RETICOLARITÀ E DIMENSIONE ISTITUZIONALE (SECOLI IX-XIII)

This volume, which brings together the proceedings of the ninth edition of the Mendola International Weeks of Medieval Studies, explores the theme of the institutional dimension and its interplay with the networked dimension, understood at various levels: the tools employed in the construction of supra-local institutional networks; an awareness of such strategies and the benefits they yield (or, where applicable, the accumulation of empirical experiences that are, from time to time, either consolidated or rejected); representations of networked structures; networks of concepts and words in written sources as a reflection of actual networked structures; and research methodologies that harness the potential of a networked approach. These aspects are particularly evident during the central centuries of the Middle Ages, both in religious and ecclesiastical spheres and in the civil sphere, since the creation of networks served to consolidate powers intended to give substance to the transition from the strictly personal dimension—typical of early medieval institutions—to a spatial, and at times territorial, dimension. This approach to study and research falls within the scope of applications of social network analysis and adopts some of its perspectives in the historiographical field, drawing on tools already developed and utilised by sociology and anthropology, starting from networks of institutional actors that are more or less formalised. For this reason, the comparative analysis of the networks established within the various civil and ecclesiastical institutional spheres and their respective instruments begins with a number of concrete cases of supra-local organisations, with a view to observing both the changes undergone by the actors when they join a network and the adjustments in the range of instruments linking them together. This is a highly innovative approach to medieval history, which facilitates dialogue with the social sciences through the use of new technologies.