Auxiliary sciences of history

The auxiliary sciences of history are fields of study based on historical sources and items. 

Many of those fields of study started between the 16th and 19th centuries. At first, they were started by students of old artifacts. At the time, "history" was thought of only as a literary skill. 

In the late 18th century, the study of history became more empirical. The change was led by the Göttingen School of History. Then, in the mid-19th century, Leopold von Ranke also focused on it. The changes led to the rise of the trained historian as a skill. 

The auxiliary sciences of history include but are not limited to the following:

 Archeology, the study of human activity
 Archaeography, the study of ancient documents
 Archival science, the study and theory of making and maintaining archives
 Chorography, the study of regions and places
 Chronology, the study of the sequence of past events
 Cliometrics, using economic theory and other mathematical methods to study history
 Codicology, the study of books
 Diplomatics, the study historical documents
 Epigraphy, the study of ancient inscriptions
 Genealogy, the study of family relationships
 Heraldry, the study of armorial devices
 Numismatics, the study of coins 
 Onomastics, the study of proper names 
 Paleography, the study of old handwriting
 Phaleristics, the study of military orders, fraternities, and award items
 Philately, the study of postage stamps
 Philology, the study of the language of historical sources
 Prosopography, the investigation of a historical group of individuals
 Sigillography, the study of seals
 Toponymy, the study of place-names
 Vexillology, the study of flags

Related pages
Historical method

 References 

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