The Algorithms That Automatically Date Medieval Manuscripts

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq8vecSpcs3zM0T0dtA83-bYgfi9zoXPVfHarcWg5LF2bh3RsFQpHhqnmAMirwxn-7ajSSPk-nJLl-GL4PMRMNW5k1y0XAcytZW8MXzeJ5Pb4-dDcldFteum-6X6lwMpo6O1hDAvOCmB8/s1600/medievalcharter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq8vecSpcs3zM0T0dtA83-bYgfi9zoXPVfHarcWg5LF2bh3RsFQpHhqnmAMirwxn-7ajSSPk-nJLl-GL4PMRMNW5k1y0XAcytZW8MXzeJ5Pb4-dDcldFteum-6X6lwMpo6O1hDAvOCmB8/s320/medievalcharter.jpg" width="279" /></a></div>Around a million medieval documents have no date making their historical significance difficult to quantify. But automated computer techniques look set to revolutionise the work for historians.<br /><br /> An important aspect of any society is the way it keeps records of property and land transactions so that ownership can be properly established and disputes resolved. In medieval Britain, this process was largely carried out by religious or royal institutions which recorded transactions in documents, written in Latin, called charters.<br /><br /> Today, more than a million charters survive either as originals or more often as ancient copies. They provide a remarkable insight into the pressures at work in medieval politics, economics and society between the tenth and fourteenth centuries in England.<br /><br /> For example, historians can use these documents to study the rise and fall of military and religious organisations. A good example is the Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, a religious and military organisation set up after the western conquest of Jerusalem in the 11th century (the First Crusade). Historians say the charters clearly show how the organisation became militarised in response to the call for a Second Crusade in 1145, triggered by Muslim forces recapturing various towns in the region. Clearly, these documents have huge historical value but there is a problem: most charters are not dated, particularly during the period of Norman rule between 1066 and 1307. <br /><br /><b><a href="http://www.technologyreview.com/view/509876/the-algorithms-that-automatically-date-medieval-manuscripts/" target="_blank">Click here to read this article from the MIT Technology Review</a></b><br /><br /><b><a href="http://www.medievalists.net/2013/01/16/dating-medieval-english-charters/" target="_blank">Click here to read the article Dating medieval English charters</a></b>

The Algorithms That Automatically Date Medieval Manuscripts

Around a million medieval documents have no date making their historical significance difficult to quantify. But automated computer techniqu...

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3000 year old human sculpture discovered in Turkey

A beautiful and colossal human sculpture is one of the latest cultural treasures unearthed by an international team at the Tayinat Archaeological Project (TAP) excavation site in southeastern Turkey. A large semi-circular column base, ornately decorated on one side, was also discovered. Both pieces are from a monumental gate complex that provided access to the upper citadel of Kunulua, capital of the Neo-Hittite Kingdom of Patina (ca. 1000-738 BC).<br /><br /> “These newly discovered Tayinat sculptures are the product of a vibrant local Neo-Hittite sculptural tradition,” said Professor Tim Harrison, the Tayinat Project director and Professor of Near Eastern Archaeology in the University of Toronto’s Department of Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations. “They provide a vivid glimpse into the innovative character and sophistication of the Iron Age cultures that emerged in the eastern Mediterranean following the collapse of the great imperial powers of the Bronze Age at the end of the second millennium BC.”<br /><br /><b><a href="http://historyoftheancientworld.com/2012/08/3000-year-old-human-sculpture-discovered-in-turkey/" target="_blank">Click here to read this article from History of the Ancient World</a></b>

3000 year old human sculpture discovered in Turkey

A beautiful and colossal human sculpture is one of the latest cultural treasures unearthed by an international team at the Tayinat Archaeolo...

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Anglo-Saxons and hand-saex

As an invitation to explore the wonders of Old English, <i>hand-saex</i> is certainly arresting.<br /><br />The Dictionary of Old English, based at the University of Toronto (<b><a href="http://doe.utoronto.ca/">doe.utoronto.ca</a></b>), offered <i>hand-saex</i> as last week’s “word of the week.” Reader Susannah Cameron spotted it and sent the reference to Word Play. “Have to admit it caught my attention,” she said.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7ArkMIlDxZDBCju6wlTtSimCYSTT8mEkIs4r3oooYC1hZYsUTrVoDldBXOmatvXO1dbDc_qNkLeIvnLwYXlT-NAY4Xfoi5jm5sfEZ30fLNx9HUPmCLQ7LSDaJ5w-Q5AtqQAM7So0zofc/s1600/1118077.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7ArkMIlDxZDBCju6wlTtSimCYSTT8mEkIs4r3oooYC1hZYsUTrVoDldBXOmatvXO1dbDc_qNkLeIvnLwYXlT-NAY4Xfoi5jm5sfEZ30fLNx9HUPmCLQ7LSDaJ5w-Q5AtqQAM7So0zofc/s400/1118077.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br /> Sadly for anyone expecting new insight into the intimate practices of Anglo-Saxons between the years 600 and 1150, the word refers to a knife or dagger. The knife was a <i>saex</i>, also spelled <i>seax</i> and (yes) <i>sex</i>, and a <i>hand-saex</i> was a weapon held in one hand. The word for hand in Old English was <i>hand</i>. Very handy.<br /><br /> <i>Saex</i> comes from a Germanic root (<i>sah</i> or <i>sag</i>) meaning to cut. It survives today only in the narrowly defined word sax, a tool used to trim roofing slates. But before the Norman Conquest of 1066 reshaped the English language and gave us Middle English – a process that took about a century to filter down to ordinary folks – <i>saex</i> was all the rage.<br /><br /><b><a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/warren-clements/anglo-saxons-and-hand-saex/article2437271/" target="_blank">Click here to read this article from The Globe and Mail</a></b> <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/fVc84pC9OEE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Anglo-Saxons and hand-saex

As an invitation to explore the wonders of Old English, hand-saex is certainly arresting. The Dictionary of Old English, based at the Unive...

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