Medieval Networks of Memory is a major research project, hosted by Stanford Text Technologies. It aims to reveal a new and dynamic picture of earlier thirteenth-century religious and social networks and community commemoration. The project will describe, map, visualize and analyse unique and culturally rich textual artefacts–the Mortuary Roll of Lucy of Hedingham, now kept at the British Library, and the Mortuary Roll of Amphelisa of Lillechurch, which belongs to St John’s College, Cambridge.
Building on the work of Jean Dufour in his multi-volume Recueil Des Rouleaux Des Morts, our research highlights those British institutions of men and women who were united in their efforts to remember Prioress Lucy de Vere of Hedingham in Essex, and Amphelisa, prioress of Lillechurch in Kent. We ask how the five hundred memorializers on the Rolls sought to inscribe their respects to these nuns. The Rolls reveal a great deal about the varieties of religious houses in the first quarter of the thirteenth century, as well as the nature of scribal practices and communities of literacy, and how forms of communication like these functioned. Regional and institutional connections and affiliations are highlighted through these Rolls, too. And last, but not least, each shows us the esteem in which senior religious figures like Lucy and Amphelisa were held.
As well as the interactive maps of the journeys undertaken to complete these Rolls, accessible through the list icon to the upper left of this screen, this Project has also resulted in conference and lecture presentations, social media interactions, automated visualizations of palaeographical features, and prospective publications that include a long article under review, and short book projects. Elaine Treharne is also endeavoring to complete visits to every institution featured in the Rolls; from 2022 to 2026, she will travel to the Rolls’ almost 440 former priories and abbeys in England, Scotland, and Wales.