Doctrine, devotion, and cultural expression in the cults of medieval Iberian saints

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Saints were the heroes of medieval culture, the centre of lively cults which presented them as active intercessors and examples for their fellow Christians. We will explore how devotion to medieval saints was constructed through the combination of liturgical, musical and material elements, in an area that has received little scholarly attention despite its rich culture: early medieval Iberia. Our study of the development and transmission of Iberian saints' cults from the Visigothic period to the 14th century will integrate hagiography, liturgical texts, chant, and material culture for the first time. This will offer a new perspective on how saints were constructed by and experienced by the communities that venerated them. We will publish a series of peer-reviewed journal articles and a team-authored monograph, as well as inviting an international general public to gain a new appreciation of this unique heritage via an interactive, multilingual and multimedia exhibition. We know that saints were proudly defended elsewhere in Western Europe as local patrons and community figureheads, and that veneration of saints was gendered: women were commemorated for virginity; and men were celebrated for leadership. Iberian saints, however, have not been analysed for their socio-cultural significance and integrated into wider European paradigms. This is the result of inaccessible manuscript sources, and lack of scholarly familiarity with the distinctive Old Hispanic rite. 'Iberian saints' brings together an interdisciplinary team to address these gaps in the research agenda, and to produce the first holistic study of saints' cults in early medieval Iberia, straddling multiple disciplinary specialisms, and engaging with how the veneration of Iberian saints shifted over the centuries, in particular during and after the 11th-century imposition of the Roman liturgy across much of Iberia.Our work will open up new research avenues for scholars in multiple disciplines, modelling an interdisciplinary approach that can shed new light on historical moments about which only fragmentary evidence survives. By adding a significant body of Old Hispanic material to www.musicahispanica.eu and www.cantusindex.org, we will facilitate integration of Old Hispanic liturgical evidence into the wider European context. Further, this data sharing will make the Old Hispanic materials widely accessible, with the (intricate and unfamiliar) liturgical structure ready parsed. We will undertake innovative transcription work in our web-based Chant Editing and Analysis Program (neumes.org.uk). Old Hispanic notation is unpitched, which poses significant challenges to scholars engaging with the melodies. In Iberian Saints, we will continue to develop analytical tools and methods that break new ground in our understanding of medieval monophonic melodic languages, available to all through our software and exemplified in our publications.Beyond academic discourse, our interactive digital exhibition will significantly increase the cultural value of our research findings. The exhibition will reconnect locals who visit archives and museums in Lamego, Coimbra, Salamanca and Toledo with this almost-forgotten aspect of their cultural heritage, as well as reaching out to tourists, and being available online. It will raise consciousness of Old Hispanic liturgy and its manuscripts, while communicating our new findings to the general public. The exhibition will engage audiences in ways that go far beyond superficial appreciation of the beauty and antiquity of the materials: they will be taught to navigate the texts, melodies and liturgical context, performing basic forms of analysis through interactive games, and navigating the GIS maps of each saint's cult. For some, there will be devotional and spiritual benefits as well; they will re-examine their own religious practices in the light of the thousand-year old culture to which we are drawing their attention.