Fuzzy Mapping in 15th Century England

Project Title: Gendered Connections: Monastics, Priests, Women, and John Mirk’s Festial in Fifteenth-Century England

Description: Mine John Mirk’s Festial manuscripts for instances of gendered language by mapping the fuzzy (approximate) location in 15th Century England.

Procedure:

1. Identify 15th Century Map: The Counties of England, Scotland, and (from 1540s) Wales and Ireland in library database: State Papers Online.
2. Using ArcGIS Desktop:
   1. Georeference the map – For background on procedure, see http://desktop.arcgis.com/en/arcmap/10.3/manage-data/raster-and-images/fundamentals-for-georeferencing-a-raster-dataset.htm
   2. Create 50 kilometer and 100 kilometer polygon vector shapefile grid (fishnet)
3. Using ArcGIS Online:
   1. Overlaid georeferenced map and the two vector grids on modern UK map – https://arcg.is/1fa44z
4. Fuzzy Mapping:
   1. Identify the approximate cells in both the 100 and 50 kilometer for each of the gendered language sermon locations. The cell id numbers were recorded in Excel.
5. Using Tableau Desktop:
   1. Import cell shapefiles and fuzzy mapping Excel files into Tableau.
   2. Position marks in center of cell and adjust size and color by frequency and category.

Researchers Involved:

• Dr. Beth Allison Barr, History Department
• Elizabeth Marvel, Baylor History PhD Candidate
• Joshua Been, Baylor Libraries
• Eileen Bentsen, Baylor Libraries