Section: Specialized Buildings: polity owned
Variable: Knowledge Or Information Building (All coded records)
These include astronomic observatories, libraries, and museums.  
Knowledge Or Information Building
#  Polity  Coded Value Tags Year(s) Edit Desc
1 Bulgaria - Early present Confident Uncertain 681 CE 813 CE
-
2 Bulgaria - Early absent Confident Uncertain 681 CE 813 CE
-
3 Bulgaria - Early present Inferred 814 CE 864 CE
-
4 Russian Empire, Romanov Dynasty I Transitional (Absent -> Present) Confident 1614 CE 1687 CE
Slavic Greek Latin Academy: Founded in Moscow in 1687, this was one of the earliest attempts at higher education in Russia. It was established by the Greek Lichud brothers and was initially more similar to a theological seminary with a strong focus on religious education, although it did include the study of Greek and Latin languages and some secular subjects. This academy can be seen as a precursor to the establishment of modern universities in Russia. [1]

The Russian Academy of Sciences, established in St. Petersburg in 1724 by Peter the Great, was a pivotal institution in the advancement of science and education in Russia. Its creation marked a significant step in Peter’s efforts to modernize and westernize Russia. The Academy attracted prominent European scientists and intellectuals and became a center for scientific research and thought. It played a crucial role in introducing new scientific ideas and methods to Russia and contributed significantly to the development of Russian science and higher education. [2]

[1]: История Московской славяно-греко-латинской академии, n.d., accessed January 3, 2024, https://www.prlib.ru/item/416828. Zotero link: H38QQNJT

[2]: “Зарождение традиций,” Российская академия наук, accessed January 3, 2024, https://new.ras.ru/academy/ob-akademii/300-let-istorii/zarozhdenie-traditsiy/. Zotero link: FN5CK76D


5 Russian Empire, Romanov Dynasty I present Confident 1687 CE 1775 CE
-
6 Austria - Habsburg Dynasty II present Confident 1867 CE 1918 CE
Schools; colleges; universities; museums; libraries. “By 1910 there were 22,386 primary schools in the Austrian half of the dual monarchy and 16,455 in Hungary. Increasing numbers of people— especially rural youth— actively sought and gained a degree of social mobility through the pursuit of education beyond primary school. This did not necessarily mean education in high schools or technical colleges or universities; instead, they often enrolled in short preparatory courses that offered training in basic secretarial skills, such as typing, filing, and stenography, which enabled candidates to access a range of new low-level white- collar jobs.” [1] “Other organizations brought new local and regional newspapers into being, newspapers that for the first time reported local events along with international or court news. And more often than not, the middle classes were reading and discussing the contents of those newspapers not simply in their own Biedermeier parlors or drawing rooms, but also in a growing numbers of public sites (clubs, cafés, and restaurants) where social and civic life increasingly took place. Each of these diverse institutions— the museum, the library, the newspaper, the club, the café— had its roots in the seventeenth or eighteenth century, but only in the first half of the nineteenth century did their numbers proliferate significantly, and not simply in the few large cities of the empire like Vienna, Prague, or Milan. As smaller towns grew in size, the character of public life there gradually changed as well. In the late eighteenth century the Austrian Freemason Johann Pezzl had already observed that cafés not only were associated with urban life, but ‘as everyone knows, are considered nowadays to be one of the indispensable requirements of every large town.’ “ [2] “To the extent to which scholarship was concentrated in the universities, learned societies, and ecclesiastic institutions of higher learning, those close to the capital, Vienna, were favored by greater governmental support than educational establishments in other areas. This was also true for support of scholarly activities in the less formal setting of grants given to individuals by the sovereign or by wealthy aristocrats. The universities did not assume undisputed leadership in higher education until the second half of the nineteenth century. Before that they had been frequently, though meagerly, supported by various kinds of patronage outside the academic domain.” [3]

[1]: (Judson 2016: 335) Judson, Pieter M. 2016. The Habsburg Empire: A New History. Cambridge, USA; London, England: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/BN5TQZBW

[2]: (Judson 2016: 141) Judson, Pieter M. 2016. The Habsburg Empire: A New History. Cambridge, USA; London, England: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/BN5TQZBW

[3]: (Kann 1974: 370) Kann, Robert A. 1974. A History of the Habsburg Empire 1526-1918. Los Angeles: University of California Press. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/RP3JD4UV


7 Napoleonic France present Confident -
Schools, universities, libraries, archives. The number of children attending school increased from 3.3 million in 1850 to 4.7 million in 1877, with an increase of nearly one million girls attending during that period. [1]

[1]: Clapham 1955: 54. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/2QKQJQM3.


8 Lombard Kingdom unknown Suspected -
Knowledge buildings have not been mentioned in the sources consulted
9 Hohokam Culture unknown Suspected -
-
10 British Empire IIIIIIIIII present Confident -
Universities, schools, colleges, laboratories, archives, libraries etc.
11 Futa Jallon present Confident -
"Nineteenth-century European visitors were highly impressed by the extent of the Islamization, which was visible in the large number of mosques and schools at all levels, the degree of scholarship, the richness of the libraries, and the widespread practice of Islamic worship." [1]

[1]: (Barry 2005: 539) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/SU25S5BX/items/6TXWGHAX/item-list


12 Dutch Empire present Confident -
"One result of this was the establishment of the Leiden Hortus Botanicus in 1590. Following the example of Italy and partly inspired by the ideas of their friend Lipsius, the physician Rembertus Dodonaeus and the botanist Carolus Clusius developed the Leiden Hortus to become a true, living encyclopaedia of natural science, where the whole of God’s creation could be assembled, classified, named and studied in an atmosphere of tranquil scholarship. Other Dutch botanical gardens were set up in Franeker (1589), Amsterdam (1638), Utrecht (1639), Groningen (1642), Breda (1646) and Harderwijk (1649)." [1]

[1]: (Emmer and Gommans 2020: 73) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/AI9PPN7Q/collection.


