The datasets underlying this network analysis were generated through searches of the Early Modern Letters Online database. View the dataset on men corresponding with women as a CSV here; on women corresponding with men as a CSV here; and women corresponding with women as a CSV here.

I chose this database because I thought it would be interesting to focus on women’s relationship to knowledge in London between 1640 and 1670. This was a time of major political change, so I was curious to see how people communicated, shared information and stayed connected through letters. I picked this network by focusing on collections of letters from this period, since they show communication networks. I was also interested in how women were represented in these communication networks and whether their roles were different from men’s roles. A research question this data might answer is: how often were women communicating compared to men at this time and did women’s connections change over time between 1640 and 1670?

My network visualization shows that some people were a lot more connected than others which I found pretty interesting. It also showed me that women are represented in the network but they weren’t always the biggest name in the center or most connected. I made the people who send the most letters larger, so it is easy to see who is most important in the network. These larger names stand out and show who had the most influence or communication with others. I also changed the colors of the lines for each decade to show how connections changed over time. This visualization also shows the role of women in the network. I changed women to red and men to blue so it was easier to tell them apart and compare them. I was surprised that some men were in the center but you can definitely see women were still very connected at this time. However their connections still show they played a role in sharing ideas and knowledge.

Visualizing the relationships between people across time helps show me how much relationships changed and ideas spread. Letters show us that they allowed these people to stay connected and know about each other without having to be in the same place. This helped create communities where people shared ideas back and forth. By seeing these connections on my visual I was really able to picture and understand how these networks worked and how communicating with letters helped shape intellectual and religious communities in early modern Europe.

Overall, I enjoy this assignment and love how helpful the visualization is to see patterns that would be harder to notice all on a sheet. It also just gives us a clearer understanding of how people were connected during this time.