Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1927 - 1999 (Creation)
Level of description
Fonds
Extent and medium
30 m of textual records
Context area
Name of creator
Administrative history
The Institute of Mediaeval Studies, the oldest humanities research institute in Canada, was founded in 1929 under the auspices of St. Michael’s College and the Congregation of the Priests of St. Basil (CSB). The original foundation was principally the work of Etienne Gilson from the Sorbonne and the Collège de France, of Henry Carr, CSB and Edmund J. McCorkell, CSB from St. Michael’s College, and of Gerald B. Phelan, a graduate of Louvain. They planned an institution that would provide the essential resources for scholarly research and publication, attract research scholars, and offer academic programmes for a limited number of students on the graduate level.
The Institute progressed so well in its first ten years that, in 1939, it was honoured with pontifical status. As the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, it was to be regulated by pontifical Statutes and its governing Council empowered by charter to grant the pontifical Licence in Mediaeval Studies and Doctorate in Mediaeval Studies. Since 1939, the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies has remained a relatively small, autonomous academic community with no departmental divisions. It continues primarily to conduct research along historical lines into the culture and institutions of the Middle Ages and to publish the fruits of that research. It also instructs and directs graduate students and fosters the work of post-graduate scholars in all areas of medieval studies.
The Licentiate in Mediaeval Studies (LMS), the Institute’s post-doctoral academic programme, was initiated in 1998–1999. The Institute also offers the Leonard E. Boyle, O.P., Toronto-Rome Diploma Programme in Manuscript Studies, and supports Andrew W. Mellon Post-Doctoral Fellowships.
Website: https://pims.ca/
Repository
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
This fonds contains the records of the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, including early organizational files, correspondence, administrative files, the files of the Praeses, faculty papers, personnel files, and some publications by faculty. Related fonds include the papers of PIMS faculty, including the papers of Etienne Gilson, the first director of PIMS.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
Further accruals expected. Accrual from 2019 has been added to the fonds.
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Some restrictions apply.
Conditions governing reproduction
Language of material
Script of material
Language and script notes
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
Uploaded finding aid
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Note
Publications by PIMS faculty are also located in the circulating collection of the John M. Kelly Library.