SHAW, Robert Laurence John, Tomáš HAMPEJS and David ZBÍRAL. Guilt by Association? : A computational analysis of the social patterns of inquisition punishments in thirteenth-century Languedoc. In Medieval Academy of America Annual Meeting, online, 15.-18. April 2021. 2021.
Other formats:   BibTeX LaTeX RIS
Basic information
Original name Guilt by Association? : A computational analysis of the social patterns of inquisition punishments in thirteenth-century Languedoc
Authors SHAW, Robert Laurence John (826 United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, guarantor, belonging to the institution), Tomáš HAMPEJS (826 United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, belonging to the institution) and David ZBÍRAL (203 Czech Republic, belonging to the institution).
Edition Medieval Academy of America Annual Meeting, online, 15.-18. April 2021, 2021.
Other information
Original language English
Type of outcome Presentations at conferences
Field of Study 60304 Religious studies
Country of publisher United States of America
Confidentiality degree is not subject to a state or trade secret
WWW Programme listing
RIV identification code RIV/00216224:14210/21:00119086
Organization unit Faculty of Arts
Keywords in English inquisition; punishment; heresy; medieval; Middle Ages; quantitative analysis; semantic text modelling
Tags rivok
Tags International impact, Reviewed
Changed by Changed by: Mgr. Ivona Vrzalová, učo 361753. Changed: 21/4/2022 17:30.
Abstract
Despite significant interest in the way that medieval inquisitors approached the task of quelling religious dissidence – above all the way they detected or even “constructed” heresy among their subjects – the factors that influenced the precise weight of the punishments they meted out have thus far received little systematic attention. Computational analysis of inquisition records, however, can potentially transform our understanding of this field. It can be assumed that inquisitors aimed, at least in part, to punish in accordance with the type, duration, and repetition of heretical activity they perceived. But given that inquisitors sought to root out what they saw as a social “disease”, we must also ask to what extent medieval inquisitors were influenced by what they perceived to be the important social connections of their suspects. Were dissidents punished differently for knowing famous heretics, or committing actions in concert with others? Did recognised social ties to other sentenced or suspected individuals warrant graver sentences? Working with the sentences drawn up by the inquisitor Peter Sella in Western Languedoc in 1241-2, this paper employs a bespoke statistical approach that encodes and analyses weights of punishment, descriptions of crimes and types of recorded social connectivity: it is in part inspired by social network analysis but tailored to the limitations of the specific source. Above all, it aims to compare the interpersonal maps that inquisitors plotted as part of the trial process with whom and how they chose to punish, thus providing a new social perspective on inquisitorial strategy.
Links
GX19-26975X, research and development projectName: Nekonformní náboženské kultury ve středověké Evropě z pohledu analýzy sociálních sítí a geografických informačních systémů (Acronym: DISSINET)
Investor: Czech Science Foundation
PrintDisplayed: 29/6/2024 22:50