Dating Undated Medieval Charters

Many of the millions of medieval charters surviving in European archives and repositories were written without any reference to a date of issue. The proliferation of undated charters in England and Normandy indicates that the custom was especially peculiar to lands under Norman rule, but charters issued by major religious houses are often also undated. The DEEDS Project at the University of Toronto has developed a computerised methodology for dating charters, relying on analysis of vocabulary, syntax and formulae. In this volume an international group of scholars concerned with the problem of charter chronology consider the potential of the computerised methodology compared to other more traditional methods of dating, such as identification of names, changing in wording and address, and handwriting. Discussion also touches on regional differences in the production, use and distribution of charters, and on ways both manual and mechanical to date and analyse the content of large numbers of them.

large numbers of them. MICHAEL GERVERS is Director of the DEEDS Project at the University of Toronto, Canada.

Contributors: MICHAEL GERVERS, RODOLFO FIALLOS, MARJORIE CHIBNALL, VÉRONIQUE GAZEAU, BENOIT-MICHEL TOCK, NICHOLAS VINCENT, GEORGES DECLERCQ, ZSOLT HUNYADIR, ATTILA ZSOLDOS, MARIA HILLEBRANDT, TREVOR CHALMERS, LAZSLO VESZPRÉMI, P.D.A. HARVEY, ANDRAS GRYNAEUS, JOZSEF PALFY