This lecture will discuss some of the issues relating to the digitization of manuscript rolls, focusing on a fifteenth-century genealogical roll produced during the Wars of the Roses, the Canterbury Roll.
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In this paper I will discuss some of the issues relating to the digitization of manuscript rolls, focusing on a fifteenth-century genealogical roll produced during the Wars of the Roses currently held at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch in New Zealand, the Canterbury Roll. A collaboration between scholars at UC and Nottingham Trent University in the UK, the current project provides a test case for exploring the challenges of representing these large, complex, and delicate material objects in digital form. As the project moves into a new phase, we are exploring new ways to incorporate, compare and contrast more rolls, adding layers of historical interpretation, network analysis, and heritage science data. I will discuss how we might combine three research streams – History, Heritage Science, and Digital Humanities – to better understand the impetus and processes behind the construction of genealogical rolls as well as the establishment of their wider socio-cultural and political importance.
The Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies Online Lecture Series presents regularly scheduled lectures related to the study of premodern manuscript books and global manuscript culture.
Dr. Natasha Hodgson is Associate Professor in History and Director of the Centre for the Study of Religion and Conflict at Nottingham Trent University in the UK. Her recent publications include Miracles Power and Authority in Medieval and Early Modern History (Routledge, 2021); Religion and Conflict in Medieval and Early Modern Worlds: Identities, Communities and Authorities (Routledge, 2020); Crusading and Masculinities (Routledge, 2019) and Women, Crusading and the Holy Land in Historical Narrative (Boydell, 2017). She has also published diverse articles and datasets on Domesday Book, Norman identity, animal symbolism, honour and shame, and Armenian Cilicia. She is the editor of the journal Nottingham Medieval Studies and two Routledge book series: Themes in Medieval and Early Modern History and Advances in Crusades Research. She was appointed co-director of the Canterbury Roll Project in 2021 alongside Dr. Chris Jones of the University of Canterbury.
