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Wars in the Workshop: Digitizing Manuscript Rolls

Wars in the Workshop: Digitizing Manuscript Rolls

Paper by Natasha Hodgson

Given online by the Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies, on March 18, 2022

Abstract: In this paper, Dr. Hodgson discusses 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.

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Natasha Hodgson is the Director of the Centre for the Study of Religion and Conflict at Nottingham Trent University. Click here to view her university webpage or follow Natasha on Twitter @NRHodgson_Hist

Click here to view the Canterbury Roll Project

Top Image: The 15th-century English illuminated genealogical scroll, known as the Canterbury Roll, dates to the Wars of the Roses. It was acquired by the University of Canterbury in 1918 and remains the only genealogical roll in the southern hemisphere. Image courtesy the University of Canterbury.

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