13 Kingdom of Jimma present Confident -
After a failed Muslim resistance in Wallo around 1884 CE, a large number of ulema and jurists moved to the Kingdom of Jimma. “Many ulama and jurists settled in the Kingdom of Jimma, where shortly after their arrival, sixty madras (schools of higher education) were established.” [1]

[1]: (Hassen 1992, 95-96) Hassen, Mohammed. 1992. ‘Islam as a Resistance Ideology Among the Oromo of Ethiopia’ In In the Shadow of Conquest: Islam in Colonial Northeast Africa. Edited by Said Samatar. Lawrenceville, New Jersey: The Red Sea Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/PJ3UMMX5/collection


14 Medri Bahri present Confident -
“The abbots of the great monasteries, and particular Bizen, together with the Nebur-ed of Aksum (a combined ecclesiastical and civil officer), were the most important spiritual authorities in the region, and the church provided the only education available to Christians before the arrival of European missionaries.” [1]

[1]: (Connell and Killion 2011, 410) Connell, Dan and Killion, Tom. 2011. Historical Dictionary of Eritrea. Second Edition. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/24ZMGPAA/collection


15 Majeerteen Sultanate present Confident -
“The Majerteen Sultan professed Sunni Islam and adherence to the Shafi’i branch of Sunni Islamic law. They sponsored madrasas, built mosques, encouraged prayer and pilgrimage, and undertook many of the other obligations of Muslim rulers.” [1]

[1]: (Smith 2021, 43) Smith, Nicholas W.S. 2021. Colonial Chaos in the Southern Red Sea: A History of Violence from 1830 to the Twentieth Century. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/TWITJWK4/items/K6HVJ7X4/collection


16 Funj Sultanate present Confident -
“Their schools (khalwas) taught younger boys the Quran, law, and Muslim theology.” [1]

[1]: (Lapidus 2002, 431) Lapidus, Ira M. 2002. A History of Islamic Societies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/QW9XHCIW/collection


17 Emirate of Harar present Confident -
“Its traditions include a strong Sunni orthodoxy inside the city, Shari’a courts, and an Islamic educational system ranging from quranic schools to teachers of quranic interpretations.” [1]

[1]: (Waldron 1984, 32) Waldron, Sidney R. 1984. ‘The Political Economy of Harari-Oromo Relationships, 1559-1874’. Northeast African Studies. Vol 6:1/2. Pp 23-39. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/PUDCFD72/collection


18 Imamate of Futa Toro present Confident -
“In Mauritania and Senegambia, there was a network of rural schools, at which the Koran and certain important works of technology and law were studied. The more learned marabouts studied at different schools. Some of these schools seem to have played an important revolutionary role. Thus, according to Futa Toro traditions, all the major leaders of the 1776 torodbe revolt studied at Pir Saniokhor in Cayor.” [1]

[1]: (Klein 1972, 428) Klein, Martin A. 1972. ‘Social and Economic Factors in the Muslim Revolution in Senegambia.’ The Journal of Africa History. Vol. 13:3. Pp 419-441. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/ZJRN8UJ8/collection


19 Denyanke Kingdom present Confident -
“In Mauritania and Senegambia, there was a network of rural schools, at which the Koran and certain important works of technology and law were studied. The more learned marabouts studied at different schools. Some of these schools seem to have played an important revolutionary role. Thus, according to Futa Toro traditions, all the major leaders of the 1776 torodbe revolt studied at Pir Saniokhor in Cayor.” [1]

[1]: (Klein 1972, 428) Klein, Martin A. 1972. ‘Social and Economic Factors in the Muslim Revolution in Senegambia.’ The Journal of Africa History. Vol. 13:3. Pp 419-441. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/ZJRN8UJ8/collection


20 Kingdom of Jolof present Confident -
Schools. “The wealthiest members of society were in a position to employ marabouts, even very learned ones, as servants in their household- personal chaplains, scribes, legal advisors and tutors to their children. Some of the most famous clerics in the Sahel served in this capacity at various courts before moving out in later life to establish independent estates/schools.” [1]

[1]: (Colvin 1986, 66) Colvin, Lucie G. 1986. ‘The Shaykh’s Men: Religion and Power in Senegambian Islam.’ Asian and African Studies. Vol. 20:1 Pp. 61-71. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/GZTDTN6Q/collection


21 Pandya Dynasty present Confident -
“The kings cared for the education of the subjects and maintained schools and centers for higher learning. They made land grants to the learned people to establish Agraharas and promote learning and education.” [1]

[1]: (Kamlesh 2010, 600) Kamlesh, Kapur. 2010. ‘Pandya Dynasty’ In Portraits of a Nation: History of Ancient India. New Delhi: Sterling Publishers. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/3TS5DCT6/collection


