An interview on the manuscripts of Montecassino between research, digitisation and new tools for study

In one of the recent Dialoghi di Urbisaglia, Marilena Maniaci was interviewed by Luca Rivali on the written heritage of Montecassino and on the perspectives opened today by research and digital technologies.

Throughout the conversation, the main features of MeMo – Memory of Montecassino emerge clearly. The initiative stems from ongoing research on manuscripts, incunabula and documentary materials preserved at the Abbey and is carried forward by the laboratory “LIBeR. Libro e Ricerca” of the Department of Humanities at the University of Cassino and Southern Lazio, in collaboration with Sapienza University of Rome and the University of Catania.

The full interview can be watched below.

Rather than offering a simple presentation, the interview outlines the methodological framework and the aims of the project: the systematic cataloguing of the written heritage, its digitisation, and the development of tools capable of supporting broader and more informed access. In this respect, work on manuscripts is presented in its full complexity, combining direct examination, codicological description, and the structuring of data.

Particular attention is devoted to the relationship between traditional scholarship and digital technologies. Far from replacing the study of the book as a physical object, these tools extend its possibilities, making it possible to connect materials, descriptions and contexts in ways that were previously difficult to achieve. It is precisely within this area that some of the most significant developments currently take shape, in dialogue with other projects and initiatives devoted to the digitisation and enhancement of cultural heritage.

The conversation also contributes to a broader reflection on the role of Montecassino in the construction and transmission of medieval written culture. In this regard, the dossier La memoria scritta di Montecassino: scrittura, conservazione, trasmissione, published in «La Bibliofilia» and edited by Marilena Maniaci, Giulia Orofino and Nicola Tangari, provides a comprehensive account of the project’s scholarly foundations and research directions.

Digitisation thus emerges not as an endpoint, but as an opening towards new possibilities for investigation and connection.