Medieval Studies Mobilising Digital Humanities
University of Bristol: Helen Fulton (PI), Ad Putter, Anna Havinga
Cardiff University: Rebecca Thomas, Sara Pons-Sanz
University of Exeter: Levi Roach, Tom Hinton
Medievalists are highly skilled in the use and interpretation of languages, manuscripts, archives, material evidence, and, increasingly, digital resources. In many cases, medievalists have been at the forefront of digital technologies in the Humanities, through activities such as digitising manuscripts and texts, digital editions of early texts, digital glossaries, online resources such as catalogues, building linguistic corpora, and using GIS and related software. Our central research question asks how medievalists can benefit further from new technologies currently evolving in modern digital humanities scholarship and practice.
The GW4 Medieval Studies community will bring together our combined expertise to achieve a step-change in how medievalists can make best use of current trends in digital humanities. The project will be delivered by researchers from the universities of Bristol, Cardiff, and Exeter, and will offer training opportunities for postgraduates and early-career researchers. By drawing in expertise from other universities and from external partners, we aim to learn about new digital methodologies in three specific areas: corpus linguistics; manuscript studies; and mapping. Between June and November 2025, each university will host a tailored workshop focusing on technologies associated with these areas. External speakers and industry partners will be invited to each workshop to help develop innovative approaches which will transform the field of Medieval Studies through mobilising digital resources.