22 Early Cholas present Confident -
“The expression of Sangam in Tamil literature stands for an academy of arts and letters started and patronised by all the three crowned kings of the Tamil lands, Pandya, Cola and Cera, and especially the Pandya […] The Academy was, then, in the nature of a modern University and the heart-centre of higher learning in all Tamil India. [1]

[1]: (Dikshitar 1941, 152-153) Dikshitar, Ranachandra. 1941. ‘The Sangam Age’ Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. Vol. 5. Pp 152-161. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/FG8Q2SFG/collection


23 Early Pandyas present Confident -
“The expression of Sangam in Tamil literature stands for an academy of arts and letters started and patronised by all the three crowned kings of the Tamil lands, Pandya, Cola and Cera, and especially the Pandya […] The Academy was, then, in the nature of a modern University and the heart-centre of higher learning in all Tamil India. [1]

[1]: (Dikshitar 1941, 152-153) Dikshitar, Ranachandra. 1941. ‘The Sangam Age’ Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. Vol. 5. Pp 152-161. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/FG8Q2SFG/collection


24 Carnatic Sultanate present Confident -
“In 1740, however, the Navaiyat rule came to a halt, when Dost Ali Khan was killed in battle against the Marathas. In the power vacuum, the Nizam of Hyderabad stepped in and placed his own man on the throne of Arcot. The new Walajah dynasty was in power (at least nominally) from 1744 to 1855. Under the Walajahs the process begun under the Navaiyats continued. The Walajahs also confirmed their position by inviting North Indian service groups into the Arcot area, establishing centres of learning and endowing religious institutions.” [1]

[1]: (Bugge, 2020) Bugge, Henriette. 2020. Mission and Tamil Society: Social and Religious Change in South India (1840-1900). London: Routledge Curzon. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/9SKWNUF4/collection


25 Late Pallava Empire present Confident -
“Land grants and generous donations were given to educational institutions like Ghatikas and Mathas. Mathas were residential schools for early education. Ghatikas were centers for higher education, similar to modern day colleges. Inscriptions also reveal the names of the scholars and teachers who not only gave donations but taught various subjects such as Vedas, Vedangas, Itihasas, Puranas and various systems of philosophy. Bahur inscription records a land grant given by King Nriptunga Varman for a school at Bahur (the word Vidyasthana is used for school). The school was already well-established. Three villages were donated by the king. The learned men of the village controlled and maintained the institution. A wide variety of subjects were taught including subjects such as logic, Mimansa, Puranas, Vedangas, Sanskrit language, literature and grammar.” [1]

[1]: (Kamlesh 2010, 572) Kamelsh, Kapur. 2010. ‘The Pallava Dynasty’ In History of Ancient India: Portraits of a Nation. New Delhi: Sterling Publishers Pvt. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/UETBPIDE/collection


26 Kalabhra Dynasty present Confident -
The following quote suggests that there was a centre of knowledge in Tamil Nadu known as the Sangam which carried on into some of the Kalabhra period. “The expression of Sangam in Tamil literature stands for an academy of arts and letters started and patronised by all the three crowned kings of the Tamil lands, Pandya, Cola and Cera, and especially the Pandya […] The Academy was, then, in the nature of a modern University and the heart-centre of higher learning in all Tamil India. [1]

[1]: (Dikshitar 1941, 152-153) Dikshitar, Ranachandra. 1941. ‘The Sangam Age’ Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. Vol. 5. Pp 152-161. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/FG8Q2SFG/collection


27 Tunni Sultanate present Inferred -
The Tunni were one of the first costal groups to accept Islam in the region. This acceptance also led to the Tunni costal enclave of Barawa to become a major Islamic religious centre in the region. This quote suggests the possible existence of, for example, libraries containing Islamic texts. “However they did accept the first Muslim migrants, the Hatimi from Yemen and the Amawi from Sham (Syria), around the 10th century, for both religious and commercial reasons. The town prospered and became one of the major Islamic centers in the Horn, the Barawaani Ulama, attracted students from all over the region. Muslim scholars of the time, such as al-Idrisi, wrote about Barawa as ‘an Arabic ‘Islamic’ island on the Somali coast.’” [1]

[1]: (Mukhtar 2003, 50) Mukhtar, Mohamed H. 2003. Historical Dictionary of Somalia. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/TWITJWK4/items/J8WZB6VI/collection


28 West Burkina Faso Yellow I absent Inferred -
The following suggests that the only identified buildings were houses, and that houses fulfilled multiple purposes ("economically generalized”). ”The community [of Kirikongo] was founded by a single house (Mound 4) c. ad 100 (Yellow I), as part of a regional expansion of farming peoples in small homesteads in western Burkina Faso. A true village emerged with the establishment of a second house (Mound 1) c. ad 450, and by the end of the first millennium ad the community had expanded to six houses. At first, these were economically generalized houses (potting, iron metallurgy, farming and herding) settled distantly apart with direct access to farming land that appear to have exercised some autonomy." [1]

[1]: (Dueppen 2015: 21-22)


29 West Burkina Faso Red II and III absent Inferred -
"The first nondomestic structures identified at Kirikongo are found from Red II and Red III on the peak of Mound 4. This multistory complex has formal similarities to a Bwa ancestor house, which today when associated with the founding house is a sacrificial shrine to the village ancestors, the meeting place for the village council, and maintained by the village headman. Given the presence of these ritual structures, cross-cutting communal activities, and a communally focused built environment, it is possible that an institution similar to the village Do was in existence." [1]

