Modeling systems of sentencing in early inquisition trials: Crime, social connectivity, and punishment in the register of Peter Seila (1241–2)

Abstract

Despite significant research on the techniques of repression employed by medieval inquisitors against religious dissidents, the case-level influences on the penances they meted out are understood only vaguely: the extent to which sentencing “systems” existed is unknown. To overcome this, we apply formal methods – an exploratory analysis supported by crisp-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis, and statistical modeling founded on multiple linear regression – to the large and historically significant register of Peter Seila (1241–2), captured as structured data via a statement-based approach entitled “Computer-Assisted Semantic Text Modelling” (CASTEMO). The results show that Peter systematically weighted different types of crimes and dissident interactions when sentencing; they do not suggest, however, that he was influenced by accomplicity or kinship among the sentenced.