Medieval Studies and the Computer

Medieval Studies and the Computer focuses on the use of computers in medieval studies and humanities research. Topics covered range from encoding and concording texts to the use of conceptual glossaries by medievalists, as well as the use of computers for compiling Middle English lexicography and the Wisconsin Dictionary of the Old Spanish Language. A computer analysis of metrical patterns in the epic Beowulf and of Notker Labeo's Old High German is also presented. Comprised of 26 chapters, this volume begins by discussing "contexts" in concordances and the set of conventions employed in text encoding. The reader is then introduced to the series of initiatives undertaken in Belgium to study Latin literature and linguistics; the use of conceptual glossaries by medieval scholars; and the use of the computer to make a word list of the Decretum Gratiani and to study Geoffrey Chaucer's vocabulary. Subsequent chapters discuss a computer program called KLIC (Key Letter In Context) for graphological analysis; a set of routines written in SAIL (Stanford Artificial Intelligence Language) for use by social historians in quantitative analysis or text processing; and the use of Mark IV, a general-purpose file management system, to analyze medieval charters. This book will be of interest to medievalists, social historians, students and scholars of humanities, and computer scientists.