La cassetta degli attrezzi dello storico del diritto di oggi: premesse e istruzioni per chi si avvia alla ricerca

This essay reproduces the presentation delivered on June 25, 2026, at the Annual Meeting of the Association of Medieval and Modern Legal Historians. It is a critical reflection on what the basic tools might be today that contemporary legal historians should be able to master in order to approach historical-legal research in a fruitful manner. It also serves as an opportunity to avoid underestimating skills considered essential in the past and to avoid overestimating technological abilities. Finally, it offers a critique of the trend in university reforms over the past 30 years toward increasingly reducing the space and time devoted to reading, reflection, and research.