The last decade has witnessed an explosion of scholarship on religious and semi-religious women’s participation in the liturgy of the medieval Catholic church. Thirteen international scholars across disciplines – history, musicology, liturgy, theology, and literature – will present new research on the ritual cultures of medieval religious women in Europe, defining both “ritual” and “religious” in broad terms to include the communal and individual ritual practices of enclosed nuns, beguines, tertiaries, anchoresses, and the communities with whom they interacted.

Presentation

The last decade has witnessed an explosion of scholarship on religious and semi-religious women’s participation in the liturgy of the medieval Catholic church. Recent studies have cast new light on women’s direct participation in liturgical action, as well as their production and care of liturgical art, textiles, and books. Liturgical references in mystical literature and hagiography reveal how embodied practice fostered women’s access to the divine, and a broader interest in prayer practice expands study of women’s rituals beyond the bounds of the liturgical, narrowly defined. Lay women, tertiaries, and professed lay sisters all engaged in ritual devotions, both communal and private, albeit differently than enclosed nuns.

Thirteen international scholars across disciplines – history, musicology, liturgy, theology, and literature – will present new research on the ritual cultures of medieval religious women in Europe, defining both “ritual” and “religious” in broad terms to include the communal and individual ritual practices of enclosed nuns, beguines, tertiaries, anchoresses, and the communities with whom they interacted.

Program

14 july 2025

Ritual Devotion to Female Saints

• Kristin Hoefener, NOVA University Lisbon
• CJ Jones, University of Notre Dame

The Ritual Lives of “Other” Religious Women

• Jörg Voigt, Niedersächsisches Landesarchiv
• Laura Moncion, University of Notre Dame / University of Tübingen
• Fr. Innocent Smith, OP, University of Notre Dame

Varieties of Musical Life in the Female Franciscan Family

• Martha Culshaw, University of Toronto
• Olivia Geraci, University of Notre Dame

Narrative and Ritual Objects

• Elisabeth Dutton, University of Fribourg
• Silvia Nocentini, University of Rome Tor Vergata

15 july 2025

Dominican Women, Makers and Patrons

• Kristina Kummerer, University of Notre Dame
• Sr. Maria Panagia Miola, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana

Benedictine Nuns’ Communities Beyond their Walls

• Sylvie Duval, Università di Bologna – Alma Mater Studiorum
• Katie Bugyis, University of Notre Dame

Important informations

This is a hybride vent. For more information and to register, scan scan the QR code in the attached file.

Both virtual and in-person participation is possible. Registration for all attendees is required, but free. For more information or to register, please visit the event webpage. The last day to register for in-person attendance is 7 July 2025.

Please email Kristina Kummerer (kkummere@nd.edu) with any questions or technological difficulties.