Using Databases to Detect Intertextual Echoes and Map Relationships Between Texts

Among the numerous examples of medieval Latin biblical versification is the anonymous Liber Regum, a rewriting of the four Books of Kings preserved in Paris, BNF, lat. 14758. Research on the text and its sources was greatly aided by Latin databases such as Corpus Corporum, Musisque Deoque, and Brepols’ CDS, which proved crucial for identifying textual echoes and reconstructing the “intertextual constellation” linking the Liber to authors active in northern France between the late eleventh and twelfth centuries. A particularly noteworthy case is the relationship between the Liber Regum and Peter Riga’s Aurora: the analysis of significant correspondences and patterns of imitation indicates that the anonymous Liber influenced Riga’s poem. This evidence allows the Liber Regum to be dated, setting 1170/1180 as a terminus ante quem. Overall, the use of these databases demonstrates their effectiveness in situating medieval Latin poetic texts within their compositional context and in supporting their chronological and geographical localization.