One of the techniques that have recently been bringing value to the humanities is social network analysis. Social networks are defined and measured as connections among people, organisations, political entities (states and nations) and/or other units. Social network analysis is a theoretical perspective and a set of techniques used to understand these relationships (Valente 2010, pg. 3).
The People of Medieval Scotland (PoMS) database holds data on all known people between 1093 and 1314 mentioned in over 8600 contemporary documents. This was funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council in the United Kingdom. The current research is part of the Transformation of Gaelic Scotland project funded by the Leverhulme Trust. This exploratory research has the goal of understanding the role of social networks among the elite of medieval Scotland. It also has the goal of exploring the appropriateness of social network analysis techniques for this data set, and perhaps for other similar collections.
Below are the key findings so far using social network analysis:
Historians knew that Duncan II Earl of Fife was important but were surprised at the central role he played in charter witnessing. He witnessed the 2nd highest number of charters and had the highest number of co-witnesses by far. It is not clear why he has such a central role.
A visualisation of the network of all witnesses that witnessed more than 20 charters revealed a timeline of charters, geographical concentrations of witnesses and norm-sharing cliques.
Social network analysis revealed the central role the royal courts played in the diffusion of Scottish regnal sicut clause innovations among grantors of Scottish charters.
References:
Valente, Thomas W. (2010) Social Networks and Health: Models, Methods and Applications. Oxford: Oxford University Press