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FRIHUMSAM-Fri prosj.st. hum og sam

The Legacy of Birgitta of Sweden. Women, Politics and Reform in Renaissance Italy

Alternative title: Arven fra Den Hellige Birgitta av Sverige. Kvinner, politikk og reformbevegelser i renessansen Italia

Awarded: NOK 11.2 mill.

Project Manager:

Project Number:

275205

Application Type:

Project Period:

2018 - 2023

Location:

Subject Fields:

Partner countries:

European and American scholars have lately uncovered the extraordinary surge of women writers and philosophers in early modern Italy (1350–1700), a number that by far surpasses that of women writers in other countries during the Renaissance. In the same period, the literary oeuvre by Birgitta of Sweden (d. 1337) circulated widely in Italy. Latin manuscripts of Birgitta’s work Revelaciones (Celestial Revelations) were copied in Italian scriptoria, translated into Italian vernacular, incorporated in compilations, and printed in Latin and Italian editions. However, the legacy of Birgitta’s extensive literary production and its possible impact on female writers and intellectuals in Renaissance Italy has hitherto not been explored. The purpose of this project was to fill this gap. The project pursued a three-fold aim: 1) By mapping the Italian and Latin manuscripts and early print editions of Birgitta’s literary work, the project aimed to achieve a systematized overview of the extant materials that were produced and circulated in Italy in the Renaissance. 2) By creating a database (including bibliographies, maps, biographies, and links to manuscripts and to early printed editions), another aim was to prepare the ground for a series of innovative case studies. 3) Tracing the networks connected to the production and transmission of manuscripts and print editions (in courts, cities, convents and publishing houses), the project finally intended to explore the extensive legacy of Birgitta of Sweden in Italy. A central question was how Renaissance and early modern women writers may have fashioned their authorial voice on Birgitta’s revelations. The core group consisted of five persons: the PI, an American researcher employed for one year, a postdoc in a three years-position, a PhD-student, and an assistant. During the period, the PI received external funding for three additional postdocs (MSCA-fellows), of which two were closely connected to the research project. In addition, a series of distinguished scholars were connected to the project (from the Nordic countries, USA, England, and Italy). The first international conference was held in Rome in September 2018. A series of international scholars were invited to take part in the project. At the same time, the core group started the work with the database. The work with the database, in form of meetings, travels and workshops, continued until the Summer 2020. During this period the core group went systematically through bibliographies, catalogues, and archives, incorporating the findings in the database. The database was also equipped with map coordinators, biographies, and links to libraries and archives where manuscripts and early prints were available. In this way, the group not only achieved an overview over manuscripts and early print editions connected to Birgitta’s name. The material was also localized to the single collections and libraries around in Italy. The database came to be a highly important tool, both for the core group and for the invited experts. The database made it possible to analyse systematically the extent of the circulation of Birgitta’s corpus, and to explore which texts circulated most, in which periods they were popular, and in which networks the different revelations were read. An non-expected discovery was the amount of so-called apocryphal texts, and especially popular prophesies (both rhymed and in prose) which were not written by Birgitta herself, but which feigned to be penned by her. Another important discovery was the circulation of Birgitta’s texts in different Renaissance reform networks, where also women writers and intellectuals often had a central position. These findings were highly important for the further research, and they resulted in an extensive anthology, to which twelve of the international group of scholars contributed. The anthology is now under publishing by Brill and will be published in 2023 both as a book and as an open access-publication. Other important results of the project are the two scholarly monographs, one written by the project’s researcher and the other by one of the project's postdocs; a popular monograph (i.e. a trade book written for a broader readership) written by the project’s PI; a series of scholarly articles and book chapters written by the singular members of the core group; and finally a PhD-dissertation about Francesca Romana (d. 1440) who was a central figure in the legacy of Birgitta of Sweden in Rome. The dissertation is the very first extensive scholarly study of Francesca Romana, and as such an important contribution to the ongoing research.

Gjennom tverrfaglige studier foretatt av et internasjonalt team av forskere har prosjektet resultert i en større forståelse av Birgittas posisjon i den italienske renessansen. Prosjektet har hevet kompetansen blant flere av deltakerne både når det gjelder arkivstudier og når det gjelder kunnskap om den hellige Birgittas forfatterskap. Manuskripter og tidlige trykk tyder på en betydelig sirkulasjon av Birgittas tekster (både apokryfe og ekte) i ulike italienske miljøer. Prosjektet har systematisert og samlet disse i en database, samt utforsket manuskriptene og trykkene på ulikt vis og i ulike kontekster. Effekten av prosjektet er av avgjørende betydning for Birgitta-forskningen og for nordiske middelalderstudier. En serie sentrale case studies har avslørt at Birgitta hadde en langt mer sentral plass i den italienske renessansen enn tidligere antatt. Vi antar at dette vil komme til å sette sitt preg på den fremtidige renessanseforskningen og den tradisjonelle fremstillingen av kvinners rolle som kunnskapsaktører og kunnskapsprodusenter i det tidligmoderne Europa.

What is women's contribution to European textual cultures and knowledge production? The main objective of this pioneering research project is to approach this question by offering new, profound understandings of a period in European intellectual history when women played a significant role as cultural agents for the very first time. European and American scholars have lately uncovered the extraordinary surge of women writers in early modern Italy, a number that by far surpasses that of women writers in other countries during the Renaissance. In the same period, Birgitta of Sweden's literary oeuvre circulated widely in Italy. Latin manuscripts of Birgitta's work Revelaciones (Celestial revelations) were copied in Italian scriptoria, translated into Italian vernacular, incorporated in compilations, and printed in Latin and Italian editions. Yet, the legacy of Birgitta's extensive literary production and its impact on female writers in Renaissance Italy has hitherto not been explored. By mapping the Italian and Latin manuscripts and early print editions of Birgitta's work, and by integrating this information in a rich database (including bibliographies, maps, biographies, links to digitalized manuscripts and early prints, etc.) the project will investigate the extensive legacy of Birgitta of Sweden in Italy. A central question is how Renaissance female writers may have fashioned their authorial voice on Birgitta's Revelaciones. To achieve this, the project will include international leading scholars as well as a network of Scandinavian expertise. The method is to employ digital humanities supported by network theories and textual and philological analyses. Moreover, the approach will consist of both interdisciplinary and diachronic investigations. The general impact of the project is a groundbreaking contribution to the on-going and highly innovative international research on women's political and intellectual agency in the shaping of Early Modern European culture.

Funding scheme:

FRIHUMSAM-Fri prosj.st. hum og sam