"Blessed are the Poor": Modelling Christian Values in Early Medieval Canon Law (400–1100)

Deploying methods inspired by topic modelling, this paper presents early results of a study exploring the dynamics of Christianisation and social justice in early medieval canon law. It investigates the hypothesis that, between the fourth century, when Christianity was established as the official religion of the Roman Empire, and the end of the Carolingian era in the tenth century, the values expressed in legal discourse became progressively Christianised, as evident in an increasing focus on care for poor and vulnerable groups. We aim to investigate the prevalence of the semantic field related to social justice as well as its shifting components across early medieval canon law.