Models of authority: Scottish charters and the emergence of government 1100-1250
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Glasgow
Department Name: School of Humanities
Abstract
This project is about government and the way it emerged and developed in the middle ages. Government as we would think of it today can first be recognised in western Europe during the twelfth century. But was it the natural result of increasing royal power and authority; or was it a response of kings to disorder? Understanding the emergence of medieval government has to be based on understanding the main source of evidence - charters - and it is in the twelfth century that charters begin to survive in large numbers. This project's new approach is to focus on understanding and interpreting the most distinctive features of charters -the appearance of their handwriting and the formulaic aspects of their prose.
Charters are artefacts of authority: the content of their text and the style of their script is significant for understanding the authority they embody. But charters are not only artefacts of authority; they acted as models of authority too. Seeing how royal charters served as models for non-royal ones is important if we want to examine the emergence of government and the role of kingship in its development.
The handwriting and prose of charters are a huge untapped resource for tracking the increasing profile of kingship as a source of social authority in relation to the growth of government. It would be a mistake to assume that this was simply a 'top down' process. Scribes were usually guided in their work by styles of handwriting and prose. At the beginning of this period there was a lot of variation in how charters were written. Later, non-royal scribes chose more and more to follow the evolving and increasingly innovative style of royal scribes. In Scotland this was not because royal administration was growing rapidly: unlike England, royal bureaucracy was limited. It was, instead, because royal charters were being adopted as a model of authority by non-royal scribes. This aspect has not been investigated before, in Scotland or elsewhere. It offers a new way to investigate the emergence of government, one that can allow us to see this process from the perspective of non-royal scribes.
Digital images of a large number of original charters from Scotland will act as our case-study. Scotland is best placed to be the case-study because of its unparalleled corpus of digital images of charters from a range of medieval archives. It is a corpus small enough to be manageable but large enough for the analysis of their handwriting and prose to give significant results.
Such research is now possible because new tools for the digital analysis of medieval handwriting have been pioneered in the DigiPal project by Co-I Peter Stokes. DigiPal has an online framework for analysing early medieval English bookhand by linking portions of images of handwriting to structured information about the text, context, and handwriting itself. 'Models of Authority' will break fresh ground by investigating how the DigiPal tools can be adapted in the fundamentally different environment of cursive writing, where letter-forms are inherently less stable and linked to other letters. Instead of analysing letter-forms individually, they will be investigated in the context of words and groups of words. We shall then be able not only to identify details that are shared in many charters, and when and where they were used, but also to establish how far they correlate with a specific situation. We should then be able to see how far the emergence of government was anticipated by an increasing emphasis on royal models in non-royal charters, and investigate the contexts in which this first occurred.
The contexts in which non-royal scribes were prone to mimicking royal scribes are unlikely to be unique to Scotland. If the profile of kingship as a model in charters could grow in Scotland, where royal administration developed late, then we can ask whether the emergence of government elsewhere might have been as much, or more, 'bottom up' than 'top down'.
Charters are artefacts of authority: the content of their text and the style of their script is significant for understanding the authority they embody. But charters are not only artefacts of authority; they acted as models of authority too. Seeing how royal charters served as models for non-royal ones is important if we want to examine the emergence of government and the role of kingship in its development.
The handwriting and prose of charters are a huge untapped resource for tracking the increasing profile of kingship as a source of social authority in relation to the growth of government. It would be a mistake to assume that this was simply a 'top down' process. Scribes were usually guided in their work by styles of handwriting and prose. At the beginning of this period there was a lot of variation in how charters were written. Later, non-royal scribes chose more and more to follow the evolving and increasingly innovative style of royal scribes. In Scotland this was not because royal administration was growing rapidly: unlike England, royal bureaucracy was limited. It was, instead, because royal charters were being adopted as a model of authority by non-royal scribes. This aspect has not been investigated before, in Scotland or elsewhere. It offers a new way to investigate the emergence of government, one that can allow us to see this process from the perspective of non-royal scribes.
Digital images of a large number of original charters from Scotland will act as our case-study. Scotland is best placed to be the case-study because of its unparalleled corpus of digital images of charters from a range of medieval archives. It is a corpus small enough to be manageable but large enough for the analysis of their handwriting and prose to give significant results.
Such research is now possible because new tools for the digital analysis of medieval handwriting have been pioneered in the DigiPal project by Co-I Peter Stokes. DigiPal has an online framework for analysing early medieval English bookhand by linking portions of images of handwriting to structured information about the text, context, and handwriting itself. 'Models of Authority' will break fresh ground by investigating how the DigiPal tools can be adapted in the fundamentally different environment of cursive writing, where letter-forms are inherently less stable and linked to other letters. Instead of analysing letter-forms individually, they will be investigated in the context of words and groups of words. We shall then be able not only to identify details that are shared in many charters, and when and where they were used, but also to establish how far they correlate with a specific situation. We should then be able to see how far the emergence of government was anticipated by an increasing emphasis on royal models in non-royal charters, and investigate the contexts in which this first occurred.
