The Medieval Academy Blog

International Conference of the Project Script and Signs. A computer-based analysis of high medieval papal charters. A key to Europe’s cultural history of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research

Erlangen (Germany), 14^th-15 ^th June 2013

Pattern recognition and analyse of historical handwritings

The high medieval papal charters are in the focus of the research project “Script and Signs. A computer-based analysis of high medieval papal charters. A key to Europe’s cultural history”. Sponsored by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research in the context of eHumanities, this project is a cooperation between the Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (Chair of Medieval History, Prof. Dr. Klaus Herbers; Chair of Pattern Recognition, Prof. Dr. Joachim Hornegger) and the Ludwig-Maximilians University of Munich (Chair of Historical Base Sciences and Historical Studies). The project aims at a detailed and systematic analysis of the development of writing in 11^th and 12^th century papal charters. This new approach benefits from its interdisciplinary character, which combines the new means of pattern recognition with those from traditional historical and paleographic methods.

The possibilities offered by pattern recognition help to reconstruct the process of changes in writing in a detailed way, whereas until now the development from the “papal curia” to the “papal minuscule” and finally to “Gothic writing” has been stated only roughly in a general way. Other characteristics of a charter, such as the “Benevalete” and “Rota”, will also be examined in the project. The results will not only be analyzed paleographically and diplomatically, but will also be placed in a cultural and historical context.

The analysis will begin with the papacy of Leo IX (1048-1054), who changed the layout of papal charters in a significant way, and will end in the year 1198 with pope Innocent’s III papacy.

Apart from descriptive observations about when and how changes in writing were taking place, further questions will be worked on in the project. Why did these changes happen? Can they be related to single persons or events? Moreover, new knowledge about the papal chancery – the most efficient chancery in the High Middle Ages – will be expected by the automatically supported attribution to specific scribal hands.

TOPIC AND FORMAT OF THE LECTURE

This conference’s main focus will be on the technical aspects of the project. Based on the traditional paleography questions of automatic pattern recognition, digital paleography and the writer’s identification as well as the general analysis of papal charters will be discussed.

Three to four orators per section are supposed to speak for 20 minutes with a a 20-minute discussion following each presentation.

Scholars having their main focus on paleography or/and automatic pattern recognition are kindly invited to submit a paper. These propositions should be sent to Viktoria.Trenkle@gesch.phil.uni-erlangen.de including an abstract of the proposed paper (maximum 300 words) as well as a short academic curriculum of the presenter.

Deadline:  2012-11-23

THE TOPICS IN SUMMMARY
I.            “Traditional” Paleography – methods, results, desiderata
II.            Handwriting Recognition
III.            Digital Paleography
IV.            Identification of diffrent scribal hands
V.            General Document Analysis

Contact persons:
Thorsten Schlauwitz/ Viktoria Trenkle
Kochstr. 4  BK 9
91054 Erlangen
Fon: 09131/8525904
Mail: Thorsten.Schlauwitz@gesch.phil.uni-erlangen.de
Viktoria.Trenkle@gesch.phil.uni-erlangen.de
URL: http://www5.informatik.uni-erlangen.de/puhma

Catastrophe, Calamity and Chaos in the Pre-Modern World
A Virtual Symposium on February 9, 2013, 8:30 – 10:30 AM Pacific Standard Time
Call for Presentations

The Pre-Modern Institute (formerly the Medieval and Modern Institute) at the University of Alberta, in collaboration with Athabasca University and PreMiss (the Pre-Modern Institute Student Society), is soliciting proposals for participation in a virtual (fully on-line) symposium on “Catastrophe, Calamity and Chaos in the Pre-Modern World.” The symposium time-slot (8:30 – 10:30 AM PST) permits active participation from across a large number of time zones, and is specifically designed to enable conversations among specialists who otherwise would not encounter one another. Participants will discuss previously-circulated presentations, available in advance through a symposium website.

The organizers encourage presentations concerning any area of the globe during pre-modern times, roughly understood as the period before c. 1750 CE, but allowing for flexibility where regional specialists periodize differently.

The symposium will stimulate comparative discussion of the dynamics of catastrophic, calamitous and chaotic events such as volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, hurricanes, wildfires, earthquakes, floods, plagues, epidemics, expulsions, forced migrations, genocides, and terrorism. Presentations may address the causes of the events, the events themselves, the results of the events, the depiction of the events (in textual or visual media), or the subsequent memory and commemoration of the events.

Presentations may be in any format, including but not limited to text files (e.g. in Microsoft Word), power point presentations, pdfs of poster presentations, MP3 audio files, or YouTube videos. Participation in discussion, through Elluminate for Moodle, will be possible via text, voice, and/or video both in a “main” room and in topical/thematic breakout rooms. All rooms will be moderated. A link enabling access to the discussion forum will be sent to registered participants.

The organizers plan to publish fleshed-out versions of a selection of the presentations as an edited collection.

Please send 150 word (text) abstracts and a brief biography or CV by November 30, 2012 to memi@ualberta.ca. Questions concerning format should be addressed to Felice Lifshitz (felice.lifshitz@ualberta.ca) or Shandip Saha (shandips@athabascau.ca).

Landscapes of Power
The Oxford University Byzantine Society’s
XV International Graduate Conference 2013
22-23 February 2013, History Faculty, University of Oxford

Call for Papers

Late Antique and Byzantine Studies have often been seen as an undiscovered country, esoteric and arcane, but there is no doubting to the initiated that Byzantium is not a monolithic, unchanged and unchanging world, but rather a myriad of overlapping and intersecting landscapes, where power is everywhere and in everything. From the solemnity of the monastic scriptoria, to the successes and failures of imperial policy in the corridors of the palace; from the imagined landscapes of Byzantine literature, to the changing practices of daily life, power and its landscapes are central to an full understanding of Late Antique and Byzantine Studies.

We are interested in papers that explore the diverse applications and representations of power, in all fields of Late Antique and Byzantine studies, including history, art history, archaeology, theology, literature, and philology. A broad range of approaches to Landscapes of Power, both historical and historiographical, are welcome.

Possible themes might include:

– Political Landscapes
– Literary Representations of Power
– Ecclesiastical and Religious Landscapes
– The Physical Manifestations of Power
– Artistic and Symbolic Landscapes
– The Power of Byzantine History
– The Shifting Landscape of Byzantine Culture and Society
– The Power of Memory within the diverse Byzantine Landscapes

Please send an abstract of no more than 250 words, along with a few words about yourself and your academic background, to the Oxford University Byzantine Society at byzantine.society@gmail.com by Friday, 30th November 2012. Final papers should be 20 minutes in length.

For the first time the conference committee is endeavouring to publish a selection of inter-related papers, chosen both by quality and pertinence to our theme. Any speakers who wish to have their papers considered for publication should bear this in mind when making their application, but all applications will be gratefully received regardless of our publication aims. More details will follow to speakers nearer the time.

Subject to funding, the OUBS hopes to offer subsidised accommodation for visiting speakers. More information will be available in early 2013. We regret that we are unable to cover travel expenses to and from Oxford, but encourage all participants to apply to their home institutions for travel grants.www.oxfordbyzantinesociety.wordpress.com/international-graduate-conference-2013/