Topographies of Entanglements

Data from: Klaus Belke, Paphlagonien und Honorias (Tabula Imperii Byzantini 9). Vienna 1996, esp. pp. 117-135.

The following network visualisations and calculations are based on the scheme for the systems of routes in the Byzantine period as depicted by Klaus Belke in the above mentioned volume, regardless of the relative significance of the respective routes in various periods of Late Antiquity and Byzantine history. At the same time, it neither takes into account the actual distance (and travel costs) between localities nor the connections via sea routes; therefore, the model is only a first rough approximation towards a more accurate model of the Byzantine transport system in its dynamics through centuries.

Three centrality measures have been calculated; nodes in the graphs and maps are scaled according to their relative centralities in this regard (centrality measures are of course only valid within the extract of the total route network of Asia Minor integrated into the network):

Closeness; closeness centrality measures the length of all pathes between a node an all other nodes. The more central a node is the lower its total distance to all other nodes. Closeness can also be used as a measure of how fast it would take to spread resources or information from a node to all other nodes.

Betweenness; betweenness centrality measures the extent to which a node lies on paths between other nodes and indicates the relative significance of a node as “intermediary” within a network due to its position on many (or few) possible shortest routes between other nodes.

Eigenvector; eigenvector centrality is a measure of "indirect" centrality and indicates, if a node is connected to more or less central other nodes within the network.

For a similar study cf.  Isaksen, Leif (2008) The application of network analysis to ancient transport geography: a case study of Roman Baetica. Digital Medievalist, 4 (http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/204515/)

For more information, contact: Johannes.Preiser-Kapeller@oeaw.ac.at

The modelling and visualisation of networks is based on the material in: M. Mullett, Theophylact of Ochrid. Reading the Letters of a Byzantine Archbishop. Birmingham 1997.

The first graph is a visualisation of the connections between letters in localities between which these letters were exchanged (" 2mode network").

The second graph is a visualisation of the weighted network of localities on the basis of Theophylact´s correspondence; two localities are connected if letters of Theophylact were exchanged between them. Links are scaled according to the number of letters within Theophylact´s collection documenting exchanges between them.

The third graph visualises these connections between localities on a map. Links are again scaled according to the number of letters within Theophylact´s collection documenting exchanges between them. The size of nodes is scaled according to their number of connections within the network ("degree").

The fourth graph is a "zoom" into these geographical visualisation of the network for the Western Balkans; links are again scaled according to the number of letters within Theophylact´s collection documenting exchanges between them.

For the localisation of sites within the historical region of Macedonia cf. also the upcoming volumes on Macedonia (Southern Part) by Peter Soustal and on Macedonia (Northern Part) by Mihailo Popovic within the series "Tabula Imperii Byzantini" (http://www.oeaw.ac.at/imafo/die-abteilungen/byzanzforschung/communities-landscapes/historische-geographie/)

For any further questions, please contact Johannes.Preiser-Kapeller@oeaw.ac.at.

"Visualisations of the teacher-disciple network of Byzantine scholars for the period 1204-1453 CE; arrows indicate teacher-disciple relationships. In the second graph, individuals are ordered according to their distance from Nikephoros Blemmydes, the "original source" of this network after the hiatus of 1204. We observe a continuum of knowledge from the exile in Nicaea to the Italian Renaissance.  In the third graph, nodes are scaled according ot their out-degree (= number of disciples in this case).
(Based on data from: MATSCHKE, Klaus-Peter; TINNEFELD, Franz: Die Gesellschaft im späten Byzanz. Gruppen, Strukturen und Lebens-formen, Cologne – Weimar – Vienna 2001, p. 297-300, and information from the Prosopographisches Lexikon der Palaiologenzeit, ed. E. Trapp et. al. CD-ROM Version, Vienna 2001).
"

A network of ports in late medieval Western Greece on the basis of the routes described in Portulan I (A. Delatte, Les Portulans Grecs. Paris 1947, p. 26-53); the ports are localized on the basis of P. Soustal, Nikopolis und Kephallenia (TIB 3). Vienna 1981. Visualisation for the new project "Ports and landing places at the Balkan coasts of the Byzantine Empire (4th-12th century). Monuments and technology, economy and communication", see also: http://www.academia.edu/2969226/Ports_and_landing_places_at_the_Balkan_coasts_of_the_Byzantine_Empire_4th-12th_century_._Monuments_and_technology_economy_and_communication_-_Project_outline

Graph 1: The network of correspondence of Metropolitan Michael Choniates of Athens in the years 1182-1204 in geographical space; lines are scaled according to the number of letters sent by Michael to the respective locality (with the exception of Constantinople, which is the destination of 71 % of all letters). The geographical dimension of the social network of Michael becomes visible; it still focused on the centres of Byzantine political and ecclesiastical power and cultural activity in Constantinople and Thessalonike, dwarfing the amount of correspondence within his Greek diocese (Graph by J. Preiser-Kapeller, 2013; data from: Michaeli Choniatae Epistulae, rec. Foteini Kolovou [CFHB XLI]. Berlin 2001).

Graph 2: Fig. 2a: The network of correspondence of Metropolitan Michael Choniates of Athens in the years 1205-1222 in geographical space; lines are scaled according to the number of letters sent by Michael to the respective locality. The conquest of Athens by the Crusaders in 1204 forced Michael to seek exile on the island of Keos; from there, despite Latin rule he attempted to stay in intensive contact with friends and supporters within his former diocese on the mainland. At the same time, his more far reaching contacts were re-oriented towards the new centres of Byzantine power and culture in exile in Western Asia Minor (Nikaia) and Western Greece (Arta and Naupaktos). The contacts to the now Latin ruled territories in and around Constantinople on the contrast are very sparse. (Graph by J. Preiser-Kapeller, 2013; data from: Michaeli Choniatae Epistulae, rec. Foteini Kolovou [CFHB XLI]. Berlin 2001).

Peter Soustal and Andreas Külzer have reconstructed the networks of land and sea routes for the Thracian provinces in the Byzantine centuries (Soustal, Peter. 1991. Thrakien (Thrakē, Rodopē und Haimimontos) (Tabula Imperii Byzantini 6). Vienna, 132–148; Külzer, Andreas. 2008. Ostthrakien (Eurōpē) (Tabula Imperii Byzantini 12). Vienna, 192–211), which we adapted for our network analytical software and created topological networks (thus, localities are modelled with regard to their relative position to each other, not with regard to their position in “real space”): the street-network includes 119 nodes (or localities) and 175 links (or routes between nodes), the sea route-network, which of course only connects coastal cities, includes 32 nodes and 35 links. These two networks were combined into one for the purpose of analysis and visualisation. Were visualise here the network with regard to some standard network analytical measures on the level of individual nodes (nodes are scaled according to their respective quantitative measures:
First graph: Degree; the degree of a node is the number of links connected to it; degree centrality indicates the relative significance of a node within a network due to its number of connections to other nodes.

Second graph: Betweenness; betweenness centrality measures the extent to which a node lies on paths between other nodes and indicates the relative significance of a node as “intermediary” within a network due to its position on many (or few) possible routes between other nodes.