The contexts in which non-royal scribes were prone to mimicking royal scribes are unlikely to be unique to Scotland. If the profile of kingship as a model in charters could grow in Scotland, where royal administration developed late, then we can ask whether the emergence of government elsewhere might have been as much, or more, 'bottom up' than 'top down'.
Planned Impact
During the project's lifetime, the wider beneficiaries of its research will be:
(i) The National Archives and National Records of Scotland, who are project partners.
(ii) Members of the public visiting The National Archives and National Records of Scotland between mid-January and mid-April 2017 (TNA) and mid-April to mid-July 2017 (NRS).
(iii) Schools in Scotland
(iv) Schools in England
(i) The National Archives and National Records of Scotland will benefit through hosting the project's exhibition between mid-January and mid-April 2017 (TNA) and mid-April to mid-July 2017 (NRS). The project's theme of the emergence of government relates directly to the core function of both TNA and NRS as the guardians of the records of central government in England and Scotland. The project exhibition will offer a fresh insight into how these central records came into being. It will also, at the same time, highlight charters from the period 1100-1250, an important part of the holdings of both TNA and NRS. The exhibition will provide an opportunity for TNA and NRS to showcase their function as depositories of central records and charters, and the antiquity and significance of their records and charters, by completing the exhibition through the display of specimen original central records and charters from their collections.
(ii) Members of the public visiting the exhibition in TNA and NRS will learn about the project's research chiefly through (a) appreciating the changing visual impact of the handwriting of charters, and participating in activities that reinforce this, and (b) by gaining hands-on experience of the formulaic nature of charters (e.g., by allowing people to use reproduction charters, chopped up into set phrases, to create their own charter text, showing how the choice became increasingly limited). (Both these interactive ideas are inspired by aspects of the Bess of Hardwick exhibition, designed by the same company as will be used for the project's exhibition.) There will also be podcasts and social media associated with the exhibition in TNA and NRS as well as via the project website.
(iii) Schools in Scotland will not only benefit from the exhibition in NRS in Edinburgh, and through NRS's engagement with schools, but also through the ability of the project, by providing bespoke material on the web, to respond to opportunities provided by Curriculum for Excellence. Content up to age 15 is determined by teachers in line with levels of attainment in Social Studies. The schools section of the website will tailor material from the project to meet these specifications.
(iv) Schools in England will benefit from the project through school visits to the exhibition in TNA, the 'schools' section of the project website, and http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/, all diected at Key Stage 3 in England.
After the project ends, these web resources will be the main vehicle for impact not only for schools but the wider public.
The project's chief impact is likely to be through its main theme, the emergence of government--crucial to our understanding of the origins of nations. It is widely assumed that this was centrally driven. The project offers a way of interrogating and challenging that assumption. The project will introduce the interested public and schools to the idea that the emergence of government involved the aspirations of people more widely than simply those in royal administration. Instead of seeing people outside the inner circles of royal power as performing a passive role in this process, this project could encourage the view that they played an active (even a vital) part in making government come into being. 'People' here cannot be understood in a modern sense. The mere suggestion that the process was not only centrally driven, however, will raise important questions about the nature of government and the nation-state today. Quite how vivid this perspective might be will depend on the project's results.
(i) The National Archives and National Records of Scotland, who are project partners.
(ii) Members of the public visiting The National Archives and National Records of Scotland between mid-January and mid-April 2017 (TNA) and mid-April to mid-July 2017 (NRS).
(iii) Schools in Scotland
(iv) Schools in England
(i) The National Archives and National Records of Scotland will benefit through hosting the project's exhibition between mid-January and mid-April 2017 (TNA) and mid-April to mid-July 2017 (NRS). The project's theme of the emergence of government relates directly to the core function of both TNA and NRS as the guardians of the records of central government in England and Scotland. The project exhibition will offer a fresh insight into how these central records came into being. It will also, at the same time, highlight charters from the period 1100-1250, an important part of the holdings of both TNA and NRS. The exhibition will provide an opportunity for TNA and NRS to showcase their function as depositories of central records and charters, and the antiquity and significance of their records and charters, by completing the exhibition through the display of specimen original central records and charters from their collections.
(ii) Members of the public visiting the exhibition in TNA and NRS will learn about the project's research chiefly through (a) appreciating the changing visual impact of the handwriting of charters, and participating in activities that reinforce this, and (b) by gaining hands-on experience of the formulaic nature of charters (e.g., by allowing people to use reproduction charters, chopped up into set phrases, to create their own charter text, showing how the choice became increasingly limited). (Both these interactive ideas are inspired by aspects of the Bess of Hardwick exhibition, designed by the same company as will be used for the project's exhibition.) There will also be podcasts and social media associated with the exhibition in TNA and NRS as well as via the project website.