[1]: (Dueppen 2012: 31)


30 West Burkina Faso Red IV absent Inferred -
Inferred from the following, which pertains to the immediately preceding period. "The first nondomestic structures identified at Kirikongo are found from Red II and Red III on the peak of Mound 4. This multistory complex has formal similarities to a Bwa ancestor house, which today when associated with the founding house is a sacrificial shrine to the village ancestors, the meeting place for the village council, and maintained by the village headman. Given the presence of these ritual structures, cross-cutting communal activities, and a communally focused built environment, it is possible that an institution similar to the village Do was in existence." [1]

[1]: (Dueppen 2012: 31)


31 West Burkina Faso Red I absent Inferred -
"The first nondomestic structures identified at Kirikongo are found from Red II and Red III on the peak of Mound 4. This multistory complex has formal similarities to a Bwa ancestor house, which today when associated with the founding house is a sacrificial shrine to the village ancestors, the meeting place for the village council, and maintained by the village headman. Given the presence of these ritual structures, cross-cutting communal activities, and a communally focused built environment, it is possible that an institution similar to the village Do was in existence." [1]

[1]: (Dueppen 2012: 31)


32 Sokoto Caliphate absent Inferred -
“There were no public baths or fountains, no fine gardens - nothing to compare with the famous edifices of the Maghreb or Andalusia: no public hospitals, libraries, schools - nothing built in stone. For Sokoto lacked sources of stone (Timbuktu’s builders could bring stone in from distant quarries).” [1]

[1]: Last, Murray. “Contradictions in Creating a Jihadi Capital: Sokoto in the Nineteenth Century and Its Legacy.” African Studies Review, vol. 56, no. 2, 2013, pp. 1–20: 13. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/5RUPN5VI/collection


33 Kanem unknown Suspected -
The near-absence of archaeologically identified settlements makes it particularly challenging to infer most building types. "While the historical sources provide a vague picture of the events of the first 500 years of the Kanem-Borno empire, archaeologically almost nothing is known. [...] Summing up, very little is known about the capitals or towns of the early Kanem- Borno empire. The locations of the earliest sites have been obscured under the southwardly protruding sands of the Sahara, and none of the later locations can be identified with certainty." [1]

[1]: (Gronenborn 2002: 104-110)


34 Oyo unknown Suspected -
"Contexts that could shed light on the dynamics of social structure and hierarchies in the metropolis, such as the royal burial site of Oyo monarchs and the residences of the elite population, have not been investigated. The mapping of the palace structures has not been followed by systematic excavations (Soper, 1992); and questions of the economy, military system, and ideology of the empire have not been addressed archaeologically, although their general patterns are known from historical studies (e.g, Johnson, 1921; Law, 1977)." [1] Regarding this period, however, one of the historical studies mentioned in this quote also notes: "Of the earliestperiod of Oyo history, before the sixteenth century, very little is known." [2] Law does not then go on to provide specific information directly relevant to this variable.

[1]: (Ogundiran 2005: 151-152)

[2]: (Law 1977: 33)


35 Early United Mexican States present Confident -
i.e. schools; technical schools; universities; academies. “The “modernity” of the capital, while exemplary in its scale and expense, paled with the cost of public works in the regions; railroads crisscrossed the country by the 1880s, electrical and telephone utilities by the 1890s, and vast bonds were issued to finance new state and municipal buildings, schools, and trams.” [1] ”The gradual secularization of the Third French Republic’s educational system between the 1880s and early 1900s expelled many religious orders and these arrived in significant numbers in Mexico so that, by 1905, every major Mexican town—and even small locales—had French nuns, brothers, and priests conducting France’s mission civilisatrice. This especially affected middle, upper-middle, and elite girls, who became the primary market of the colegios franceses, which instilled, via these “Angels of the Home” not only the lessons necessary to participate in the social and cultural life of their milieu, but a familiarity with the objects required for the proper running of a household on the French model (Bellaigne 2007, pp. 166–198; Cabanel et al 2005; Torres Septién 1997). Poor students who attended these schools on scholarships received free uniforms, machine-made shoes, and adopted the grooming habits of their betters, so as to calm the concerns of wealthy families disquieted by the social experiment. University and technical school texts were written in French, and only secondarily did English receive attention.” [2] “It was precisely because the arts and sciences created places in which political animosity could be put aside that Maximilian founded the Imperial Academy Science and Literature in 1866, in the hope of fostering reconciliation within a deeply divided society.” [3]

[1]: (Bunker and Macias-Gonzalez 2011: 68) Bunker, Steven B. and Macías-González, Víctor M. 2011. “Consumption and Material Culture from Pre-Contact through the Porfiriato,” in A Companion to Mexican History and Culture, ed. William H. Beezley. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell. pp54–82. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/SDIQ5VE7

[2]: (Bunker and Macias-Gonzalez 2011: 70-71) Bunker, Steven B. and Macías-González, Víctor M. 2011. “Consumption and Material Culture from Pre-Contact through the Porfiriato,” in A Companion to Mexican History and Culture, ed. William H. Beezley. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell. pp54–82. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/SDIQ5VE7

[3]: (Pani 2011: 279) Pani, Erika. 2009. “Republicans and Monarchists, 1848–1867,” in A Companion to Mexican History and Culture, ed. William H. Beezley. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell. 273–87. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/3I4GPWQG


36 Us Reconstruction-Progressive present Confident -
Present since the preceding period. Schools (common schools open to all children and private institutions for the wealthy). Colleges and universities were available for wealthy men, and some efforts were made to establish colleges that offered a higher education to wealthy women. Libraries, laboratories, observatories, scientific institutes, museums, archives etc. [1]

[1]: Volo and Volo 2004: 32, 53, 66, 86-89, 112. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/SIB5XSW97.