Third graph: Closeness; closeness centrality measures the length of all pathes between a node an all other nodes. The more central a node is the lower its total distance to all other nodes. Closeness can also be used as a measure of how fast it would take to spread resources or information from a node to all other nodes. In our network model here, the differences in closeness centrality between all nodes are relatively small.
For further information see: J. Preiser-Kapeller, Networks of border zones – multiplex relations of power, religion and economy in South-eastern Europe, 1250-1453 CE, in: Proceedings of the 39th Annual Conference of Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology, "Revive the Past" (CAA) in Beijing, China. Amsterdam 2012, 381–393 (online: http://oeaw.academia.edu/JohannesPreiserKapeller/Papers)

Peter Soustal and Andreas Külzer have reconstructed the networks of land and sea routes for the Thracian provinces in the Byzantine centuries (Soustal, Peter. 1991. Thrakien (Thrakē, Rodopē und Haimimontos) (Tabula Imperii Byzantini 6). Vienna, 132–148; Külzer, Andreas. 2008. Ostthrakien (Eurōpē) (Tabula Imperii Byzantini 12). Vienna, 192–211), which we adapted for our network analytical software and created topological networks (thus, localities are modelled with regard to their relative position to each other, not with regard to their position in “real space”): the street-network includes 119 nodes (or localities) and 175 links (or routes between nodes). Were visualise here the network with regard to some standard network analytical measures on the level of individual nodes (nodes are scaled according to their respective quantitative measures:
First graph: Degree; the degree of a node is the number of links connected to it; degree centrality indicates the relative significance of a node within a network due to its number of connections to other nodes.

Second graph: Betweenness; betweenness centrality measures the extent to which a node lies on paths between other nodes and indicates the relative significance of a node as “intermediary” within a network due to its position on many (or few) possible routes between other nodes.

Third graph: Closeness; closeness centrality measures the length of all pathes between a node an all other nodes. The more central a node is the lower its total distance to all other nodes. Closeness can also be used as a measure of how fast it would take to spread resources or information from a node to all other nodes. In our network model here, the differences in closeness centrality between all nodes are relatively small.
For further information see: J. Preiser-Kapeller, Networks of border zones – multiplex relations of power, religion and economy in South-eastern Europe, 1250-1453 CE, in: Proceedings of the 39th Annual Conference of Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology, "Revive the Past" (CAA) in Beijing, China. Amsterdam 2012, 381–393 (online: http://oeaw.academia.edu/JohannesPreiserKapeller/Papers)

The network of transfer (total graph and detail view) of pieces of property ("feuda") between "Venetian" (red nodes) and "Greek" (blue nodes) aristocratic families in the region of Chania (Crete) between 1314 and 1396; nodes are scaled according to their number of incoming links ("in-degree"). Data from: Charalampos Gasparis, Catasticum Chanee, 1314-1396 (Catastici Feudorum Crete). Athens 2008. Graph from: J. Preiser-Kapeller, ‘Visualising Communities. Möglichkeiten der Netzwerkanalyse und der relationalen Soziologie für die Erfassung und Analyse mittelalterlicher Gemeinschaften’, Working Paper for a presentation for the SFB "Visions of Community", 2012 (online: http://oeaw.academia.edu/JohannesPreiserKapeller/Papers)
Below also a map of many of the localities of the feuda mentioned in the documents edited by Gasparis (created by Johannes Preiser-Kapeller)

"„New Constantines“ – the field of imperial panegyrics after 1204: network of figures of Classical (red nodes) or Biblical (blue nodes) tradition used for comparisons  by the authors of panegyrical works  for emperors; two figures are linked if they are used by the same author for the same emperor; nodes are scaled according to their number of links within the network ("degree"). Visualisation of the total network and a detail view. 
Data from: D. Angelov, Imperial Ideology and Political Thought in Byzantium, 1204-1330. Cambridge 2007).
Network graph and analysis from: J. Preiser-Kapeller, From quantitative to qualitative and back again. The interplay between structure and culture and the analysis of networks in pre-modern societies, in: E. Mitsiou - M. Popovic - J. Preiser-Kapeller (eds.), Multiplying Middle Ages. New methods and approaches for the study of the multiplicity of the Middle Ages in a global perspective (3rd-16th CE). Akten der Konferenz in Wien im November 2012. Vienna 2014 [in preparation]."

„New Constantines“ – the field of imperial panegyrics after 1204: network of authors of panegyrical works (red nodes), emperors (blue nodes) and figures of Classical or Biblical tradition used for comparisons of the emperors by the authors (green nodes); Data from: D. Angelov, Imperial Ideology and Political Thought in Byzantium, 1204-1330. Cambridge 2007). Network graph and analysis from: J. Preiser-Kapeller, From quantitative to qualitative and back again. The interplay between structure and culture and the analysis of networks in pre-modern societies, in: E. Mitsiou - M. Popovic - J. Preiser-Kapeller (eds.), Multiplying Middle Ages. New methods and approaches for the study of the multiplicity of the Middle Ages in a global perspective (3rd-16th CE). Akten der Konferenz in Wien im November 2012. Vienna 2014 [in preparation].

"A comparions of the underlying social networks of Punk music (centred around Sid Vicious) and the Palamite movement in 14th cent. Byzantium (centred around Gregorios Palamas); from: J. Preiser-Kapeller, From quantitative to qualitative and back again. The interplay between structure and culture and the analysis of networks in pre-modern societies, in:Ek. Mitsiou - M. Popović - J. Preiser-Kapeller (eds.), Multiplying Middle Ages. New methods and approaches for the study of the multiplicity of the Middle Ages in a global perspective (3rd-16th CE). Akten der Konferenz in Wien im November 2012.  Vienna 2014 [in preparation].
Closely related to many other social network studies is what one could call the actor-orientated approach: in order to study the emergence of cultural phenomena, relations between artists or authors, sometime connected via organisations, events or localities, are systematically mapped and analysed in network models. Nick Crossley (Wendy Bottero - Nick Crossley, Worlds, Fields and Networks: Becker, Bourdieu and the Structures of Social Relations. Cultural Sociology 5/1 (2011), 99–119) for instance demonstrated how the high density of pre-existing strong network ties served as structural pre-condition for the rise of Punk music in Great Britain in the 1979s and the bands and other actors promoting it. In the centre he located a clique of interconnected individuals, which was connected to the wider network via significant figures such as the later bassist of the group Sex Pistols Sid Vicious. A comparable structure I observed in the network of 14th century Byzantine ecclesiastics and monks who became the representative of the theological school of Hesychasm, also called Palamism after its most prominent representative Gregorios Palamas, who connected a dense cluster of hesychasts on Mt. Athos with the rest of the network as Sid Vicious did for early Punk. "
Below also a detail view of the graph of the network of Palamites and Anti-Palamites, 1340-1351 (nodes coloured according to their degree-values).

The linkages between bishoprics of the Patriarchate of Constantinople in the Aegean region through joint administration by the same bishop in the period 1315-1402 CE; spatial network constructed on the basis of the documents from the 14th century “Register of the Patriarchate of Constantinople”, graph from: J. Preiser-Kapeller, Management of Shortage. The Byzantine Church in the face of crisis and collapse, 1204-1453. Paper for the IMC Leeds 2011 [publication in preparation].

The linkages between bishoprics of the Patriarchate of Constantinople through joint administration by the same bishop in the period 1315-1402 CE; spatial network constructed on the basis of the documents from the 14th century “Register of the Patriarchate of Constantinople”, graph from: J. Preiser-Kapeller, Management of Shortage. The Byzantine Church in the face of crisis and collapse, 1204-1453. Paper for the IMC Leeds 2011 [publication in preparation].

The linkages between bishoprics of the Patriarchate of Constantinople through joint administration by the same bishop in the period 1315-1402 CE; spatial network constructed on the basis of the documents from the 14th century “Register of the Patriarchate of Constantinople”, graph from: J. Preiser-Kapeller, Management of Shortage. The Byzantine Church in the face of crisis and collapse, 1204-1453. Paper for the IMC Leeds 2011 [publication in preparation].

