Maria Cristina Cunha
(Faculty of Arts, University of Porto / Center for Transdisciplinary Research on Culture, Space, and Memory)

Maria João Oliveira Silva
(Faculty of Arts, University of Porto / Center for Transdisciplinary Research on Culture, Space, and Memory)

Maria Helena da Cruz Coelho
(Faculty of Arts, University of Coimbra / Center for the History of Society and Culture)

Saúl António Gomes
(Faculty of Arts, University of Coimbra / Center for the History of Society and Culture)

Maria do Rosário Morujão
(Faculty of Arts, University of Coimbra / Center for the History of Society and Culture)

For more information, visit: https://royalchanceriesrevisited.mozellosite.com/
Email: royalchanceriesrevisited@gmail.com