CEDRR talk: Unpeeling the layers of inquisition trial records with CASTEMO (Computer-Assisted Semantic Text Modelling)

Robert Shaw from the DISSINET project will present the potential of Computer-Assisted Semantic Text Modelling (CASTEMO) in analyzing spatial coverage, punishment strategy, and narration in the register of Peter Seila, 1241-2.

Simultaneously documenting religious non-conformism and its persecution, it is little surprise that the knowledge conveyed by medieval inquisition records and its construction are hotly debated topics. Despite this, analysis of these texts is rarely systematic: exciting passages are endlessly dissected, the remaining bulk largely cast aside; all the while positions about what these records tell us beneath their obvious biases become ever more intractable. Computational techniques, however, offer the chance for researchers to uncover fresh ground: to model trial records in their entirety, to identify undetected patterns within them, and to peel back the layers of the process that created them.

This paper brings these possibilities to fruition in the context of a single inquisitorial document: Peter Seila’s register of sentences from the Quercy region of Languedoc (1241-2). By transforming the text into a series of semantic-syntactic data statements (via CASTEMO approach pioneered within the DISSINET project) and employing computational methods in their analysis, it has been possible to totally re-evaluate Peter’s inquisition and the production of its record. Visualization and careful interpretation of the toponymic surnames of those sentenced brings an unprecedented perspective on the ground that Peter’s investigation actually covered. Modelling the correlation of crimes and social interactions with punishments reveals how systematic he was in sentencing. Looking at narrative patterns in the summaries of guilt, it is even possible to uncover something of how suspects were questioned and responded at trial (despite lacking the original depositions) and how notarial processes reshaped that record into a more idealised portrayal of dissidence.

Room: B2.12 (also known as B2.113)

Timeline: May 15, 2024, 16:00-18:00

The event will be held physically but in case you are not able to participate directly, the lecture will be streamed on this Zoom link