(iii) Schools in Scotland will not only benefit from the exhibition in NRS in Edinburgh, and through NRS's engagement with schools, but also through the ability of the project, by providing bespoke material on the web, to respond to opportunities provided by Curriculum for Excellence. Content up to age 15 is determined by teachers in line with levels of attainment in Social Studies. The schools section of the website will tailor material from the project to meet these specifications.
(iv) Schools in England will benefit from the project through school visits to the exhibition in TNA, the 'schools' section of the project website, and http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/, all diected at Key Stage 3 in England.
After the project ends, these web resources will be the main vehicle for impact not only for schools but the wider public.
The project's chief impact is likely to be through its main theme, the emergence of government--crucial to our understanding of the origins of nations. It is widely assumed that this was centrally driven. The project offers a way of interrogating and challenging that assumption. The project will introduce the interested public and schools to the idea that the emergence of government involved the aspirations of people more widely than simply those in royal administration. Instead of seeing people outside the inner circles of royal power as performing a passive role in this process, this project could encourage the view that they played an active (even a vital) part in making government come into being. 'People' here cannot be understood in a modern sense. The mere suggestion that the process was not only centrally driven, however, will raise important questions about the nature of government and the nation-state today. Quite how vivid this perspective might be will depend on the project's results.
Publications
Brookes S
(2019)
'Getting Medieval on Social Media'
Brookes, S
(2019)
Introduction to Latin Palaeography
Brookes, Stewart
Models of Authority as an Agent of Holistic Detection
Broun D
(2015)
Statehood and lordship in 'Scotland' before the mid-twelfth century
in The Innes Review
| Description | New methods, tools and terminology for researching the handwriting of charters, particularly the development of cursive writing. New methods and tools for researching the prose of charters. New understanding of scribal choice in development of aspects of style in handwriting and deployment of key phrases in charter prose. New understanding of the emergence of standardisation in the prose and structure of royal charters. New understanding of royal charters as a source for the origins of government in Scotland. New understanding of the nature of statehood and lordship in Scotland at the beginning of the period, and formulation of a new theoretical approach to this. Overall The central research question of the project centred on the proposition that new understandings of charters would yield new perspectives on the emergence of government in the central Middle Ages. This had been addressed chiefly in two ways: through the colloquium led by Alice Taylor (a proposal by her to CUP has led to an invitation to submit a MS by the end of the year), and the exhibition and accompanying booklet on Scribes and Royal Authority by Dauvit Broun and Joanna Tucker. Let us take these in turn: Colloquium and CUP volume on Identifying Governmental Forms in Europe, c.1100-1300: Palaeography, Diplomatics and History, ed. Alice Taylor. The centre of gravity here is on diplomatic. It will represent the most substantial achievement of the project in addressing its central question. The volume hinges on the insight that the diplomatic and palaeography of charters and similar documents shaped governmental form in this period, and therefore make it possible to chart and analyse the emergence of government in a new way. Instead of the evidence of charters and similar documents being used simply to illustrate the development of institutions and administrative practice, institutions and administrative practice can now be contextualised through an understanding of the changes in governmental ideas and expectations articulated and developed on the stage provided by charters themselves. Exhibition at TNA and NRS and booklet on Scribes and Royal Authority (published by NRS) This provided the main opportunity during the project to focus on the insights relating to the emergence of government arising from the palaeography of charters, based on TW's research for the project. The concluding paragraph of the booklet is worth quoting in full: 'For monastic scribes in particular, writing charters was not a routine activity. They had to think consciously about how they would represent the authority of the donor on the page. Their experimentations therefore reflected their own take on what single-sheet authority could look like in that particular moment. Often they would draw upon a constantly evolving repertoire of features, some of which were developed originally by royal scribes. In the hands of scribes, authority became a sphere for individual creativity.' When the project was originally conceived, it had been assumed that it would be possible to establish direct links to features that showed scribes consciously calling to mind the practice of royal (or papal or episcopal) scribes, and that this could be studied and analysed. Although there is no doubt, thanks to Tessa Webber's work on the project, that royal (or papal or episcopal) scribes were innovators and created new forms and elaborations that were picked up by monastic scribes, it was unclear how it could be demonstrated that, once these features had become part of the repertoire which monastic scribes dew upon, they did so with a direct sense that any of these were 'royal'. Instead, it seemed safer to assume that all these scribes participated in a new and evolving sphere of activity-namely the production of single sheet documents-and selected features according to their own inspiration or creativity, or desire to make a document more visually striking (or less so), rather than because of any particular and immediate association with royalty. Nevertheless, there is potential here for a fresh dimension to our understanding