DISSINET has developed an interactive map of the occupations, dissident religious affiliations, and locations of residence of nearly 900 persons suspected of heresy in the inquisition register of Bologna, 1291–1310.
DISSINET continues its vocation to make structured data on medieval heresy and inquisition more accessible and visual with a new interactive map focusing on the occupations, religious affiliations, and locations of residence of heresy suspects in the register of the inquisition in Bologna, 1291–1310. The dataset builds upon the 1982 critical edition by Lorenzo Paolini and Raniero Orioli of this major medieval source and the indices of the edition. We collected the data into a spreadsheet (with occasional additions and corrections), geocoded the records, and now make them available for exploration through this map application.
The map reveals the spatial distribution of suspects’ residences as well as their sociodemographic characteristics (sex, type of occupation), religious affiliations (Cathar milieu, Apostolic milieu, and other heterodoxy), and role in the trial (deponent or non-deponent). These characteristics can be used to filter the set of persons shown. The further categorisation represented through colours shows the occupational profile or religious affiliation profile of heresy suspects from any given location. Also, suspects with unknown or non-geocoded places of residence are shown in a pie chart.
Data source: Paolini, Lorenzo, and Raniero Orioli, eds. 1982. Acta S. Officii Bononie ab anno 1291 usque ad annum 1310. 3 vols. Roma: Istituto storico italiano per il Medio Evo.
Data: Katia Riccardo
Map: Peter Ondrejka
Dataset design and supervision: David Zbíral
Recommended citation: Riccardo, Katia, Peter Ondrejka, and David Zbíral. 2024. ‘Heresy and occupation in Bologna around 1300’. Dissident Networks Project (DISSINET). https://dissinet.cz/maps/bologna-heresy-occupation/.
It is a familiar image: a woman in distress, surrounded by men examining her soul in a dimly lit inquisitorial chamber. In fear of physical torture, she confesses to crimes she never committed. We bring you an online version of our article originally published in History Today.
Building upon the invaluable work of modern editors, the DISSINET project is building a textual corpus of medieval inquisitorial material, which now contains 15 registers, totals over 1.6 million tokens, and ranges from North-Central Italy through Languedoc to England, and from the 1230s until the 1520s.