The „Ego-Network“ of Metropolitan Matthaios Gabalas of Ephesos within the network of interaction between bishops in the Synod of Constantinople for the period 1329-1349 CE, reconstructed on the basis of document from the 14th century “Register of the Patriarchate of Constantinople”; two individuals are linked if they took part together in at least one session of the synod, nodes are scaled according to the number of synodal sessions they took part in during this period and coloured according to the geographical region of their episcopal see (graph from: J. Preiser-Kapeller, Calculating the Synod? New quantitative and qualitative approaches for the analysis of the Patriarchate and the Synod of Constantinople in the 14th century, in: Proceedings of the Round Table Le Patriarcat Oecuménique de Constantinople et Byzance “hors frontières” of the 22nd International Congress of Byzantine Studies in Sofia (Bulgaria), August 2011 [Paris, 2013; in press])

The network of interaction between bishops in the Synod of Constantinople for the period 1315-1349 CE (139 hierarchs), reconstructed on the basis of documents from the 14th century “Register of the Patriarchate of Constantinople”; two individuals are linked if they took part together in at least one session of the synod, nodes are scaled according to the number of synodal sessions they took part in during this period and coloured according to the geographical region of their episcopal see (graph from: J. Preiser-Kapeller, Calculating the Synod? New quantitative and qualitative approaches for the analysis of the Patriarchate and the Synod of Constantinople in the 14th century, in: Proceedings of the Round Table Le Patriarcat Oecuménique de Constantinople et Byzance “hors frontières” of the 22nd International Congress of Byzantine Studies in Sofia (Bulgaria), August 2011 [Paris, 2013; in press])

Visualisation of the extended “Ego-Network” of Magnus Felix Ennodius (473/475-521 CE), Bishop of Pavia, within the Roman and Ostrogothic elite of Italy, reconstructed especially on the basis of his letters (included are ties of kinship, friendship and patronage) (graph by J. Preiser-Kapeller, 2010)

Visualisation of the immediate “Ego-Network” of Magnus Felix Ennodius (473/475-521 CE), Bishop of Pavia, within the Roman and Ostrogothic elite of Italy, reconstructed especially on the basis of his letters (included are ties of kinship, friendship and patronage) (graph by J. Preiser-Kapeller, 2010)

Ego-Network of the Byzantine Metropolitan Matthaios Gabalas of Ephesos (covering the period 1300-1351 CE), reconstructed especially on the basis of his letters; nodes are scaled according to their number of links within the network (“degree”), included are links of friendship, kinship and patronage (graph from: J. Preiser-Kapeller, Calculating the Synod? New quantitative and qualitative approaches for the analysis of the Patriarchate and the Synod of Constantinople in the 14th century, in: Proceedings of the Round Table Le Patriarcat Oecuménique de Constantinople et Byzance “hors frontières” of the 22nd International Congress of Byzantine Studies in Sofia (Bulgaria), August 2011 [Paris, 2013; in press])

In 530, the three brothers Aratios, Narses and Isaak (maybe members of the noble house of Kamsarakan) defected from Persian Armenia to the Roman side of the border. In the following years, they served as military commanders in various regions and campaigns of the empire. All three of them ultimately died in the service of Justinian (Narses in 543 after the battle of Anglon in Persarmenia, Isaak in 546 in Italy as prisoner of war of the Goths and Aratios in 552 in a fighting in Illyricum).

For further information, see the Prosopography of the Late Roman Empire, Vol. III (s. v. Aratius, Narses 2 and Isaaces 1).

"Data from: B. Krekic, Dubrovnik (Raguse) et le Levant au Moyen Age. Paris 1961.
Network graphs created by Johannes Preiser-Kapeller with the help of the software tools ORA* and QuantumGIS*.
Digital base map: Yahoo Satellite*
(Copyright: J. Preiser-Kapeller, 2013)
Work in Progress!"

Information on the life of the Armenian scholar Anania of Širak we gain from two of his texts; in one he describes how he as young student in the 630s, dissatisfied with the quality of education in his homeland, set out for Byzantium to find an adequate instructor, but was referred to the teacher Tychikos in relatively nearby Trebizond, where Ananias then acquired the treasures of classic education. In another short text, Ananias describes the journey of a kinsman to Balkh in modern-day Afghanistan, where he purchased a very valuable pearl, which he then profitably sold piece for piece on his way back to native Širak.
If we visualise the connections outlined in Anania´s biographical narratives, we detect a multiplex, despite the briefness of both accounts already relatively complex network of ties of education, commerce, kinship, authority and patronage. The backbone of Anania´s longer account is of course the network of education, consisting of ties between teachers and disciples. A simple quantitative analysis makes the central position of Tychikos of Trebizond visible; he also provides connection to the centres of classic education in the Mediterranean, which Ananias himself never visited, but also obtained from his prestige as teacher in Armenia. The wide connections integrated in the life story of a man who himself actually never travelled far beyond the borders of his homeland become also visible if we take a look at the spatial structure of the narratives. Also here, we can quantify the centrality of localities with regard to their “betweenness”; the Armenian capital of Dvin emerges as most important node of intermediation between West and East in Anania´s narratives, thereby corresponding to the description of the city´s relevance in the work of Procopius. The application of spatial clustering to the network of localities within the narrative also provides interesting results; we detect a Mediterranean cluster of education (so important also for Anania´s legitimation as teacher), an Iranian cluster of commerce and a Black Sea cluster of transmission of teachers and teaching between the centre of the Empire and the Middle ground in Eastern Anatolia and Armenia.

Bibliography:
Tim GREENWOOD, A reassessment of the life and mathematical problems of Anania Širakacʿi, in: Revue des études arméniennes 33 (2011), p. 131-186.
Robert H. HEWSEN, Science in Seventh-Century Armenia: Ananias of Sirak, in: Isis, Vol. 59, No. 1, (Spring, 1968), p. 32-45.
Johannes PREISER-KAPELLER, erdumn, ucht, carayut´iwn. Armenian aristocrats as diplomatic partners of Eastern Roman Emperors, 387-884/885 AD, in: Armenian Review 52 (2010) p. 139–215.

Cf. also http://www.academia.edu/3792891/Medieval_Entanglements_Trans-Border_Networks_in_Byzantium_and_China_in_Comparison_c._300-900

"Based on recent studies on the connections between and origins of the objects used for the display of the early medieval Ida Cross (now preserved only in fragments) in the church of the female monastery of Essen respectively integrated into the cross (relics) from the creation of the cross in the third quarter of the 10th century until the beginning of the 12th century, the first graph tries to map these connections between objects and objects respectively between objects and locations as imagined by the contemporaries (connecting all relics of the Lord with Jerusalem, for instance) respectively as reconstructed by modern-day scholars (tracing many of the silken relic wraps back to China or Sogdiane, for instance). Thus, the embedding of this important medieval object of veneration into a web of translocal connections as one aspect of its actual prestige becomes visible. In the second graph, the connections between localities based on the (imagined or actual) migrations of objects to the Ida Cross are mapped and visualise the impressive „global entanglements“ of one single medieval sacred object (lines scaled according to the strengh of links based on the number of objects migrating between two localities).
Data from: Birgitta Falk, Das Essener Ida-Kreuz, and Annemarie Staufer, Die textilen Reliquienhüllen aus dem Essener Kapitelkreuz, both in: Thomas Schilp, Frauen bauen Europa. Internationale Verflechtungen des Frauenstifts Essen (Essener Forschungen zum Frauenstift 9). Essen 2011, 143-p. 201.
All graphs created by Johannes Preiser-Kapeller, 2013 (usage only with permission of the author).
"