of the development of royal authority and, ultimately, government. In Scribes and Royal Authority, the contrast is emphasised between increasing standardisation in the prose of charters on the one hand, and the growing creativity in handwriting on the other hand. Scribes were involved in each of these developments. Instead of seeing standardisation as an indicator of more powerful, centralised government initiated from the 'top' 'down', an appreciation that it was accompanied by growing creativity and scribal choice in handwriting, limited only by their skill and imagination, suggests a more organic process. It hardly seems appropriate, however, to regard this simply as 'bottom up': something more akin to Alice Taylor's view of government as a partnership between king and aristocracy seems the most promising line of thought. How, though, would that apply where scribes have agency? It appears that charters as a new and expanding medium of authority reveal that authority itself involved an interplay between individual creativity and norms and expectations that were being experienced as something increasingly regular. Can this increasing regularity, however, be seen as essentially self-generated by scribes and the society they were part of, rather than a directed process? If so, how far does this apply to the emergence of government itself? Perhaps we do not yet have the conceptual tools to articulate this yet (I don't, anyway), at least within our discipline. General Overall, it may be claimed that one of the most significant results of the project is the beginning of what may be called the 'scribal turn', where scholars begin to have the research tools and concepts to investigate and appreciate the role of scribes in shaping the discourses and expectations embedded in the documents we read. Hitherto their contribution has been passed over by historians as the domain of scholars in the 'auxiliary disciplines' of palaeography and diplomatic. The project has shown the value and importance of placing scribes firmly on the stage of all the history that passes through their quills. |
| Exploitation Route | The new tools, methods and terminology for researching handwriting and charter prose are, or will soon be, freely accessible to all scholars, with a potential for application in other bodies of similar material. The results on the development of cursivity, and the emergence of standardisation in charters, is a model for future research and comparative perspectives. The new theoretical approach to statehood can be potentially developed and applied generally, particularly in approaches to the issue from the perspective of Arts and Humanities rather than Social Science |
| Sectors | Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Education,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections,Other |
| URL | http://www.modelsofauthority.ac.uk/ |
| Description | Talks to general public at BL and TNA, and in a school Exhibition at TNA (Jan-March 2017) and NRS (April-May 2017), exhibition launch at NRS, guided tours at NRS, and lecture at NRS Blogs and other publicity associated with the exhibitions A key element in a talk 'Medieval Manuscript Studies' to St Helen's Sixth Form, London, in February 2020 |
| First Year Of Impact | 2017 |
| Sector | Education,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections,Other |
| Impact Types | Cultural |
| Description | Developing a Digital Framework for the Medieval Gaelic World |
| Amount | £24,137 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | AH/V00235X/1 |
| Organisation | Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 08/2020 |
| End | 06/2021 |
| Description | International Partnership and Development Scheme (NB: PI is John Reuben Davies, RA on project.) |
| Amount | £9,968 (GBP) |
| Organisation | The British Academy |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 09/2014 |
| End | 08/2015 |
| Title | Lightbox |
| Description | Tool for searching and comparing palaeographical features |
| Type Of Material | Data analysis technique |
| Year Produced | 2015 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | Ongoing |
| URL | http://www.modelsofauthority.ac.uk/lightbox/ |
| Title | Models of Authority |
| Description | The database contains images, texts, translations, and structured palaeographical annotations of over 700 Scottish charters from 1100-1250. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2017 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | The database has lead to numerous other outputs including almost all those listed in this ResearchFish submission. It has received much attention in social media and other media, and received around 5,000 sessions in the last year. |
| URL | https://www.modelsofauthority.ac.uk |
| Title | Models of Authority (expanded) |
| Description | The content of the current database at www.modelsofauthority.ac.uk has been expanded by 20% and additional markup has been provided. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2019 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | Increased research capacity--has been praised by scholars of palaeography (e.g., Prof. Elaine Treharne) and used in teaching palaeography to undergraduate students as well as postgraduates (esp. at University of Oxford) |
| URL | http://www.modelsofauthority.ac.uk |
| Title | Searchable database of texts and images of NLS charters |
| Description | Searchable database of texts and images of 32 charters from Edinburgh, NLS Adv. MS 15.1.18 |
| Type Of Material | Data analysis technique |
| Year Produced | 2015 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | Still ongoing |
| URL | http://www.modelsofauthority.ac.uk/digipal/search/facets/?page=1&result_type=images&img_is_public=1&... |
| Description | DigiDeeds project application by University of Toronto |
| Organisation | University of Toronto |
| Country | Canada |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Models of Authority have contributed images, transcriptions and translations of charters, and methodologies of digital research relating to charters, as well as insights into the potential significance of this material. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The University of Toronto brought together charter scholars engaged in digital methodologies to form a multi-partner network which (if funded) will provide an opportunity to exchange research ideas across Europe and North America. |
