The Institute for Medieval Studies (IEM) of the NOVA School of Social Sciences and 
Humanities has the pleasure to announce the creation of the research team IUS 
ILLUMINATUM. 

IUS ILLUMINATUM is an international scientific team composed of medieval art 
historians belonging to different European academic institutions, all specializing in 
illuminated legal manuscripts. The formation of this research group is linked to the 
current research project “ManJurEurIt. Manuscritos Jurídicos Europeus Itinerantes” of 
Maria Alessandra Bilotta, researcher in the NOVA School of Social Sciences and 
Humanities of Lisbon and member of the Institute for Medieval Studies (IEM) at the 
same University, who is the coordinator and principal investigator of the team. The 
project “ManJurEurIt. Manuscritos Jurídicos Europeus Itinerantes” aims to investigate 
the circulation of legal manuscripts in Portugal and their connections to artistic and 
social mobility in Mediterranean Europe. The research team intends to carry on a 
comparative study of the artistic, cultural and social currents revealed by the 
production and the circulation of illuminated legal manuscripts in medieval Europe. 
Each of the team members proposes to investigate these phenomena through the study 
of specific types of legal manuscripts, within a definite region of Europe. The team 
will be considering also the material aspects of the medieval legal book, with the 
collaboration of codicologists and archaeologists, analysing such books as 
archaeological artifacts. Finally, another purpose of the team’s work is to help promote 
and amplify the discussion of our issues by organizing scientific meetings and 
establishing contacts and interdisciplinary collaborations with other research groups 
and scientific institutions. IUS ILLUMINATUM has its headquarters at the Institute 
for Medieval Studies (IEM) in the NOVA School of Social Sciences and Humanities 
of Lisbon, while the members retain their own academic affiliations. 

 
Principal Investigator (PI) and Coordinator: Maria Alessandra Bilotta 
Honorary Members: Susan l’Engle, Robert Gibbs, Gaspar Coll 
Team Members: Maria Alessandra Bilotta (IR), Arkadiusz Adamczuk, Frédérique 
Cahu, Maria Teresa Chicote Pompanin, Gianluca Del Monaco, Ángel Fuentes Ortiz, 
Marta Guagnozzi, Andrea Improta, Jorge Jiménez López, Jorge Prádanos Fernández.
Associated researchers: André Vitoria