Studies that apply Social Network Analysis (SNA) to historical documents and literary texts are becoming more reflective of the innovations and developments in digital medieval studies. Historical SNA studies conducted by Hammond (2016) looks at family trees in medieval Scotland to create a network. Similarly, Geggel (2018), builds a literary
network using Irish and Viking texts, demonstrating a shift in medieval studies as they converge with network theory.
However, none of these studies focus on historical documents or their contributions to paleography. In this project I
employ SNA to examine the reign of Edward I (1272-1307), both in terms his place in English history and his impact on
historical communication networks. Using petitions as historical evidence, I analyze smaller conversations occurring
in England, looking at whether these events did, in fact, impact life in Western Europe. The data extracted from these
minor historical documents are used to construct visualizations representing prosopographies – or collective narratives – shaped by English communication networks. The source material for my current research begins with a sample
of 413 open-source digitized documents available from the British National Archives’ Special Collection 8. I argue that
this methodology can give historians a better sense of the past. The results of this study reveal trends in 13th century
communication networks, but, more importantly, provide the framework for a working model that future research in
historical Social Network Analysis can implement.