Tanaïs at the mouth of the river Don was the most important trading post of the Venetians in the Northern Black Sea and a city of many religious and ethnic groups; fortunately, notarial records for the period September 1359-August 1360 allow us to reconstruct its religious and ethnic environment in greater detail. Under the sovereignty of the Golden Horde, Tanaïs attracted in this period many merchants from Venice and its hinterland as well as its colonies, but also many other Italians as well as Catalans from the far west of the Mediterranean. In addition, we also find also “Greek” traders from Constantinople and Trebizond, other orthodox Christians from Russia and Alania, Armenians from Diaspora communities in the Black Sea region as well as from Armenia proper, Jewish merchants and Muslim merchants, some of them subjects of the Golden Horde, but also from Eastern Anatolia and Tabrīz in the Ilkhanid realm (see picture 1). This mosaic becomes even more multifaceted if we look at the places of origin of the most important commodity traded in Tanaïs: slaves. Most of them originated from the immediate hinterland of the city, but we also encounter Russian, Greek, Armenian and Jewish slaves as well as one Chinese girl. As Francesco Pegolloti in the 1330s informs us in his famous handbook of trade, Tanaïs was also the starting point for Italian merchants who intended to travel to Cathay (China; see picture 2). Thus, the hub of Tanaïs was a perfect basis for a hierarch overseeing such a widespread flock as the one of Alania.

Cf. also: J. Preiser-Kapeller, Webs of conversion. An analysis of social networks of converts across Islamic-Christian borders in Anatolia, South-eastern Europe and the Black Sea from the 13th to the 15th cent. International Workshop: „Cross-Cultural Life-Worlds In Pre-Modern Islamic Societies: Actors, Evidences And Strategies“, University of Bamberg (Germany), 22-24 June 2012. (online: http://www.academia.edu/1243539/Webs_of_conversion._An_analysis_of_social_networks_of_converts_across_Islamic-Christian_borders_in_Anatolia_South-eastern_Europe_and_the_Black_Sea_from_the_13th_to_the_15th_cent)

Intermarriages between the Ottoman dynasty and the aristocracy of South-eastern Europe, 1326-1481 CE (selected marriages; red = “Turkish”, yellow = “Byzantine”, green = “Serbian”, blue = “Bulgarian”; data from: Lowry, 2003; Popović 2010/2012) and Links of intermarriage and concubinage between Spanish conquistadores (red) and the imperial elites of the Aztecs (blue) and the Inca (green) in 16th c. America (selected linkages; after: Mann, 2011, 310-311). Graphs from: J. Preiser-Kapeller, A complex systems approach to the evolutionary dynamics of human history: the case of the Late Medieval World Crisis. Working Paper for the Symposium “Evolution throughout the Sciences and Humanities”, Vienna 2013 (online: http://oeaw.academia.edu/JohannesPreiserKapeller/papers)

The bishopric of Tabrīz  within the spatial framework of the Greek-Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch according to the Armenian Notitia in the time around 1300 in “real” space (blue: temporary residences of the Patriarch) (digital base map: © Google Earth 2012): from: J. Preiser-Kapeller, Civitas Thauris. The significance of Tabrīz in the spatial frameworks of Christian merchants and ecclesiastics in the 13th and 14th century, in: J.  PFEIFFER (ed.), Beyond the Abbasid Caliphate: Politics, Patronage and the Transmission of Knowledge in 13th-15th Century Tabriz. Oxford 2013 [in press].

The spatial framework of the ecclesiastical province of the Archbishop of Sulṭāniyya (established in 1318)  in 1329/1333 i (red: Papal residences) (digital base map: © Google Earth 2012); from: J. Preiser-Kapeller, Civitas Thauris. The significance of Tabrīz in the spatial frameworks of Christian merchants and ecclesiastics in the 13th and 14th century, in: J.  PFEIFFER (ed.), Beyond the Abbasid Caliphate: Politics, Patronage and the Transmission of Knowledge in 13th-15th Century Tabriz. Oxford 2013 [in press].

This visualisation maps in a schematic way the (deliberate or forced) moblity of groups from the Northwestern Caucasus region identified as "Alans" as warriors, guard troops, mercenaries, Mamluks or slaves from the Mediterranean to Mongol ruled China ("Asud" guards of the Yuan emperors); from: J. Preiser-Kapeller, Nomadikon Ethnos. Research perspectives for the analysis of transregional networks between Byzantium and the Mongol-Islamic World of the 13th-15th century. Presentation for the Vienna Dialogues, November 2012 [publication in preparation].

Routes documented in the “Armenian Itinerary” (Młonačʿapʿk), ca. 700 CE; these linkages between mainland Armenia and the Mediterranean and Near East were established through the (deliberate or forced) mobility of aristocrats, clerics, pilgrims, merchants, exiles and deportees (graph from: J. Preiser-Kapeller, Aristokraten, Pilger, Gelehrte und Flüchtlinge. Armenische Mobilität im frühmittelalterlichen Mittelmeerraum und Nahen Osten. Paper for a lecture at the University of Mainz, 2012 [publication in preparation]).

Based on an earlier study on the exchange of pieces of property („feuda“) between noble families of Venetian and Greek background in the region of Chania in Western Crete between 1314 and 1396, I executed a further analysis of the spatial relations between localities due to the presence of properties of the same families during this period (cf. J. Preiser-Kapeller, Visualising Communities. Möglichkeiten der Netzwerkanalyse und der relationalen Soziologie für die Erfassung und Analyse mittelalterlicher Gemeinschaften. Working Paper for a presentation  for the SFB "Visions of Community", 2012; online: http://oeaw.academia.edu/JohannesPreiserKapeller/Papers)
Data from: Charalampos Gasparis, Catasticum Chanee, 1314-1396 (Catastici Feudorum Crete). Athens 2008.
From the 155 localities mentioned in the documents edited by Gasparis, I selected a sample of 76 localities, for which Gasparis indicated there exact position; for this localities I determined the geographical data.
I created a network of localities; two localities are connected if there is documentation for at least one noble family possessing feuda in both during the period 1314-1396. The strength of links is scaled according to the number of families having property in both localities.
On this basis I calculated the total strength of connections of each locality (degree values).
Furthermore, I determined the geographical distance between connected localities and compared it with the strength of connections between them.
I visualised the various results of the analysis on a map of the area in order to illustrate the spatial distribution of noble property and the spatial connections between regions due to noble property.
A further analysis also for different time slices during the period 1314-1396 is in preparation.
All graphs and maps were created by the author with the help of the software tools ORA*, Pajek*, QuantumGIS* and PAST*.

Data basis for these calculations is the oak tree-ring based reconstructed time series of May-June precipitation for the North Aegean and Northwestern Anatolia provided by Criggs et. al., 2007.
A part of statistical analysis is based on a binary time series (1 = presence of a drought in that year, 0 = absence); a „drought“ is defined for a reconstructed precipitation values of 1 standard deviation below the mean value for the period 1089-1600 CE.
Mean waiting times between years with events were calculated on the basis of an expectation test for a poisson process for simple columns of event times for the five phenomena.
Probabilities of transition between years with events and years without were calculated with the help of Markov chain analysis on the basis of the above-mentioned binary time series.
The entire project is work in progress and includes also similar analyses for other medieval polities during this period (until now Byzantium, China, Egypt, England and Hungary; cf. also J. Preiser-Kapeller, (Not so) Distant Mirrors: a complex macro-comparison of polities and political, economic and religious systems in the crisis of the 14th century. Working paper for the International Conference “The Angevin Dynasty (14th Century)” in Targoviste (Romania), October 21st-23rd 2011; online:  http://www.academia.edu/512025/_Not_so_Distant_Mirrors_a_complex_macro-comparison_of_polities_and_political_economic_and_religious_systems_in_the_crisis_of_the_14th_century – also with indication of data sources for these calculations, and http://www.academia.edu/3077069/A_statistical_analysis_and_a_first_simple_model_for_internal_instability_in_the_Byzantine_Empire_1200-1453_CE). Comments are always welcome.
All calculations on and graphs of the time series were done by the author with the help of the software programmes Microsoft-Excel* and PAST* (Version 2.17); any usage of material or data only with approval of the author!