| Impact | No outcomes yet: application submitted to Canadian Research Council in February 2022. |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | IMC 2015 Roundtable |
| Organisation | University of Exeter |
| Department | Department of Modern Languages |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Contribution to roundtable at IMC Leeds 2015 on (Mis-)Using Digital Tools in the Digital Palaeography Age |
| Collaborator Contribution | Organising the roundtable |
| Impact | None |
| Start Year | 2015 |
| Title | Archetype |
| Description | Archetype is an integrated suite of web-based tools for the study of medieval handwriting, art and iconography. Using Archetype, scholars can annotate, describe and tag an image, or part of an image, to create structured records for palaeographical exploration, analysis and dissemination. It also allows for texts, translations, and other content to be added, marked up, and tightly linked to the visual content. |
| Type Of Technology | Webtool/Application |
| Year Produced | 2017 |
| Open Source License? | Yes |
| Impact | The software has been used by around 20 projects worldwide, in languages and scripts including Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Cuneiform, Japanese and Mayan. The underlying system also won a prize from the Medieval Academy of America in 2017. |
| URL | https://archetype.kdl.kcl.ac.uk |
| Title | DigiPal Framework for the Analysis of Script and Decoration |
| Description | The DigiPal framework was originally developed for the ERC-funded DigiPal project but has received significant extensions and improvements through the AHRC-funded 'Conqueror's Commissioners' and 'Models of Authority' projects. It comprises freely-available generalised software for the online presentation of images with structured annotations and data which allows users to search for, view, and organise detailed characteristics of handwriting or other material in both verbal and visual form. Designed primarily for the palaeographical analysis of handwriting, it has been extended to incorporate texts, codicological structure, an improved interface, and the ability to download and run the software on a desktop computer for private study. |
| Type Of Technology | Webtool/Application |
| Year Produced | 2017 |
| Impact | The software is now being used by over twenty different research projects, in the UK, France and the United States. Examples of its use online include: * The ERC-funded DigiPal Project: https://www.digipal.eu * The AHRC-funded Conqueror's Commissioners project: http://www.exondomesday.ac.uk * The AHRC-funded Models of Authority project: http://www.modelsofauthority.ac.uk * The Marie Curie funded ViGOTHIC project: http://litteravisigothica.com/visigothicpal-year-ahead/ and http://cordis.europa.eu/project/rcn/195243_en.html * The Polices de caractères et inscriptions monétaires project at the Bibliothèque nationale de France * A prototype on the manuscripts of Marcel Proust, in collaboration with the Équipe Proust at the Institut des textes et manuscrits modernes (ITEM: ENS/CNRS, Paris) * Numerous uses by individual researchers and PhD and MA students in the UK, France and US, on topics including bilingual Greek/Latin inscriptions, the script and decoration of Hebrew bibles, early West Semitic script, halos in renaissance Dutch painting, and the Bayeaux Tapestry. It has also been awarded the inaugural Digital Humanities prize from the Medieval Academy of America. |
| URL | https://github.com/kcl-ddh/digipal |
| Description | "Material and digital, originals and copies: Researching charter texts from twelfth- and thirteenth-century Scotland" |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Paper given at TCD by Joanna Tucker, "Material and digital, originals and copies: Researching charter texts from twelfth- and thirteenth-century Scotland". This sparked question and discussion afterwards leading potentially to new research. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | '"This is Not a Book": New Lives of Old Books in the Digital Age', International Association of University Professors of English (IAUPE) Triennial Conference, London |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Talk to approx. 25 English professors from around the world about digital applications to book history, including discussion and demonstration of AHRC-funded projects. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| URL | http://www.ies.sas.ac.uk/sites/default/files/files/events/conferences/IAUPE/IAUPE%20Abstracts.pdf |
| Description | 'Bringing Codicology to DigiPal', International Congress on Medieval Studies (ICMS), Kalamazoo (MI) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Talk given to the International Medieval Congress, the largest conference in medieval studies, on developments in the AHRC-funded project. The talk was reported widely on Twitter, reaching an even larger audience, and resulted in follow-on work as well as questions and discussion afterwards. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | 'How to Benefit from Each Other in Historical Document Analysis', Workshop at the École Pratique des Hautes Études, Paris |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Approx. 15 experts from France and internationally met to discuss issues of historical document analysis, with a view towards establishing an international standard for data sharing. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | 'La paléographie et la diplomatique numériques pour l'exploitation de corpus de chartes : l'exemple de << Models of Authority >>', Des corpus pour l'histoire à l'âge du numérique. Éditions électroniques d'actes royaux et princiers (Moyen Âge-première modernité), Journée d'études, École nationale des chartes, Paris |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Talk given as part of workshop on digital methods in charter analysis and diplomatics. