FUNDATRICES · Female Founders and Liturgical Chant in the Southern Low Countries

This project investigates medieval rhymed offices (liturgical chants in verse) composed in honor of saint abbesses from the Southern Low Countries during the late Middle Ages. Its central aim is to uncover how these women and their legacies were interpreted, celebrated, and reshaped through religious music centuries after their deaths. An original creation of the medieval period, rhymed offices are often artistically sophisticated, with elaborate poetic and musical structures, and multiple layers of meaning. Despite their significance, many of the surviving sources, both manuscripts and early printed editions, remain largely unstudied in both their textual and musical dimensions. FUNDATRICES will bring these sources to light, contributing to current efforts within medieval studies to reassess the roles, agency, and representation of women, particularly within religious communities. Focusing on this under-explored genre, the project advances interdisciplinary research at the intersection of musicology, literary studies, and the history of written culture. Rhymed offices will be approached as complex cultural creations shaped by devotional practices and institutional contexts. A key aspect of the project is making these sources available to the scholarly community through the publication of modern editions of selected rhymed offices, accompanied by a holistic analysis from literary, historical, and musical perspectives. Through the recovery and analysis of this neglected repertoire, FUNDATRICES will make a significant contribution to international scholarship on medieval chant, sainthood and gender, while also promoting the cultural heritage of Belgium and the broader European context. Hosted at the research center Pratiques médiévales de l’écrit at the University of Namur, the project will equip the researcher with advanced academic and transferable skills, supporting her long-term development and contribution to teaching and the promotion of cultural heritage.