The statistical analysis is based on binary time series (1 = presence of a major bank crash in that year, 0 = absence).
Mean waiting times between years with events were calculated on the basis of an expectation test for a poisson process for simple columns of event times for the five phenomena.
Probabilities of transition between years with events and years without were calculated with the help of Markov chain analysis on the basis of the above-mentioned time series.
As already mentioned, the entire project is work in progress and includes also similar analyses for other medieval polities during this period (until now Byzantium, China, Egypt, England and Hungary; cf. also J. Preiser-Kapeller, (Not so) Distant Mirrors: a complex macro-comparison of polities and political, economic and religious systems in the crisis of the 14th century. Working paper for the International Conference “The Angevin Dynasty (14th Century)” in Targoviste (Romania), October 21st-23rd 2011; online:  http://www.academia.edu/512025/_Not_so_Distant_Mirrors_a_complex_macro-comparison_of_polities_and_political_economic_and_religious_systems_in_the_crisis_of_the_14th_century – also with indication of data sources for these calculations). Comments are always welcome.
All calculations and graphs were done by the author with the help of the software programmes Microsoft-Excel* and PAST* (Version 2.17); any usage of material or data only with approval of the author!

"The statistical analysis is based on binary time series (1 = presence of an event in that year, 0 = absence) for extreme weather events, plague epidemics, major earthquakes, ruler change and major events of internal unrest for the Byzantine Empire for the period 1200-1453 CE (resp. the Empire of Nicaea for the period 1204-1261 CE).
Mean waiting times between years with events were calculated on the basis of an expectation test for a poisson process for simple columns of event times for the five phenomena.
Probabilities of transition between years with events and years without were calculated with the help of Markov chain analysis on the basis of the above-mentioned time series.
The simple model of possible influences of other time event series on the time series of internal unrest was created on the basis of crosscorrelation tests between these time series; indicated is the coefficient of determination (R²) for the cross correlation and the time lag (in years) between the time series for which this coefficient is valid.
The entire project is work in progress and includes also similar analyses for other medieval polities during this period (until now China, Egypt, England and Hungary; cf. also J. Preiser-Kapeller, (Not so) Distant Mirrors: a complex macro-comparison of polities and political, economic and religious systems in the crisis of the 14th century. Working paper for the International Conference “The Angevin Dynasty (14th Century)” in Targoviste (Romania), October 21st-23rd 2011; online:  http://www.academia.edu/512025/_Not_so_Distant_Mirrors_a_complex_macro-comparison_of_polities_and_political_economic_and_religious_systems_in_the_crisis_of_the_14th_century – also with indication of data sources for these calculations). Comments are always welcome.
All calculations and graphs were done by the author with the help of the software programmes Microsoft-Excel* and PAST* (Version 2.17); any usage of material or data only with approval of the author!
"

According to the classical Zipf-distribution, the second largest city in a country or region would have one half of the population of the largest city, the third largest city one third of the population of the largest city, et cetera. This can be expressed with the formula:

P(r) = P(l)/rZ 

where P(r) is the population of the city of the r-ranked city within the totality of the sample, P(l) the population of the largest city, r the rank of the city (1, 2, 3, …) and Z is a constant in the order of magnitude of 1.  This rank-size rule has been empirically studied in many regions throughout the globe for various time periods; many cases satisfy Zipf’s law very closely with values for Z around 1, whereas in other cases rank-size distributions of populations of cities obey power-law behaviour, but have a different power exponent Z  - for our English example here, Z = 0.706, for instance, indicating a more "equal" distribution of population than in the classic Zipf-model. 
The working of the process which generates these patterns is still under discussion; but most probably they result from the complex interactions within the network of settlements and their hinterland which produce an uneven distribution of demographic and economic potential and a hierarchy of cities. 
For more on these phenomena, see also: http://www.academia.edu/512028/_Johannes_Preiser-Kapeller_-_Ekaterini_Mitsiou_Hierarchies_and_fractals_Ecclesiastical_revenues_as_indicator_for_the_distribution_of_relative_demographic_potential_within_the_cities_and_regions_of_the_Late_Byzantine_Empire_in_the_early_14th_century

The statistical analysis is based on binary time series (1 = presence of an event in that year, 0 = absence) for plague epidemics in the entire of the Mediterranean and the Near East for the 6th to 8th century and for the Aegean region and Egypt for the period 1347-1500.
Mean waiting times between years with events were calculated on the basis of an expectation test for a poisson process for simple columns of event times for the five phenomena.
Probabilities of transition between years with events and years without were calculated with the help of Markov chain analysis on the basis of the above-mentioned time series.
The entire project is work in progress and includes also similar analyses for other medieval polities during this period (until now China, Egypt, England and Hungary; cf. also J. Preiser-Kapeller, (Not so) Distant Mirrors: a complex macro-comparison of polities and political, economic and religious systems in the crisis of the 14th century. Working paper for the International Conference “The Angevin Dynasty (14th Century)” in Targoviste (Romania), October 21st-23rd 2011; online:  http://www.academia.edu/512025/_Not_so_Distant_Mirrors_a_complex_macro-comparison_of_polities_and_political_economic_and_religious_systems_in_the_crisis_of_the_14th_century – also with indication of data sources for these calculations – and http://www.academia.edu/3077069/A_statistical_analysis_and_a_first_simple_model_for_internal_instability_in_the_Byzantine_Empire_1200-1453_CE). Comments are always welcome.
All calculations and graphs were done by the author with the help of the software programmes Microsoft-Excel* and PAST* (Version 2.17); any usage of material or data only with approval of the author!

For data sources and further information, see the following paper (pre-print also accessible via the link): J. Preiser-Kapeller, Complex historical dynamics of crisis: the case of Byzantium, in: S. JALKOTZY-DEGER – A. SUPPAN (Hrsg.), Krise und Transformation. Wien 2012, 69–127 (pre-print version: http://www.academia.edu/512050/Complex_historical_dynamics_of_crisis_the_case_of_Byzantium)

Graph 1: Years of internal instability in the Byzantine Empire, 1200 - 1453 CE

Graph 2: Instability index (years of unrest per decade) for the Byzantine Empire, 1200-1453 CE

Graph 3: Phase portrait of the instability index for the Byzantine Empire, 1200 - 1453 CE

Graph 4: Continuous wavelet transform of the timeseries of the years of internal instability in Byzantium, 1200-1453 CE
("The continuous wavelet transform (CWT) is an analysis method where a data set can be inspected at
small, intermediate and large scales simultaneously. (...) The top of the figure thus represents a detailed, fine-grained view,
while the bottom represents a smoothed overview of longer trends. Signal power (or more correctly
squared correlation strength with the scaled mother wavelet) is shown in colour"; from: Øyvind Hamme, PAleontological STatistics. Reference manual, Oslo 2012.)