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | 'Multigraphism in Anglo-Saxon England', International Society of Anglo-Saxonists Biennial Conference, Manoa (Hawai'i) 2017 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Talk given to large, international audience, with significant discussion afterwards, including on social media, with reference particularly to the 'global' movement in Medieval Studies and its importance for countering far-right and nationalist rhetoric. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | 'Paléographie numérique en pratique : travail avec Archetype', Maison de Science de l'Homme, Seminaire TransversH, University of Grenoble |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Hands-on workshop for postgraduate students, university librarians and others, demonstrating recent work and how they can use the results for their own research and dissemination. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | 'Paléographie numérique en principe : enjeux, défis et opportunités', Maison de Science de l'Homme, Seminaire TransversH, University of Grenoble |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Presentation given to French and Italian postgraduate students, librarians and others on current research. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | 'Presentation of the project, 'Models of Authority: Scottish Charters and the Emergence of Government, 1100-1250' |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | 'Presentation of the project, 'Models of Authority: Scottish Charters and the Emergence of Government, 1100-1250'at the University of Pisa on 24 September 2014, as part of the Conference 'Burocrazia, amminstrazione, contabilità e scritture corsive: morfologia, tecniche, riflessioni teoriche', 23-24 September, Archivio di Stato, Lucca and Dipartimento di Civiltà e Forme del Sapere, Università di Pisa Stimulated discussion |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | 'The Problem of Multigraphism: A Digital Approach to Transversal Palaeography', International Medieval Congress (IMC), Leeds 2017 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Talk given to large, international audience, with significant discussion afterwards, including on social media, with reference particularly to the 'global' movement in Medieval Studies and its importance for countering far-right and nationalist rhetoric. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | 'Vers DigiProust', Journée D'Étude : Proust Numérique, Proust Imprimé : L'Édition des Manuscrits Aujourd'hui, Institut des textes et manuscrits modernes (ITEM), Paris |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Presentation (in French) to audience of French and international academics, demonstrating the tools and methods developed through the AHRC-funded research as a 'proof of concept' for future work in Proust studies. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | 'What is Digital Palaeography, Really?', International Medieval Congress (IMC), Leeds |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Talk on epistemological nature of digital palaeography given to international audience of approx. 50 academics which sparked significant discussion and audience reporting changes of view regarding the nature and history of the field. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | British Library Labs Roadshow, March 2016 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Getting Medieval, Getting Palaeography: Using the DigiPal Framework to Study Medieval Script and Image |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | British Library, Lunchtime Lecture Series, 2014 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Building a Framework for Evidence-based Palaeography |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | Exhibition in NRS: Scribes and Royal Authority |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Exhibition of eight banners and original charters in NRS Feedback results ? Total no. of forms: 45 Red = responses of those who identified themselves as researchers in medieval/Scottish history Green = responses of Mgr Charles Burns (who signed the form at the end) NB: There are many questions where respondents gave more than one answer 1. Why did you come to this exhibition? I am interested in medieval/Scottish history 21 I came across the publicity and thought it might be interesting 16 I am a researcher in medieval/Scottish history 10 I happened to be passing 5 (4 + 1) (Blank) 1 2. How did you hear about the exhibition? Publicity 18 (13 (two specified the NLS Magazine) + 5) Website 11 (one said Eventbrite) Word of Mouth 11 (6 + 1 + 4) Social Media 6 (4 + 2) Other 3 (2 (friend/academic working in the area) (academic social) + 1) (Blank) 1 3. Which banner (if any) did you find most useful for understanding the documents on display? All 14 (9 + 2 + 1) Who were the scribes? 7 Creativity of royal & monastic scribes 5 (4 (one commented this was visually very appealing to look closely at the handwriting) + 1) + Creativity of monastic scribes 1 What are charters 5 (4 (one said: is a helpful basic understanding) + 1) Charters: what survives? 5 (2 + 3) How to write quickly 5 (4 + 1) Historical background 3 (2 + 1) (Blank) 7 (6 + 1) Other comments • Melrose and Holyrood • All very informative and helpful • 100% all instructive-simple and clear • All the banners and documents. And the lady answered all my questions. It was Susan. • All very informative • All useful! Well balanced • They were all very interesting • Generally useful 4. Was the level of information provided: Very Good 37 (27 + 1 + 9) Good 8 (7 + 1) Reasonable 0 Inadequate 0 5. How (if at all) has your understanding of royal authority changed? Little or no change 25 (Blank) 19 (1 + 15 + 3) Not changed 2 (1 + 1) • A little • No-I had some knowledge already • Not a lot • n/a Positive general comments 14 • Greatly! • Learned a lot • Much better informed • Very instructive-deepened knowledge • Not a period of history I know much about! • More informed • Quite a lot from the introduction • Broadened and deepened! • I have some awareness of it now ?! • As the talk given by Dauvit and Joanna was very informative • I understood more about it • Better understanding • Much more knowledge of history of Scotland • I can now understand how it changed in the 12th and 13th centuries More specific positive comments 6 • More aware of interaction of royal and monastic scribes • Greater detail on royal bureaucracy • The relationship between royal and monastic scribal practice • A clearer understanding of scribes and their "patrons" • Did not previously think in terms of individual handwriting, only of styles (I am an archivist) • Very much-I never [knew] that charters had to be invented! 