معرفی
Sonia Merli is a Researcher at the University of Palermo specializing in medieval historical studies, currently contributing to the ERC Project "Documenting Multiculturalism" under Principal Investigator Professor Jeremy Johns. Her work focuses on administrative and legal documents from Norman and Hohenstaufen Sicily (c.1060–c.1266).
Her educational background includes a Bachelor’s degree in Humanities from the University of Perugia (thesis on Communal Diplomatics), a Diplôme d’études approfondies en Histoire from Université Paris X - Nanterre supervised by André Vauchez, and a Diploma in Archival, Palaeographic, and Diplomatic Studies from the School of the State Archives of Perugia. She previously conducted prosopographic research at CNRS Paris on Jean, Duke of Berry's chancellery.
Dr. Merli's research centers on Latin Paleography and Diplomatics, with significant contributions to Norman Sicily studies, Prosopography, and Military Orders history. Since 2005, she has specialized in Templar history in central Italy and medieval pilgrimage, co-organizing the 2019–2021 international conference "Gli Ordini di Terrasanta". Her scholarly editions of communal-era documents demonstrate methodological rigor in source criticism.
Her recent publications reveal consistent thematic focus on Templar institutional history across temporal and geographical contexts—from French dissolution proceedings (2021) to Perugian preceptory studies (2017) and Capetian curse legends (2020). The 2025 forthcoming work extends this trajectory into post-dissolution Templar legacy, while 2023 pilgrimage research connects to broader Crusades historiography.
As a key team member of the ERC-funded "Documenting Multiculturalism" project, she contributes to groundbreaking research on legal coexistence in medieval Sicily, building on her expertise in multicultural administrative systems. Her methodological approach combines diplomatics, prosopography, and material culture analysis to reconstruct medieval institutional frameworks.
