Benedetta Albani

Benedetta Albani is Professor at the Universidad de los Andes in Santiago de Chile since May 2023 and Leader of the research group 'Normative Knowledge in the Praxis of the Congregation of the Council' since January 2022. She has maintained a dual academic career as Researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Legal History and Legal Theory in Frankfurt since May 2010, where she previously led the Max Planck research group 'The Governance of the Universal Church after the Council of Trent' (2014-2021).

• Ph.D. in 'Storia politica e sociale dell'Europa Moderna e Contemporanea' from University of Rome 'Tor Vergata' (2005-2009)
• Diploma di Archivisitica from 'Scuola Vaticana di Paleografia, Diplomatica e Archivistica' (2005-2006)
• Born in Rome, Italy in 1981

Her research integrates historical methodology with digital tools to analyze the Roman Curia's governance structures, particularly focusing on the Congregation of the Council's role in implementing Tridentine reforms globally. She examines how normative knowledge was produced and applied across diverse cultural contexts, especially in the Ibero-American world.

Dr. Albani leads major digital humanities projects including SCC Explorer (an interactive platform on the Congregation of the Council's history) and Orbis Dioecesium (authority data on legal-historical changes of Catholic dioceses). Her work bridges archival research with innovative data modeling to visualize complex historical legal processes.

• Recipient of H2020-MSCA-RISE-2017 research funding
• Collaborator with Vatican Secret Archive (2009-2010)
• Conducts comparative studies on ecclesiastical administration across continents

Her methodological approach combines traditional archival research with digital humanities techniques to create accessible resources for studying the global dimensions of canon law implementation during the Early Modern Period.