IMC 2026: Sessions
Session 541: 'Big Data' and Medieval Manuscripts, I: Networks of Texts and People
Tuesday 7 July 2026, 09:00-10:30
| Sponsor: | Centre for Digital Scholarship, Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford |
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| Organiser: | Matthew Holford, Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford |
| Moderator/Chair: | Sebastian Dows-Miller, School of European Languages, Culture & Society, University College London |
| Paper 541-a | Towards a Network Analysis of English Pontifical Chants (Language: English) Index terms: Computing in Medieval Studies, Liturgy, Manuscripts and Palaeography, Music |
| Paper 541-b | Towards a Quantitative Analysis of Manuscript Transmission of Polemical Texts of the Investiture Contest, c. 1076-1122 (Language: English) Index terms: Bibliography, Computing in Medieval Studies, Ecclesiastical History, Manuscripts and Palaeography |
| Abstract | Computational research into the contents, codicology and history of medieval manuscripts is well- established. “Quantitative codicology” has since the 1960s used statistical analysis to explore topics from the dimensions of the manuscript page to overall patterns of book production, but many research questions remain open. This series of sessions brings together scholars from across medieval studies who are engaged in the examination of medieval manuscripts through the lens of ‘Big Data’, to facilitate cross-disciplinary exchange within the still underdeveloped fields of quantitative palaeography and codicology. In particular, this session assembles scholars using network analysis tools and methods to make new discoveries about medieval manuscripts, the texts they contain, and the people who interacted with them. The papers span a variety of linguistic and temporal contexts, bringing the methodological element of the presentations to the fore, and allowing for the cross-pollination of approaches across areas of digital medieval studies. |