Exploration of a Large Database of French Charters with Social Network Methods
Résumé
Although charters are often considered to be ruled by formulae, their evidential value sometimes lies in the ways in which they deviate from norms, whether this be in what they record or how they are recorded. In this session in-groups and out-groups are considered at several levels: Hofmann asks when and why women featured in Carolingian-era charters; Hodge asks whether transaction documents recorded in unconventional contexts can be grouped with more conventional charters; and Rossi describes new computerised approaches that may allow us to depict in-groups and out-groups in social networks in hitherto-impossible clarity, the third paper has been co-authored with Florent Hautefeuille (Université de Toulouse II - Le Mirail) and Nathalie Villa (Université de Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier / Université de Perpignan - Via Domitia).