Content-based search in medieval manuscripts

HISTORIA is one of the six projects funded by the European Union Telematics in Libraries programme. The objective of the project is the design and realisation of a digital image library equipped with search and query tools for coding and retrieving information from reproductions of medieval manuscripts that contain heraldic images. In this paper we discuss the particular problems encountered in the indexing and search of manuscripts related to the geneology of Venetian noble families and their associated heraldry and present a prototype digital library.