37 Antebellum US present Confident -
Schools (common schools open to all children and private institutions for the wealthy). Colleges and universities were available for wealthy men, and some efforts were made to establish colleges that offered a higher education to wealthy women. Libraries, laboratories, observatories, scientific institutes, museums. [1]

[1]: Volo and Volo 2004: 32, 53, 66, 86-89, 112. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/SIB5XSW97.


38 Tudor and Early Stuart England present Confident -
Universities; colleges; schools. Archives. A laboratory and The Royal Society were founded and maintained by Charles II (r. 1660-1685). [1] “All Tudor theorists concurred that reading was properly taught before writing; writing was a subordinate part of the elementary school curriculum. Since most children’s attendance at school fluctuated according to economic needs and the dictates of the agricultural seasons, many must have learned to read but not write.” [2] “Humanist-classical issues were rarely addressed outside the circles of Court and government, universities, and inns of court. Humanist authors seeking to attract a wider audience assimilated their material to the chivalric traditions of Chaucer, Malory, and the Raman de la rose. In schools and gentry households Erasmus’s New Testament, Paraphrases, Colloquies, and Adages remained favourite reading, supplemented by Sir Thomas North’s edition of Plutarch’s Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans, Elyot’s The Boak Named the Governor, and Hoby’s translation of The Courtier. At a more popular level Caxton’s The Golden Legend, Baldwin’s Mirror Jar Magistrates, sensational stories and pamphlets, printed sermons, chronicles, travel books, almanacs, herbals, and medical works were devoured.” [3] “The number of endowed grammar schools by 1530 had reached 124, supplemented by hundreds of alphabet or parish schools where elementary reading, writing, and arithmetic were taught. Schools were often held in church porches or chantries until 1548, or in the master’s house.” [4] “His [Humphrey, duke of Gloucester ( 1391-144 7)] influence persuaded Oxford University to include the Nova rhetorica of Cicero, the Metamorphoses of Ovid, and the works of Virgil as alternative set books for the study of rhetoric, and between 1439 and 1444 he presented 280 volumes to the university for public use. These books served to stimulate the new and to revive much of the older learning.” [5] “It is obvious that the creation of new university registers resulted in increased numbers of students being recorded as present in the universities. Also the expansion of colleges and halls at both universities during the sixteenth century marked a change from earlier practice, when Oxford and Cambridge were not essentially collegiate universities. As the century progressed, town-dwelling and loosely attached students were resettled and registered at undergraduate colleges where teaching was increasingly concentrated.” [6]

[1]: (Bucholz et al 2013: 283) Bucholz, Robert, Newton Key, and R.O. Bucholz. 2013. Early Modern England 1485-1714: A Narrative History. Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons. http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/uvic/detail.action?docID=1166775. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/XQGJH96U

[2]: (Guy 1988: 417-418) Guy, John. 1988. Tudor England. Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/IIFAUUNA

[3]: (Guy 1988: 415-416) Guy, John. 1988. Tudor England. Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/IIFAUUNA

[4]: (Guy 1988: 420) Guy, John. 1988. Tudor England. Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/IIFAUUNA

[5]: (Guy 1988: 16) Guy, John. 1988. Tudor England. Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/IIFAUUNA

[6]: (Guy 1988: 423) Guy, John. 1988. Tudor England. Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/IIFAUUNA


39 Anglo-Saxon England II present Confident -
Archives run by the church. [1] ““Kings were the most important benefactors of the religious houses within their kingdoms and naturally figure prominently in the archives of religious communities both through the records of their benefactions and in ‘historical’ records, such as saints’ Lives and annals, produced by individual religious houses. Religious houses might also act as repositories for the archives of their royal families and produce classes of records such as kinglists and genealogies for them.” [2] Schools for religious teaching had been established from the mid-seventh century. Schools for the children of nobles and some commoners at Winchester were encouraged during the reign of Alfred the Great. [3]

[1]: (Yorke 1990: 20, 25) York, Barbara. 1990. Kings and Kingdoms of Early Anglo-Saxon England. London: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203447307. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/YXTNCWJN

[2]: (Yorke 1990: 20) York, Barbara. 1990. Kings and Kingdoms of Early Anglo-Saxon England. London: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203447307. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/YXTNCWJN

[3]: (Roberts et al 2014: 29, 35) Roberts, Clayton, Roberts, F. David, and Bisson, Douglas. 2014. ‘Anglo-Saxon England: 450–1066’, in A History of England, Volume 1, 6th ed. Routledge. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/P2IHD9U3


40 Khwarezmid Empire present Confident -
There were universities in the region such as the Nizâmiyya – a group of higher education institutions that had been established under the Seljuk Empire. [1] There were libraries across the empire. [2] State archives were held in the provincial cities. [3] There were specialised schools for law and poetry. [4]

[1]: Boyle 1968: 595. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/CFW8EE6Q

[2]: Barthold 1968: 429. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/2CHVZMEB

[3]: Buniyatov 2015: 79 . https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/SAEVEJFH

[4]: Buniyatov 2015: 97, 103. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/SAEVEJFH


41 Russian Empire, Romanov Dynasty II present Confident Expert -
Kunstkamera: Established by Peter the Great in 1727, the Kunstkamera was the first museum in Russia. It is located on the Neva River in Saint Petersburg.

