An eschatocol, or closing protocol, is the final section of a legal or public document, which may include a formulaic sentence of appreciation; the attestation of those responsible for the document, which may be the author, writer, countersigner, principal parties involved, and witnesses to the enactment or the subscription; or both.[1][2] It also expresses the context of the documentation of the action described therein, i. e., enunciation of the means of validation and indication of who is responsible to document the act; and the final formulae.
Common in European medieval charters, they have been relegated to notarial acts, governmental acts, diplomatic treaties, certificates, and other formal documents.
In a formal structure, intrinsic elements have three classes: protocol, text, and eschatocol. An example of eschatocol in private records is a sequence of appreciation sentence, salutation, complimentary clause (e. g., "sincerely yours"), signature, ...
The final part (eschatocol) could include subscriptio: signatures (mata) of the parties or stamps, sometimes the name of the scribe is also mentioned; apprecatio: blessings (e. g., śrīh., śubham, "hail"), authoritative confirmations (e. g., pramān ̇a) ...