Medieval Latin dioceses, ca. 1350–1420, tabular data

The dataset contains tabular data (.csv) of medieval Latin dioceses, corresponding to the situation in the Latin Christendom from the Black Death to the end of the Great Western Schism ( ca. 1350–1420). 

The tabular data provides a structured list of 677 Latin dioceses with their abbreviated medieval Latin names, modern names, and whether the dioceses were suffragan dioceses, independent (i.e. immediately subordinate to the pope), or metropolitan sees. The information about the hierarchy of the dioceses follows the standard reference work: Hierarchia Catholica medii aevi, ed. K. Eubel et al., 6 vols (Münster, 1913–67), vol. 1.

The primary label for each diocese entry is the abbreviated Latin genitive form of the name, following Hierarchia Catholica. These abbreviations correspond closely to forms typically used in medieval documents, including papal registers, making it easy to search for a correct diocese. In many cases, the medieval Latin names bear no resemblance to modern names: e.g. Aboen. = Aboensis = modern Turku in Finland.

The tabular dataset builds upon Stanford “Data Supplement for Digital Atlas of Dioceses and Ecclesiastical Provinces in Late Medieval Europe (1200-1500)” by R. Dorin, C. Romani, L. Schlansky and C. Womack (2021),  https://doi.org/10.25740/rh195hm5975, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license (CC BY). The dataset contains references to the Stanford data supplement via the column Stanford_id, corresponding to the ID numbers in the Stanford dataset. Those wishing to obtain location data of the dioceses as polygons are advised to access the Stanford data supplement.

The dataset has been built to record the diocesan affiliation of persons, institutions, groups and events in two research projects funded by the Research Council of Finland and hosted at the University of Turku:

The papal curia and ecclesiastical institutions of Rome in the Great Western Schism (1378–1417), PI Kirsi Salonen, (SCISMA), 9/2019–8/2024, (grant no. 321803, https://sites.utu.fi/scisma/

PERSECUTIO: Causalities of Polemics and Persecution in Late Medieval Europe, PI Reima Välimäki, 9/2023–1/2028; (gran no. 37046), https://sites.utu.fi/persecutio/

The datasheet is an adaptation of location datasheets used in the early stages of the DISSINET project, hosted at Masaryk University, Brno, https://dissinet.cz/

Column descriptions:

id = unique ID numbers for the dioceses.

label = labels for the dioceses as abbreviated Latin names, following the abbreviation praxis in Hierarchia Catholica (see above).

label_language = language of the label in the previous column.

label_modern = modern names of the dioceses. Corresponds closely to the names used in the Stanford data, with minor corrections.

Stanford_id = ID numbers for the dioceses in the Stanford data.

superordinate_archdiocese_id = the superordinate archdiocese of a suffragan diocese. Note that this dataset does not treat church provinces as separate entities.

superordinate_archdiocese_label = label of the superordinate archdiocese.

independent = if YES, the individual diocese was directly subjected to the pope (immediate subjecta). Rome has value YES in this column but it is, of course, a special case among the dioceses of the Catholic Church. 

metropolitan = if YES, the diocese was an archdiocese or patriarchate.

note = notes on individual dioceses.

Authors and their contributions:

Reima Välimäki (conceptualization, supervision, data collection, data curation, data description, review) 45 %

Kirsi Salonen (data collection, data curation, supervision, review) 30 %

Marius Aho (data transformation, data curation, review) 20 %

David Zbíral (conceptualization of the original data model, consultation, review) 5 %