Museum and Scientific Research: The Kunstkamera was initially established as a museum of natural and human curiosities and anomalies, which was revolutionary at the time. It was part of Peter the Great’s efforts to modernize Russia and encourage scientific exploration.

Cultural and Educational Role: The museum played a significant role in the cultural and educational development of Russia, showcasing collections that spanned various scientific disciplines and cultural artifacts.

Library and Research Facilities: The Kunstkamera also housed extensive library collections and was a center for scientific research, further emphasizing its role as a building dedicated to knowledge and information. [1]

[1]: “History of the Kunstkamera,” accessed December 13, 2023, https://www.kunstkamera.ru/en/museum/kunst_hist/. Zotero link: 5F3QB4IA


42 Alaouite Dynasty I present Confident -
Universities; libraries. “In 1046/1636-7, for the first and only time in the Middle Atlas, the grandson of a Shaykh universally renowned for his learning and holiness rose up and declared himself Sultan of the whole of Morocco. This claimant’s name was Muhammed ibn M ’ Hammad ibn A b u Bakr al-Daläl. His grandfather founded a zawiya in the Middle Atlas which was destroyed by the second ’Alawite king, al-Rashïd ibn al-Sharif, and whose location is almost unknown today. It became aImost as prestigious a centre of Islamic studies as Karâwiyyïn University at Fez. Several celebrities in the fields of Islamic learning in the eleventh century of the Hegira (seventeenth century of the Christian era) passed through Dila zawiya.” [1] “It was only under Mawlây Rashïd that Morocco resumed its cultural traditions and its social and economic achievements. Mawlây Rashïd held scholars and men of letters in great esteem. He had himself studied at the Karâwiyyïn University. Mawlây Rashïd built the biggest madrasa (college) in Fez. This is the madrasa modeitly called Madrasa Cherratïn, from the name of the street in which it was built. He built another madrasa in Marrakesh.” [2] “Muhammad b. ‘Abd Allah almost re-established order and restored to the town its past glory… It was he who made the 12,000 books of the library of Mawlay Ismail hubus for the benefit of all the mosques of Morocco.” [3]

[1]: (Ogot 1992: 214) Ogot, B. A. 1992. ed., General History of Africa: Africa from the Sixteenth to the Eighteenth Century., vol. V, VII vols. Oxford: Heinemann Educational Books Ltd. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/24QPFDVP

[2]: (Ogot 1992: 219) Ogot, B. A. 1992. ed., General History of Africa: Africa from the Sixteenth to the Eighteenth Century., vol. V, VII vols. Oxford: Heinemann Educational Books Ltd. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/24QPFDVP

[3]: (Bosworth 2007: 400) Bosworth, Clifford Edmund. 2007. ed., Historic Cities of the Islamic World. Leiden; Boston: Brill. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/HGHDXVAC


43 Oirats present Confident -
Monasteries. “Oirat people overwhelmingly recognize him [Baibagas Khan] as "A Great Benefactor" Baibagas because he made Buddhism an official religion in Oirat, he guided his people to the path of ten good virtues, and protected them from the ten non-virtues. Oirat Zaya Paṇḍita Namkhaijamts was among the boys of the khans in the federation, he studied in the very famous three monasteries Gandan, Sera and Drepung monasteries (Tib. Dga’ ldan rnam par rgyal ba’i gling, se rwa, ‘bras spungs dgon pa)133 in Lhasa, he was conferred ‘Lowrenba’ because of his deep knowledge. He returned to his homeland in Oirat to make the contribution of expanding the religion, and building monasteries.” [1]

[1]: (Dorj 2020: 32) Dorj, Lkhagvasuren. 2020. “History and Contemporary Situation of Oirat Buddhist Monasteries in Western Mongolia”. Doctoral Dissertation, Budapest: Eötvös Loránd University. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/AH2RCMNY


44 Golden Horde present Confident -
The Golden Horde had archives in the capital which were destroyed when Tamerlane sacked the city in 1390s. There were also meddresses (higher learning institutes) in the capital. [1]

[1]: Halperin 1987: 26. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/VCPWVNM.


45 British Empire I present Confident -
Universities, schools, colleges, laboratories, archives, libraries etc. [1]

[1]: (Marshall 2006: 131) Marshall, P. J. ed. 2006. The Oxford History of the British Empire: Volume II The Eighteenth Century. Vol. 2, 5 vols. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/HGG2PPQQ


46 Holy Roman Empire - Ottonian-Salian Dynasty present Confident -
The first university was founded in Bologna 1088 and by 1800 there were a total of 45 in the Empire. [1] There were law schools in Italy and France. [2]

[1]: Wilson 2016: 70-71, 276. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/N5M9R9XA

[2]: Wilson 2016: 606. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/N5M9R9XA


