Computistical objects and intellectual networks in the Carolingian age

Roughly 400 manuscripts written in the Carolingian period (pre-AD 900) contain a considerable corpus of calendrical knowledge. In most manuscripts, this material amounts to a loosely structured compilation of tables, diagrams, definitions, and algorithms. What is the nightmare of modern cataloguers provides the researcher of intellectual networks with a significant sample size of (often datable) data. The first step is to design a methodology for classifying this data, which is done by providing each item with an unambiguous identifier (termed ‘object oriented cataloguing’). This creates a data set of c. 4000 objects. If network analysis is applied to this data set, this reveals datable patterns for the transmission of ideas and the construction of intellectual networks in the Carolingian age.

23-10-2020 13:20 - 14:10