1. Sources, People and Events: Deconstructing the Prosopography of Anglo-Saxon England (PASE) Database Francesca Tinti, University of Cambridge

2. The initial stages of a prosopography project Building a database working closely with ICT experts Building a database working closely with ICT experts Should databases be re-usable or disposable? Should databases be re-usable or disposable? Team-work: a challenge for consistency? Team-work: a challenge for consistency? Working on-line as a way to ensure consistency Working on-line as a way to ensure consistency

3. PASE data-collection: a post-modern exercise? PASE is source-driven PASE is source-driven We do not interfere with sources We do not interfere with sources We do not record facts but “factoids” (i.e. what sources claim to be facts) We do not record facts but “factoids” (i.e. what sources claim to be facts)

4. PASE is about Anglo-Saxon people, all of them From the king to the slaves: ensuring comprehensiveness From the king to the slaves: ensuring comprehensiveness Much more than just names Much more than just names Recording all anonymous people as a way to be consistent, comprehensive or pedantic? Recording all anonymous people as a way to be consistent, comprehensive or pedantic?

5. An exercise in data-entry from the Anonymous Life of Cuthbert … there was a religious and royal virgin, Abbess Ælfflæd, who humbly asked the hermit of God [i.e., Cuthbert] in the name of the Lord to cross the sea and meet her at Coquet Island. The handmaiden of God on bended knees began to ask him many things and finally she adjured him boldly by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ by the nine orders of angels and the persons of all the saints, and asked him concerning the length of life of her brother King Ecgfrith. … there was a religious and royal virgin, Abbess Ælfflæd, who humbly asked the hermit of God [i.e., Cuthbert] in the name of the Lord to cross the sea and meet her at Coquet Island. The handmaiden of God on bended knees began to ask him many things and finally she adjured him boldly by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ by the nine orders of angels and the persons of all the saints, and asked him concerning the length of life of her brother King Ecgfrith.

6. Being a king or an abbess = holding an Office in PASE terms PASE definition of Office: PASE definition of Office: ‘An Office might have existed independently of the holder, it might have required appointment to the position, and it usually involved responsibility: to be an office it must include at least one of these elements but may not necessarily involve all three’.

7. An exercise in data-entry from the Anonymous Life of Cuthbert … there was a religious and royal virgin, Abbess Ælfflæd... (Colgrave’s translation) … there was a religious and royal virgin, Abbess Ælfflæd... (Colgrave’s translation) …sanctimonialis uirgo et regalis Aelfleda abbatissa … (Latin original text) …sanctimonialis uirgo et regalis Aelfleda abbatissa … (Latin original text)

8. PASE ‘factoids’ Recorded Names Recorded Names Office Office Personal Relationship Personal Relationship Status Status Education Education Occupation Occupation Personal Information (e.g. saintly status, health etc.) Personal Information (e.g. saintly status, health etc.) Authorship Authorship Possession Possession

9. An exercise in data-entry from the Anonymous Life of Cuthbert … there was a religious and royal virgin, Abbess Ælfflæd... (Colgrave’s translation) … there was a religious and royal virgin, Abbess Ælfflæd... (Colgrave’s translation) …sanctimonialis uirgo et regalis Aelfleda abbatissa … (Latin original text) …sanctimonialis uirgo et regalis Aelfleda abbatissa … (Latin original text)

10. Some more definitions PASE definition of Occupation: PASE definition of Occupation: ‘An Occupation might have involved training, might have been a calling and could be a way of making a living’. ‘An Occupation might have involved training, might have been a calling and could be a way of making a living’.

11. An exercise in data-entry from the Anonymous Life of Cuthbert … there was a religious and royal virgin, Abbess Ælfflæd... (Colgrave’s translation) … there was a religious and royal virgin, Abbess Ælfflæd... (Colgrave’s translation) …sanctimonialis uirgo et regalis Aelfleda abbatissa … (Latin original text) …sanctimonialis uirgo et regalis Aelfleda abbatissa … (Latin original text)

12. Status PASE definition of Status: PASE definition of Status: ‘A Status does not imply responsibilities; someone might have been “born not made” with it; and it might (possibly) have been an honorary title without responsibilities’.

13. The Big Issue How can one reduce history to a database? How can one reduce history to a database?  How can one accommodate all the nuances and vague descriptions which are to be found in early medieval sources?  Should Office, Occupation and Status be merged into one ‘super-factoid’?

14. Something is still missing How can one structure relations between more than two people? How can one structure relations between more than two people? The EVENT factoid: arguably PASE’s main contribution to a new way of doing prosopography The EVENT factoid: arguably PASE’s main contribution to a new way of doing prosopography

15. From several data-collection databases to one master database Each source or collection of sources is dealt with individually in the first instance. Each source or collection of sources is dealt with individually in the first instance. Subsequently everything is uploaded on to the master database, our final product. Subsequently everything is uploaded on to the master database, our final product.