Robert Gramsch

Das Reich als Netzwerk der Fürsten
Politische Strukturen unter dem Doppelkönigtum Friedrichs II. und Heinrichs (VII.) 1225–1235
Mittelalter-Forschungen, Band 40

Format 17 x 24 cm
456 Seiten
mit zahlreichen Grafiken und einer Beilage
Hardcover mit Schutzumschlag
ISBN: 978-3-7995-0790-5
€ 64


Der Sturz König Heinrichs (VII.) im Jahr 1235 zählt zu den rätselhaftesten Episoden der mittelalterlichen deutschen Geschichte. Ein so drastischer Schritt wie die Absetzung durch den eigenen Vater schien nur als Folge schuldhaften politischen Versagens denkbar. Die vorliegende, netzwerkanalytisch angelegte Studie untersucht die Bedingungen von Heinrichs Herrschaft innerhalb eines komplexen Wirkverbundes politischer Akteure und zeichnet ein neuartiges Bild eines turbulenten Jahrzehnts der spätstaufischen Zeit.

http://www.thorbecke.schwabenverlag.de/das-reich-als-netzwerk-der-fuersten-p-1754.html?cPath=310_138_245&osCsid=a1582cebfcf4c16437de0df2b5119cda

Funded within the programme „Digital Humanities: Langzeitprojekte zum kulturellen Erbe“ of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) (4 years 2015-2018, € 750.000)

PI: Doz. Mag. Dr. Mihailo Popović, IMAFO/Abteilung Byzanzforschung (ABF), ÖAW (E-Mail: Mihailo.Popovic@oeaw.ac.at)

Host institution: Institut für Mittelalterforschung, ÖAW, Wohllebengasse 12-14, 1040 Wien

Website: https://oeaw.academia.edu/DigitisingPatternsofPower
The project focuses on the analysis of the depiction of space in medieval written sources, of the interaction between built and natural environment, of appropriation of space and the emergence of new political, religious and economic structures of power. DPP compares three regions of the medieval world: the Eastern Alps (6th-12th cent.), the historical region of Macedonia (12th-14th cent.) and historical Souther Armenia (Vaspurakan, 5th-11th cent.). Historical, archaeological, environmental and natural scientific data will be combined and geo-referenced with the help of tools of Digital Humanities (data basis, using the OpenAtlas-system developed by Stefan Eichert, geo-visualisation and spatial analysis, social and spatial network analysis, quantitative and correspondence analysis). Data and results will b presented online open access and linked to other data repositories.
The team at the Institute for Medieval Research of the Austrian Academy of Sciences and the Department of Geography and Regional Research of the University of Vienna consists of:
* Mihailo Popovic, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Abteilung für Byzanzforschung/Division of Byzantine Research (IMAFO/ABF) (PI, case study on historical region of Macedonia)
* Karel Kriz, University of Vienna, IfGR (GIS analyses, geo-communication, technical integration)
* Markus Breier, University of Vienna, IfGR (GIS analyses, geo-communication)
* Stefan Eichert, Austrian Academy of Sciences, IMAFO (software and data basis, case study on the Eastern Alps)
* Johannes Preiser-Kapeller, Austrian Academy of Sciences, IMAFO/ABF (network analysis, case study on historical Armenia)
* Katharina Winckler, Austrian Academy of Sciences, IMAFO (data basis development, case study on the Eastern Alps)

New project with cooperation of Vienna: "The Migration of Faith. Clerical Exile in Late Antiquity (325-600)" (Julia Hillner et. al., Univ. of Sheffield)

In this new project, funded by the Arts & Humanities Research Council, Prof. Julia Hillner together with partners in Austria, Germany and Denmark, will explore legal, theological and cultural aspects of the exile and forced mobility of clergymen and bishops within the (post)Roman sphere from Constantine to the end of the 6th century. The head of our Division, Prof. Claudia Rapp, is a member of the scientific advisory board to the project.

http://www.hrionline.ac.uk/sites/clericalexile/

For this purpose, as systematical proposographical and geographical data base of all exiled individuals and their contacts and places of residence will be created; this data will be visualised and analysed in the form of social and spatial networks with know how coming from our Abteilung für Byzanzforschung/Division of Byzantine Research, especially from the projects and works of Johannes Preiser-Kapeller ( “Complexities and Networks in the Medieval Mediterranean and Near East” (COMMED); “Mapping medieval conflicts: a digital approach towards political dynamics in the pre-modern period” (MEDCON) and David Natal Villazala (“Episcopal Networks and Fragmentation in Late Antique Western Europe” (ENFLAWE). The main collaborator for the project, Dirk Rohmann, was also at our Division for four weeks to modify and adapt the tools developed here for the purposes of the Sheffield projects - as were Julia Hillner herself and the Digital Humanities Developer of the project, Matthew Groves, for some days in September.

We are very honoured to be part of this most interesting project.

For the projects of our Division mentioned above, see:
https://www.academia.edu/3988811/David_Natal_EPISCOPAL_NETWORKS_AND_FRAGMENTATION_IN_LATE_ANTIQUE_WESTERN_EUROPE_ENFLAWE_
https://www.academia.edu/3988857/Johannes_Preiser-Kapeller_COMPLEXITIES_AND_NETWORKS_IN_THE_MEDIEVAL_MEDITERRANEAN_AND_THE_NEAR_EAST_COMMED_
http://oeaw.academia.edu/MappingMedievalConflict

Funded within the go!digital-Programme of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (OEAW)
Host Institution: Institute for Medieval Research. OEAW (IMAFO)
PI: Dr. J. Preiser-Kapeller, IMAFO (Email: Johannes.Preiser-Kapeller@oeaw.ac.at)
Website: : https://oeaw.academia.edu/MappingMedievalConflict

While the term “network” has been used abundantly in historical research in the last years, the actual number of studies taking into account the methodology of network analysis is still limited. The reluctance of historians to adapt tools of network analysis can be also connected with the conceptual and terminological divide between humanities and formal sciences. At the same time, the user-friendliness of software tools tempts others to use them as “black boxes” in order to produce a variety of figures without being aware of the underlying concepts.

Against this background, the aims of MEDCON are:
• The adaptation and combination of a set of software tools which facilitates the relational survey of medieval sources and the visualisation and quantitative analysis of social and spatial networks (using an open source database application named “OpenATLAS”, developed by S. Eichert)
• The development of case studies demonstrating a “best practice” of the application and evaluation of tools of network analysis for medieval history (distribution as open data)
• The creation of an online platform for the exploration of data, methods and results by the wider public (open access)

A generalizable work flow from data input on the basis of medieval sources to the creation, visualisation and analysis of social and spatial network models and their web-based publication and presentation will be established. In order to demonstrate this in detail, MEDCON will focus on the analysis of political networks and conflict among power elites across medieval Europe with five case studies. The project is also conceptualised as digital extension of several internationally renowned long term-projects for text edition, diplomatics and prosopography at IMAFO:
• Fluctuation between opposing parties in the struggle for the German throne 1198-1208 (A. Rzihacek, R. Spreitzer)
• Coalitions in the war of Emperor Sigismund against Duke Frederick IV of Tyrol (G. Katzler)
• Emperor Frederick III Friedrich III. and the League of the Mailberger coalition in 1451/527 (K. Holzner-Tobisch)
• Factions and alliances in the fight of Maximilian I for Burgundy (S. Dünnebeil)
• Political factions in 14th cent. Byzantium (J. Preiser-Kapeller)

We will evaluate the explanatory power of these tools for phenomena of political conflict in medieval societies; thereby, we will provide a set of “best practice” examples of historical network analysis. MEDCON uses the relational structuring provided by modern software not simply as instrument for the organisation of data, but as heuristic tool for the reconstruction and analysis of the relational character of social phenomena of the past which is at the same time also of high relevance for modern-day discussions on the (in)stability of political frameworks. Thus, also the additional benefit of digital tools beyond data collection and their potential to allow for new research questions and analytical results will be demonstrated.