47 Kingdom of Hawaii - Post-Kamehameha Period present Confident -
Museums; schools; “Along similar lines of collecting and disseminating knowledge of Oceania, the Hawaiian National Museum, founded by Kamehameha V in 1872, was explicitly reconceptualized as a pan-Oceanian institution in the 1880s (Kamehiro 2009, 101). According to Mellen, in April 1882, shortly before his appointment as premier, Gibson advocated in the legislature for a museum ‘for the preservation of Polynesian literature and culture’ (1958, 119).” [1] “Furthermore, in February 1883, the king had Charles Bishop removed as president of the Board of Education, in which capacity he had continued to cause damage to the country’s development by promoting only mediocre education at the kingdom’s public schools while trying to contain high-level scholarship to the children of the Missionary Party and their affiliates (Goodyear-Ka’ōpua 2014).” [2]

[1]: (Gonschor 2019: 94) Gonschor, Lorenz. 2019. A Power in the World: The Hawaiian Kingdom in Oceania. Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/FB64GREZ

[2]: (Gonschor 2019: 89) Gonschor, Lorenz. 2019. A Power in the World: The Hawaiian Kingdom in Oceania. Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/FB64GREZ


48 Anglo-Saxon England I present Confident -
Archives run by the church. [1] ““Kings were the most important benefactors of the religious houses within their kingdoms and naturally figure prominently in the archives of religious communities both through the records of their benefactions and in ‘historical’ records, such as saints’ Lives and annals, produced by individual religious houses. Religious houses might also act as repositories for the archives of their royal families and produce classes of records such as kinglists and genealogies for them.” [2] Schools for religious teaching had been established from the mid-seventh century. Schools for the children of nobles and some commoners at Winchester were encouraged during the reign of Alfred the Great. [3]

[1]: (Yorke 1990: 20, 25) York, Barbara. 1990. Kings and Kingdoms of Early Anglo-Saxon England. London: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203447307. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/YXTNCWJN

[2]: (Yorke 1990: 20) York, Barbara. 1990. Kings and Kingdoms of Early Anglo-Saxon England. London: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203447307. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/YXTNCWJN

[3]: (Roberts et al 2014: 29, 35) Roberts, Clayton, Roberts, F. David, and Bisson, Douglas. 2014. ‘Anglo-Saxon England: 450–1066’, in A History of England, Volume 1, 6th ed. Routledge. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/P2IHD9U3


49 Wattasid present Inferred -
-
50 Xixia present Inferred -
-
51 Yadava Dynasty present Confident -
-
52 Yueban unknown Suspected -
-
53 Zagwe present Inferred -
-
54 Zirids present Inferred -
-
55 * Egypt - Classic Old Kingdom present Inferred -
- It appears that no buildings identifiable as libraries, archives or other public information buildings survive from this period. However, indirect evidence points to their existence. Webb writes: "Redford (1986, 96) traces the evolution of annals, probably written on papyrus, from the Old Kingdom (2686−2160 B.C.) − where they existed as a means of recording the significant events of Pharaoh’s reign – through to the New Kingdom (1550−1069 B.C.) when the term begins to be used more generally as a reference to either mythological texts relating events in primordial times, or to any inscription aiming to record events for prosperity. The fact that these annals were recorded at all undoubtedly implies that they were written with the intention of being preserved for later consultation. By definition, then, some means of storage facility was required for these important documents, a 'library' or 'archive.'" [Webb 2013, p. 22] EDIT
56 Soviet Union present Confident Expert -
The State Public Historical Libary is a state repository of literature on history, historical disciplines and related disciplines. It is also a large methodological center for the work with historical subject area materials. The library’s collections, which number about 4 million units in 47 languages of the ex-USSR peoples and in 65 foreign languages. [1]


The Pulkovo Astronomical Observatory officially named the Central Astronomical Observatory of the Russian Academy of Sciences at Pulkovo is the principal astronomical observatory of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The observatory was opened in 1839. [2]

[1]: “История Библиотеки,” accessed November 23, 2023, https://www.shpl.ru/about_library/history_library/. Zotero link: 7UWNUP8F

[2]: “История Пулковской Обсерватории — ГАО РАН,” n.d., accessed November 23, 2023, http://www.gaoran.ru/?page_id=121. Zotero link: 2DWA4IKV


57 British East India Company present Confident -
-
58 Qin Empire present Inferred -
-
59 Southern Song present Inferred -
-
60 Eastern Zhou present Inferred -
-
61 Macedonian Empire present Confident -
-
62 Portuguese Empire - Early Modern present Confident -
-
63 Grand Principality of Moscow, Rurikid Dynasty absent Confident -
-
64 Kievan Rus present Confident -
-
65 Almoravids present Confident -
-
66 Avar Khaganate unknown Suspected -
-
67 Axum II present Confident -
-
68 Axum III present Confident -
-
69 Bagan present Confident -
-
70 Banu Ghaniya present Inferred -
-
71 Bulgaria - Middle present Confident -
-
72 Chauhana Dynasty present Inferred -
-
73 Chu Kingdom - Spring and Autumn Period present Inferred -
-
74 Chu Kingdom - Warring States Period present Inferred -
-
75 Crimean Khanate present Inferred -
-
76 Ghaznavid Empire present Confident -
-
77 Idrisids uncoded Undecided -
-
78 Jayarid Khanate present Confident -
-
79 Kakatiya Dynasty present Inferred -
-
80 Kalachuris of Kalyani present Confident -
-
81 Kangju unknown Suspected -
-
82 Kazan Khanate present Inferred -
-
83 Kingdom of Congo present Inferred -
-
84 Kingdom of Georgia II present Confident -
-
85 Kingdom of Sicily - Hohenstaufen and Angevin dynasties present Confident -
-
86 Lakhmid Kigdom present Inferred -
-
87 Later Qin Kingdom present Confident -
-
88 Later Yan Kingdom present Inferred -
-
89 Makuria Kingdom I unknown Suspected -
-
90 Makuria Kingdom II present Confident -
-
91 Makuria Kingdom III present Confident -
-
92 Malacca Sultanate present Inferred -
-
93 Mauretania present Inferred -
-
94 Monagrillo absent Inferred -
-
95 Monte Alban V Early Postclassic unknown Suspected -
-
96 Monte Alban V Late Postclassic unknown Suspected -
-
97 Novgorod Land present Confident -
-
98 Numidia present Confident -
-
99 Ottoman Empire Late Period absent Confident -
-
100 Pergamon Kingdom present Confident -
-
101 Sharqi present Confident -
-
102 Shaybanid Kingdom present Confident -
-
103 Songhai Empire absent Inferred -
-
104 Southern Qi State present Confident -
-
105 Sukhotai present Inferred -
-
106 Tahert present Inferred -
-
107 Third Scythian Kingdom present Inferred -
-
108 Thanjavur Maratha Kingdom present Confident -
“Schools and hospitals were located in temple precincts, and the temple also served as the town hall for meetings and performances.” [1]