6. Has the exhibition provided you with a different perspective on the Middle Ages? Little or no change 18 • (Blank) 11 (10 + 1) • No 2 (1 + 1) • Not really • n/a • Slightly, yes • A little • Difficult to do so for a retired medievalist! Positive general comments 17 • Yes 12 (10 + 2) • Yes, in some ways • Very informative! • Indeed! • Has given more info • It has expanded it-I had previous knowledge to which the exhibition has added More specific positive comments 7 • Yes, perspective of scribes and freedom for their own writing style • Yes, especially about the development of the country • Yes: relations between Church and State • Yes, more organised • More structured and bureaucratic than I had thought it was • Clearer sense of the practicalities of writing • More nuanced Other 2 • Great opportunity to see the originals, very well displayed • Just wonderful to see these documents and seals 7. What do you feel you would like to learn more about after seeing this exhibition? History of Handwriting 20 (15 + 5) Medieval Scotland 18 (15 + 3) Monasteries 15 (12 (one added their role in providing documents) + 3) Charters 15 (10 + 5) Royal Government 14 (12 + 2) Other 1 (Blank) 6 (3 + 1 + 2) 8. Did you find the venue and facilities: Excellent 29 (22 + 1 + 6) Good 12 (10 + 2) Fair 1 Poor 1 (comment gloomy and cold) (Blank) 2 Comments: • Angled lighting of the [seaty] (while not too hot of course) • Cold but understandably so! 9. Would you recommend this event to other people? Yes 40 (29 + 1 + 10 (one added especially students)) No 1 (comment only specialist interests) (Not sure) 1 (Too late today!) 1 (Blank) 2 10. Any other comments about the exhibition? Positive general comments 6 • Fantastic! • Excellent • Excellent! Feliciter!! • Very good, thank you • I am glad I came • Thank you! More specific comments 6 • Very good balance of banners and original charters • Really excellent small exhibition. I haven't seen 'scribes' given a place in history like this. Much food for thought. • Very good, but a shame there's only 10 charters to examine • Very atmospheric • I had to stand on tiptoe and lean on the cases to get close enough to read the originals. I like the way the mounts are cut to the shape of the charter they support • Would have been good to know what the documents were about Suggestions 6 • Great exhibition-look forward to seeing more in future perhaps? • We need more such exhibitions • The exhibition should be on show at the National Library, Annexe, at the Kelvin Hall • Should be more widely publicised • Wish I could take photos but understand why I can't • More charters please ? Other 27 • (Blank) 26 (21 + 5) • No |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Exhibition in TNA: Scribes and Royal Authority |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Exhibition of eight banners and original charters |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Exhibition launch at NRS |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Launch of project exhibition by Leslie Evans, Permanent Secretary for the Scottish Government |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Fondation des Treilles workshop |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Invited participant in five-day international workshop at the prestigious Fondation des Treilles, comprising experts in digital palaeography in order to identify new directions for future research. AHRC-funded IP was a significant part of this discussion. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| URL | http://www.les-treilles.com/digital-paleography/ |
| Description | Guided tours of exhibition by Dauvit Broun & Joanna Tucker |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Two guided tours by Dauvit Broun and Joanna Tucker |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Introducing the 'Models of Authority' project: Scottish charters c.1100-c.1250 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | Paper at international academic conference Stimulated discussion |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | Launch of roject analytical database |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Launch of project freely available web-based analytical database (www.modelsofauthority.ac.uk) in KCL, July 2017 |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Lecture at India Museum by John Reuben Davies |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Special Talk, 'Copper, Parchment, and Stone: Parallels between the Sanskrit Inscriptions of Bengal and the Latin Charters of Scotland 9th to 13th Century CE', subsequently reported in The Financial Times of India and, in Scotland, in The National |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Lecture by Alice Taylor |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Lecture as part of Scribes and Royal Authority exhibition in NRS |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Lecture by John Reuben Davies: Fourth of St Aidan's Lectures, delivered on the Church in Medieval Scotland, 4-25 February 2019 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Public lecture as part of series delivered by John Reuben Davies |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Lecture on William Wallace as Guardian |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Lecture at NTS Bannockburn Centre by Dauvit Broun in Nov 2017 |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Models of Authority Twitter |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | There are 344 followers and our tweets have been viewed by 171,054 people. The most successful tweet was the image of a reunited chirograph which was viewed by 24,498 people and received 132 retweets and 164 likes. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015,2016 |
| URL | http://www.modelsofauthority.ac.uk/ |