""The aim of this project of the Division for Byzantine Research of the Institute for Medieval Research of the Austrian Academy of Sciences is the integration, adaptation and further development of concepts and tools of network theory and complexity sciences for the analysis of Byzantium and the medieval Mediterranean and Near East. With the help of these instruments, social, economic, religious, political and intellectual entanglements between individuals, groups, communities, institutions, polities and localities as well as between societies and their environments and the dynamics of these phenomena in time and space are visualised and analysed in a new way in a qualitative and quantitative as well as comparative perspective. In this way, the actual complexity of pre-modern societies and the relevance of such research for the analysis of comparable complex interconnections in the contemporary globalised world are rendered visible.

The explanatory value of these new methods has been demonstrated by the Johannes Preiser-Kapeller with case studies for the Late Byzantine ecclesiastical, political and intellectual elites, processes of religious and ethnic transformations in the Late Medieval Eastern Mediterranean, the diplomatic and political entanglements of the Near East between 300 and 1200 CE and the complex dynamics of the Late Medieval “World Crisis” in a global comparative perspective. In the future, an application of the developed toolkit to other periods and regions of the medieval world and on phenomena of environmental history and global mobility is intended. Within the Division of Byzantine Research, the project is closely connected to the Edition of the Register of the Patriarchate of Constantinople (PRK) and the Prosopography of the Palaeologian Period (PLP) and cooperates with the HGIS-based approach of Mihailo Popović to the historical geography of Byzantium (TIB); cooperations have also been established with other projects of the Institute for Medieval Research, especially within the framework of the SFB “Visions of Community”.

Beyond the Austrian Academy, the project is cooperating with colleagues at leading institutions for complexity research and digital humanities in Austria and abroad, such as the Section for Science of Complex Systems (Medizinische Universität Wien), the Archaeological Computing Research Group at the School of Humanities, University of Southampton or the Centre for Network Sciences at the Central European University in Budapest.

Methodology:
We establish a “complex relational perspective” on historical and social phenomena, following the postulations of classics of social theory such as Norbert Elias, who stated already in 1965: “to study individuals first as isolates and to derive the figurations they form together from what they are without the patterns of their living together, is a confusion of thought, impeding the analysis of these figurations. (...) Individuals are always found in figurations and configurations of individuals are irreducible. To think of a single individual as if it originally were socially independent, or of individuals here and there regardless of their relations with each other, is a baseless starting point.” (Norbert ELIAS – John SCOTSON, Etablierte und Außenseiter, 1965, 72, 264-265.)
The already well-established concepts of network theory allow us to analyse and visualise interactions and connections between individuals, groups and institutions. Recent studies work mainly within the framework of quantitative network analysis, which concentrates on the construction of quantifiable network models (with nodes and ties or links) on the basis of relational data and on the mathematical analysis of these models with regard to their general structure and the differences between nodes and groups or clusters of nodes. But besides or in addition to quantitative analysis, the field of “relational sociology” has highlighted the more “qualitative” aspects of social networks with regard to their relevance for the embedding and even construction of identities and relationships. In recent studies on historical networks, we have attempted to combine both approaches.

Even more, in his book “Reassembling the social” (2005, p. 173), Bruno Latour, one of the proponents of Actor-Network-Theory, stated: “we have to lay continuous connections leading from one local interaction to the other places, times, and agencies through which a local site is made to do something. (…) If we do this, we will render visible the long chains of actors linking sites to one another without missing a single step. It might be empirically hard but we should not expect major theoretical hurdles.” For archaeological and historical studies, it does not only prove to be “empirically hard” to re-construct these connections “through which a local site is made to do something”; “major theoretical hurdles” have also appeared for attempts to combine the conceptual framework of Actor-Network-Theory, which due to its integration of the agency of humans as well as objects is of special appeal for archaeologists (cf. Carl KNAPPETT, An Archaeology of Interaction, 2011; Ian HODDER, Entangled. An Archaeology of the Relationships between Humans and Things, 2012), with more widely used tools of quantitative network analysis.

Our study aims at taking the task of a “re-assembling” of connections between individuals and objects, localities and times, serious by surveying these entanglements for various case studies, visualising them in multiplex network graphs and applying quantitative methods on them. For this purpose, we regard as “narratives of entanglements” not only written sources on the agencies and connections of individuals, but also assemblies of objects (such as a reliquary casket containing objects of veneration [imagined to come] from various times and localities [see below] or a ship wreck containing objects from various sites of production and trade). Thus, the aspects of bias and fragmentariness inherent in all forms of historical or archaeological evidence are taken into account and conceptualised within the well-established theoretical framework of narratology. In addition, this allows us to apply the concepts of “Quantitative Narrative Analysis” developed by Roberto FRANZOSI (cf. his book of the same title, 2010), who has already applied quantitative network analysis in order to visualise and quantify the underlying structure of relations between elements of a narrative.

As several studies have demonstrated, in pre-modern societies, most individuals were embedded in spatially limited networks of kinship and neighbourhood. At the same time, the emergence of close-knit clusters of nodes connected through “strong ties” of a high frequency of interaction and intimacy is more probable among individuals sharing important markers of identity such as kinship, religious believe or common language; in turn, communities tend to reproduce themselves in such networks of high density. Thus, we observe an interplay between structural (the density of social relations) and qualitative (the homogeneity of individuals) characteristics of social networks. Members of religious elites and nobilities, in contrast, often established highly selective and over-regional contacts for various political, familial or economic occasions (some of which with regard to frequency or intimacy could be considered as “weak”, but others also as “strong”) with their peers, which also crossed borders within and beyond cultural-religious frontiers. Yet, by “localising the global”, we demonstrate how such far reaching entanglements also affected spatially more localised individuals and groups.



http://www.oeaw.ac.at/imafo/die-abteilungen/byzanzforschung/communities-landscapes/historische-geographie/komplexitaet-netzwerke/
""

""New historical network research project in Vienna:

Starting from July 1st 2013, the Division for Byzantine Research of the Austrian Academy of Sciences will host Dr. David Natal as Marie-Curie-Fellow for two years. He will work on the ERC-funded project “EPISCOPAL NETWORKS AND FRAGMENTATION IN LATE ANTIQUE WESTERN EUROPE”
(ENFLAWE); project supervisor is the head of the Division for Byzantine research Prof. Claudia Rapp (Univ. of Vienna), as worldwide renowned expert for the episcopate in Late Antiquity (cf. http://www.byzneo.univie.ac.at/mitarbeiter/akademisches-personal/rapp-claudia/).

Dr. Natal will especially concentrate on the re-construction of social networks of leading figures of the Late Antique Church in the Western Empire; for this purpose, he will cooperate with Dr. Johannes Preiser-Kapeller, who has done considerable research in the field of historical network research in the last years (cf. http://oeaw.academia.edu/TopographiesofEntanglements).

Dr. Natal has earned his PhD in Ancient History in 2010. 2011-2013 he was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Manchester under the supervision of Prof. Kate Cooper.

Outline of the project:
Research Hypothesis
The fragmentation of the Roman Empire contributed to a process of regionalisation of the episcopal networks that was already evident in the fourth century. This project poses the hypothesis that the regionalisation of the episcopal networks 1) reinforced symbolic interactions among long-distance regional hubs, and 2) reinforced patterns of hierarchy and centralisation within regional clusters. Through the application of innovative technologies in the visualization of social networks, this project will bring to the fore new aspects of episcopal networks that remain largely hidden in the scattered written sources.