[1]: (Appasamy 1980, 8) Appasamy, Jaya. 1980. Thanjavur Painting of the Maratha Period. Vol. 1. New Delhi. Abhinav Publications. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/35BU75NG/collection


109 Tlemcen present Inferred -
-
110 Plantagenet England present Confident -
Universities, colleges, archives. [1]

[1]: (Prestwich 2005: 63-64) Prestwich, Michael. 2005. Plantagenet England 1225-1360. Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/XTBKFDCI


111 Kingdom of Bohemia - Luxembourgian and Jagiellonian Dynasty present Confident -
Schools; collages; universities; libraries. “The Church, through its parochial and monastic schools, which were more numerous than urban schools, contributed to the spread of basic education throughout the social classes. From the foundation of the Prague university in 1348, it was closely connected with its administration and pedagogy, since the theological faculty was the supreme faculty, ranked above the faculties of arts (philosophy), law and medicine. Thanks to contacts with top European scholars, Prague gained influential teachers, who brought to the intellectual, cultural and social circles of the city ideas and theories that were current in the west.” [1] “Before the Hussite Revolution, the university in Prague had a vibrant law faculty who studied across Europe and taught primarily canon law and sometimes Roman law, as well as a library of standard legal texts. In addition to the law faculty, the contents of two monasteries’ libraries demonstrate the more general availability of legal resources with the kingdom of Bohemia.” [2] “Charles IV also founded important cultural institutions, the most outstanding of which was the university that bears his name, established in 1348. Underlying the impact of the Charles University were general developments in schooling, as towns and town culture flourished beside church, court, noble castle, and village. During the thirteenth century many royal towns established schools known as particular schools, which imparted chiefly Latin and the rudiments of the arts. After 1348 responsibility for overseeing these schools was vested in the university, though the monastic or parish schools were controlled by the church. Charles IV’s new university influenced the whole of central Europe. Like other medieval universities, Prague’s was international, admitting students from all Christendom. Under its chancellor, the archbishop of Prague, the university was a society of corporations based on territorial principles and known as nationes, or “‘nations.” The chief executive of- ficer was the rector, elected by the four nations, while each faculty was headed by a dean. The academic officials, students, and teachers formed a special corporate body with its own privileges, and lived together in colleges. The most famous, the Great College or Charles College, ob- tained the Karolinum, the oldest surviving building of the university, in 1383. At its height, Prague’s university was a fully integrated part of the intellectual world of Western Christendom, developing domestic intel- lectuals and exposing them to the leading trends of European thought.” [3]

[1]: (Pánek and Oldřich 2009: 147) Pánek, Jaroslav and Oldřich, Tůma. 2009. A History of the Czech Lands. University of Chicago Press. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/4NAX9KBJ

[2]: (Grant 2014: 38-39) Grant, Jeanne E. 2014. For the Common Good: The Bohemian Land Law and the Beginning of the Hussite Revolution, East Central and Eastern in the Middle Ages, 450–1450. Leiden; Boston: Brill. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/GCJGUZZZ

[3]: (Agnew 2004: 35) Agnew, Hugh LeCaine. 2004. The Czechs and the Lands of the Bohemian Crown. California: Hoover Institution Press. http://archive.org/details/czechslandsofboh0000agne. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/6LBQ5ARI


112 Sultanate of Geledi present Confident -
“Everywhere there are little koranic schools (daksi), where in a rough lean-to made of brushwood, a master (Ma’alin) teaches about 20 young boys to read and write the holy book.” [1]

[1]: (Luling 1971, 67) Luling, Virginia. 1971. The Social Structure of Southern Somali Tribes. (Thesis). University of London (University College London). Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/TWITJWK4/items/5BTAQ3DM/collection


113 Austria - Habsburg Dynasty I present Confident -
Schools, universities, libraries, archives. [1]

[1]: (Curtis 2013: 101) Curtis, Benjamin. 2013. The Habsburgs: The History of a Dynasty. London; New York: Bloomsbury. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/TRKUBP92


114 Saffarid Caliphate present Confident -
There were Islamic law schools in the empire. [1]

[1]: Bosworth 1994: 329. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/7W46D62E