Actes de Vatopédi. No. 43. The Network Analysis: General Delineation. Part 1

In recent decades, world science has been overwhelmed by a wave of appeals from modern scientists to the concept of “network.” It finds application in Byzantine studies. The main function of network analysis is recognized as visualization – the presentation of its results in graphical form. The network analysis of the Vatopedi act no. 43 is justified by a collection of 23 records on the purchase of land plots by the Vatopedi monastery at the beginning of the 14th century. Their alienation allows us to reveal, first of all, certain segments of the lives of contemporaries of the past era, in particular, information about covenantors and witnesses of transactions, as well as neighbors. The results obtained need attribution supported by the text of the document. Without implementation of the procedures of the authentication, the constructed graphs turn out to be just illustrations of disparate details of social organization. The network analysis of Vatopedi act no. 43 is based on a complex and systematic approach to the social activity of medieval villagers. All information about them is examined in a systematic correlation through reconstruction of an integral model of rural society. Its network analysis reveals comprehensive relations of instances which discover an existence of the socium. The network starts with the formalization of the content of the document under study and ends with the integration of information on a social nature. The structure of the analyzed document, the system of family and kinship relations of members of land transactions, and the distribution of land plots are represented as the network system. The social features, characterizing the positions of different representatives of the society and their social action, are similarly demonstrated. This problem relies on options of personal identification of the status of the most prominent members of the community. In the first part of the exploration the main result of the procedures of network analysis is the generalization of observations on separate notices, concerning over 125 villagers and monastery inhabitants. The information approach makes it possible to identify and integrate practically notifications about every person and object in the considered document. All information is placed in a systematic correlation with subjects of the activities, which are combined into an integral picture of medieval society, predetermined by the action of its members. Owing to the reconstruction of the network structure of the community under consideration, the selective nature of the historical description is replaced by an integrated representation of society. The studied document displays information, both directly recorded and newly discovered through network analysis. Therefore it is considered as an effective tool for scientific exploration. It consists of Introduction, exposing the tasks of studying Byzantine documentary heritage through the network approach to analysis, methodology, and characterization of the contents of the Vatopedi act no. 43. The most significant sections are “The Network Analysis. The Principals and Directions of Study,” “The Personnels and Identification,” “Topography,” as well as Conclusions, where the total is reckoned up for the first part of the study. Author’s contrbution. Yu. Vin – author of the idea and its development, formalization and analysis of the data; D. Kondratiev – information and system realization of the project, building of symbolic-analytic system and network analysis of graphs.