| Description | Mozilla Festival, Greenwich Peninsula, November 2015 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Using DigiPal and the Models of Authority to Study Medieval Manuscripts |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | Nancy Reuben Primary School, London, June 2015 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Medieval Manuscripts and Medieval Handwriting |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | Paper by Alice Taylor, 'Forging inheritance in late twelfth- and early thirteenth-century Scotland', paper given to the Haskins Society Conference, Chapel Hill, USA, October 2018. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | paper given to the Haskins Society Conference, Chapel Hill, USA, October 2018. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Paper by Alice Taylor, 'Identifying Governmental Forms in Twelfth-Century Europe', plenary given to the St Andrews Institute for Medieval Studies Graduate conference, University of St Andrews, June 2018. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | plenary given to the St Andrews Institute for Medieval Studies Graduate conference, University of St Andrews, June 2018. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Paper by Alice Taylor, Alice Taylor, 'Identifying Governmental Forms in Europe, 1100-1300', paper given to the Medieval History Seminar, Faculty of History, University of Cambridge, February 2018. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Invited seminar paper |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Paper by Dauvit Broun, ''Representing Gaelic names in a non-Gaelic contexts: the example of the genealogy of the king of Scots', Forum for Research on Languages of Scotland and Ulster 12th Conference 23 August 2018 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Paper at international conference. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Paper by Dauvit Broun, 'A Scribal Perspective on Names and Identity in Scotland c.1125-c.1275', Names and Identity in the Medieval World: Medium Ævum Day Conference 27 October 2018 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Paper at interdisciplinary academic conference |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Paper by Peter Stokes, 'Digital Study of Medieval Sources with Archetype', Workshop on Digital Medieval Studies, University of Tallinn, 6 February 2019. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Invited lecture |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Paper by Peter Stokes, 'La paléographie et la diplomatique numériques pour l'exploitation de corpus de chartes : l'exemple de << Models of Authority >>', Des corpus pour l'histoire à l'âge du numérique : Éditions électroniques d'actes royaux et princiers (Moyen Âge-première modernité), École nationale des chartes, Paris, 16 March. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Invited conference paper |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Paper by Peter Stokes, 'Modelling Texts and Manuscripts: Some Digital Approaches to Material Texts', Digital Scholarship Seminar, University of Galway, 27 November, 2018 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Invited lecture |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Paper by Peter Stokes, 'Representing Manuscript Sources: Some Digital and Computational Approaches', Edizioni e testi "born digital": problemi di metodo e prospettive di lavoro, V Incontro di Filologia Digitale, Verona, 15-16 June 2018. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Invited conference paper. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Paper by Peter Stokes, - 'Approches numériques et computationnelles pour l'étude du livre ancien : défis pour la paléographie et la codicologie', Séminaire du Département Education et Humanités Numériques, École Normale Supérieur de Lyon, 15 July 2018. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Invited lecture |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Paper by Peter Stokes, with Stewart Brookes (Oxford) and Debora Matos (Münich): 'First Steps with Archetype for Digital Palaeography', Israeli Workshop on Technological Tools for Manuscript Research, Bar Ilan University, Tel Aviv, 10-14 February 2019. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Invited workshop |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | School Visit (St Helen's Sixth Form, London) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Talk in February 2020 on 'Medieval Manuscript Studies' was delivered by Stewart Brookes to St Helen's Sixth Form, London. The project's research tool for investigating palaeographical features allowed the audience to engage with the history of handwriting more directly than would have been possible otherwise. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | Talk by Teresa Webber |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Talk at Current Developments in Palaeography: a comparative perspective from medieval Scotland', Fourth Graduate Summer School in Japanese Early-Modern Palaeography, 7-19 August, Emmanuel College, Cambridge |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Talk to Scottish History Society |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | This was the first in a new series of online lectures organised by the Scottish Society to discuss sources for Scottish History. It was an opportunity to showcase some of the results of Models of Authority in showing how we think about charters has changed. There was a particular feature on scribal orthpgraphic practice and what can be inferred from this about the use of Gaelic in the social settings in which charters were produced. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | The National Archives, Kew, September 2014 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Towards a Model of Authority: Extending DigiPal for Medieval Scottish Charters |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | http://www.modelsofauthority.ac.uk/ |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Total number of page views: 10,317. There have been 5,179 sessions by 3,816 users. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015,2016 |
| URL | http://www.modelsofauthority.ac.uk/ |