Biography:
I graduated in Lettere (Humanities) at the University of Perugia, with a final thesis on Communal Diplomatics. Upon receiving a post-graduate scholarship, I spent one year in Paris at the UMR 9963 Culture, politique et société en Europe (IXe-XVIe siècles) of the Centre national de la recherche scientifique, conducting prosopographic research on members of the chancellery of Jean, Duke of Berry (1340–1416). I was later granted the Diplôme d’études approfondies en Histoire (Université Paris X - Nanterre) under the supervision of André Vauchez and earned a diploma in Archival, Palaeographic, and Diplomatic Studies at the school of the State Archives of Perugia.
Since then, I have contributed to scholarly editions of a variety of documentary and statutory sources issued in communal contexts. From 2005, my studies have focused on the history of pilgrimage and Military Orders in Italy, with emphasis on the Templars in central Italy. Among other contributions in this field, I co-organized and co-edited the international conference and collected studies Gli Ordini di Terrasanta in 2019–2021 (Gli Ordini di Terrasanta).
Currently, I am a Researcher for the ERC Project “Documenting Multiculturalism: Co-existence, law, and multiculturalism in the administrative and legal documents of Norman and Hohenstaufen Sicily, c.1060–c.1266” (P.I. Professor Jeremy Johns: Documenting Multiculturalism).
Educational Background:
- Bachelor’s degree in Lettere (Humanities), University of Perugia (Thesis on Communal Diplomatics)
- Diplôme d’études approfondies en Histoire, Université Paris X - Nanterre (Supervised by André Vauchez)
- Diploma in Archival, Palaeographic, and Diplomatic Studies, School of the State Archives of Perugia
Research Interests:
- Latin Paleography and Diplomatics
- Latin Critical Editions
- Norman Sicily
- Prosopography
- Crusades and Military Orders
Recent Publications:
-
Ph. Josserand and Sonia Merli, From dissolution to frenzy: the return of the Templars into the light, in Companion to the Order of the Temple, ed. Philippe Josserand and Jochen Schenk, Leiden, Brill, 2025, forthcoming.
- S. Merli, Il pellegrinaggio in Terrasanta fra XI e XII secolo, in D'Orient en Occident. Les Templiers des origines à la fin du XIIe siècle, edited by A. Baudin and P. Josserand, Snoek, 2023, pp. 187–204.
- S. Merli, Dalla generalis captio dei templari nel Regno di Francia all’inquisitio nelle Terre della Chiesa e in Abruzzo (1309–1310), in Gli Ordini di Terrasanta, edited by A. Baudin, S. Merli, M. Santanicchia, Perugia, Fabrizio Fabbri Editore, 2021, pp. 419–475.
- S. Merli, I re maledetti. La fine della dinastia capetingia secondo la leggenda della maledizione dei templari, in Il Capitale Culturale, 22/2 (2020), pp. 107–145.
- S. Merli, The Templars in Perugia. History and Art of the Preceptory of San Bevignate, Perugia, Fabrizio Fabbri Editore, 2017.
Links:
https://unipa.academia.edu/SoniaMerli
