Academic Integrity, Cultural Heritage Protection, and Research Continuity
Between 2022 and 2026, my academic work became the target of an extensive online defamation campaign that followed formal reports I submitted to the Italian Carabinieri Command for the Protection of Cultural Heritage (TPC) concerning the dismantling of medieval manuscripts and the circulation of excised leaves originating from public collections.
Among the cases documented in my research was that of Turin Manuscript E.V.5, preserved in the National University Library of Turin. Three illuminated leaves were stolen from the manuscript in 1979 and later appeared on the international antiquarian market, including Sotheby's sales in London in 2013 and 2015. The catalogue entries for the 2015 sale were prepared by Peter Kidd, who subsequently became one of the principal promoters of the online campaign directed against me and against the research centre RECEPTIO.
Following my reports to the Italian authorities and my public denunciation of manuscript dismemberment and cultural heritage trafficking, defamatory and misleading information concerning my academic work was circulated on blogs, social media platforms and online publications.
Despite persistent death threats directed at my family and me, the publication of false death notices, repeated attempts to manipulate biographical information online, and a sustained campaign of reputational attacks, my response remained grounded in scholarly research, documentary evidence, public transparency and legal due process.
Between 2024 and 2026, I continued to publish peer-reviewed books and articles, organise conferences, direct research projects and collaborate with cultural heritage institutions. This body of work demonstrates the continuity, coherence and integrity of my academic activity throughout the period in question.
A public statement summarising part of this documentation is available on Zenodo:
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15248850
Research continues, as it always has, through documentation, transparency and scholarly enquiry.
On 7 January 2026, the Swiss Federal Administrative Court brought to a close the proceedings concerning The Book of Hours of Louis de Roucy.
The Court annulled the revocation of the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) grant associated with the project and found no grounds for treating the volume as a plagiarised work or for imposing sanctions on the author.
This judgment effectively ended a public narrative that had been constructed largely on the basis of allegations circulated online, particularly through the blog and social-media activity of Peter Kidd and other participants in the campaign. Those allegations ultimately found no confirmation in the Court's decision.
The ruling represents an important reaffirmation of the principle that academic assessments must be based on evidence, transparent procedures and independent evaluation rather than on claims disseminated through blogs, social media platforms or online campaigns.
Metadata – Academic Profile
Name: Prof. Carla Rossi
Discipline: Romance Philology, Medieval Art History
Institutional Affiliation: Institut d'Estudis Filològics i Dantescos
Public Academic Statement:
Official Response Published on Substack: oprom.substack.com
Keywords: Academic Integrity, Medieval Manuscripts, Biblioclasm, Digital Reconstruction, ReceptioGate
Links:
– https://isfida.academia.edu/CarlaRossi
– https://www.oprom.eu / https://www.receptio.eu
– https://www.youtube.com/@receptio