Building Life Courses and Explaining Life Choices with the Help of Digital Prosopography

Abstract

Digital tools have enhanced the possibilities of historical prosopographic researches, bringing to light facts and connections unnoticed before. Showcasing two very different databases -in structure, timeframe and employed sourceswe will try to highlight how structured data can prove useful and revealing for the prosopography of the people living in all historical periods and areas. In order to make our point, we will first present the two databases from architectural and technical points of view, then we will focus on case studies extracted from each of them. The aim is to highlight the gain in historical knowledge brought forth by the employment of digital tools and technologies and how these means actually increase our insightfulness when facing the sources.