The prosopographymethodology applied to the medieval sources: structural reflections

Abstract

The prosopographymethodology has its place in the historiographical field of power relations between nobility and monarchy, especially in the medieval age, as well as its use in all areas of historical studies. It is a basic methodology that has undergone an update, followed by discussions of the historiographical diachronics, with a course that should be presented. The present challenges require a critical review of the benefits of applying its method, as well as of the threats that surround the conclusions eventually reached by simplifications or distortions of it. This article presents the methodology, which is still known by few in the Brazilian historiography, and adds some clarifying discussions on the advantages of undertaking the Medieval Iberian Prosopography from a position that is sufficiently detached from the commitments and links of the European academia, in the search for the medieval origins of Europe.