General Objectives
The main aim of the research is studying how episcopal networks evolved in an increasingly fragmented world with overlapping and changeable authorities and identities, and to apply computer-based technologies to this analysis. More specifically the research attempts to analyse four aspects:

Objective 1: Scale of the episcopal networks
Traditional views on late antique Church are that the fragmentation of the Roman Empire led to a simplification of the episcopal relationships. The main hypothesis of this project is that fragmentation affected interconnection but reinforced hierarchy and centralisation of regional episcopal networks. This project will try to assess how these developments affected the complexity of episcopal networks along the period proposed. For contrasting this hypothesis two points will be analysed:
1. Looking for evidence of jumping-scales strategies, in other words, looking for how bishops chose to act at different scales in different contexts.
2. Asking how did proximity or distance affected the behaviour and development of the networks (cf. also Albert/Barabási 2002, for the concept of ‘small world’ and scale-free networks; for its implications for historical studies see Ormerod/Roach 2004; Preiser-Kapeller 2012b/2013b).

Objective 2: Forms and extension of the networks
Instead of focusing on institutions or bishops as individuals, this research will study the position of bishops as part of a network and the constraints and opportunities to which bishops were subjected. It will allow an assessment of the behaviour of bishops in times of fragmentation and will provide information on the construction of episcopal leadership and geography. More concretely, this research will try to:
1. Identify clusters (those elements of the network that are more densely connected) and hubs (elements that attract links) and determine how central the position of these elements was.
2. Identify the elements that link different networks and how they acted at different scales (Preiser-Kapeller 2012-2013)

Objective 3: Nature of the networks
Different relationships linked episcopal networks: symbolic interactions such as relic exchange or a shared liturgy, institutional dependence, secular politics and affective or familiar connections, among others (cf. Mullett 1997; for this concept of “multiplexity” of historical networks cf. also Preiser-Kapeller 2012a). I will argue that the fragmentation of the Roman Empire led to an increase of symbolic interactions along long-distance networks that reinforced forms of identity and belonging. For contrasting this hypothesis I will:
1. Look for different evidences of loyalties and identities
2. Look for how networks were encouraged or promoted

Objective 4: Patterns and structures
Traditional historiography has interpreted the construction of the church as a top-down process (for a different explanation cf. Rapp 2005). This research poses the hypothesis that bottom-up processes were also important as sustained behaviours and relationships contributed to established structures within the church (cf. also Preiser-Kapeller 2012b). More specifically I will look at:
1. Common patterns and behaviours within the networks
2. Factors or practices which supported and maintained these behaviours

Picture: The spatial range of the network of Ambrose of Milan (374-397 AD) within the episcopacy of the time (data from David Natal; visualisation by Johannes Preiser-Kapeller: network model created with ORA*; geographical layers created with QuantumGIS*; base map: GoogleEarth*; ÖAW, 2013)

Upcoming Conference: Linking the Mediterranean: Regional and Trans-Regional Interactions in Times of Fragmentation (300 -800 CE) (Vienna, December 11th-13th)

Venue: Abteilung für Byzanzforschung/Division of Byzantine Research, Wohllebengasse 12-14/3, 1040 Wien

11.-13. December 2014

Keynote: Prof. Bryan Ward-Perkins, Oxford
Organisator: Dr. David Natal Villazala, IMAFO/ABF, ÖAW (David.Natal@oeaw.ac.at)
Website: http://www.oeaw.ac.at/byzanz/

The political fragmentation of the Roman Empire also meant a reduction in the scope of economic, social and cultural relationships that had developed across different hierarchical levels and between distant places on Roman soil. New social and cultural relationships developed in the polities that followed the Roman Empire. Nonetheless, the survival of regional and interregional interactions assured certain homogeneity in political, cultural and social forms across post-Roman Europe. This phenomenon has been the topic of exciting academic debate in the last decade and different interpretations and methodological approaches have been proposed.

In this workshop, we intend to focus discussion especially on the issue of interactions beyond the local level between 300 and 800 CE in order to assess 1) to what extent these interactions were affected by the end of the Roman Empire as a political entity, and 2) how these connections contributed to lasting patterns that shaped the post-Roman world in social, cultural and political terms.
We are interested in both Mediterranean-wide and smaller regional networks and have invited papers that deal with all the regions of the (former) Roman Empire (including North Africa, Egypt, Syria, etc.), its periphery (Ireland, Armenia, etc.) and beyond to the Far East.

The theme of this workshop has grown out of research undertaken by David Natal through the ENFLAWE project (‘Episcopal Networks and Fragmentation in Late Antique Western Europe’). Funded by the EU-Marie Curie Actions and hosted at the Division for Byzantine Research (Institute for Medieval Research, Austrian Academy of Sciences-OEAW) under the supervision of Prof. Claudia Rapp (w. M.; Univ. of Vienna), in cooperation with Johannes Preiser-Kapeller (ÖAW), this project analyses episcopal interactions in the late fourth and fifth century from a social network approach (http://www.academia.edu/3988811/David_Natal_EPISCOPAL_NETWORKS_AND_FRAGMENTATION_IN_LATE_ANTIQUE_WESTERN_EUROPE_ENFLAWE_).

Die politische Fragmentierung des Weströmischen Reiches bedeute auch eine Reduzierung des Umfangs und der Reichweite der wirtschaftlichen, sozialen und kulturellen Beziehungen, die sich auf verschiedenen Ebenen zwischen oft weit entfernten Orten auf dem Boden des Imperiums etabliert hatten. An ihre Stelle traten neue soziale und kulturelle Verflechtungen innerhalb der Staatsgebilde, die an die Stelle des Imperiums traten. Dennoch sicherte der Fortbestand bestimmter regionale und überregionaler Verbindungen einen gewissen Grad an Homogenität in den politischen, kulturellen und sozialen Gegebenheiten im post-römischen Europa. Diese Phänomene wurden in den letzten Jahren auf der Grundlage verschiedener Interpretationen und methodischen Zugängen in der Forschung heftig diskutiert.
Diese Konferenz widmet sich vor allem der Untersuchung von über-lokalen Verflechtungen in der Zeit zwischen 300 und 800 n. Chr. und der Frage:
• Inwiefern über-regionale Verbindungen durch den Zusammenbruch des (West)römischen Reiches als politische Einheit beeinträchtigt wurden
• In welcher Weise diese Verbindungen zu dauerhaften Mustern der politischen, wirtschaftlichen, kulturellen Organisation beitrugen, die auch die post-römische Welt prägten
Wir interessieren uns sowohl für das gesamte Mittelmeer umfassende als auch kleinere regionale Netzwerke; Beiträge werden verschiedene Regionen des Römischen Reiches (inklusive Nordafrika, Ägypten, Syrien etc.) als auch dessen Peripherie und Gebiete darüber hinaus bis in den Fernen Osten betrachten.
Diese Konferenz entstand aus dem Forschungsprojekt ENFLAWE (‘Episcopal Networks and Fragmentation in Late Antique Western Europe’), das von David Natal mit Finanzierung der Europäischen Union (Marie-Curie-Programm) an der Abteilung für Byzanzforschung des Instituts für Mittelalterforschung der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften durchgeführt wird; es widmet sicht unter der Leitung von Prof. Claudia Rapp (w. M., Univ. Wien) und in Kooperation mit Johannes Preiser-Kapeller (ÖAW) der Untersuchung kirchlicher Verflechtungen zwischen verschiedenen Provinzen der spätrömischen Reiches mit Hilfe der Instrumente der sozialen Netzwerkanalyse