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Call for papers
The Gruuthuse manuscript. Literature, music, devotion around 1400

International conference, Bruges, 25-27 April 2013

Organised by Musea Brugge, the Dutch Royal Library in The Hague and Radboud University Nijmegen

In the frame of the exhibition, ‘The Gruuthuse manuscript’, March 22nd – June 23rd, 2013, Bruges, Bruggemuseum-Gruuthuse, in collaboration with the Dutch Royal Library in The Hague and Radboud University Nijmegen


Theme
The Gruuthuse manuscript was compiled in Bruges around 1396-1408. It is a highlight in Middle-Dutch literature as well as being an important source of information about late-medieval urban culture in the Netherlands. In addition to prayers and poems the manuscript includes the oldest known collection of songs with a musical notation in the Low Countries: songs of courtly and uncourtly love, songs of fellowship and religious songs or hymns. The manuscript largely owes its reputation to this unique and large collection of songs. Lodewijk van Gruuthuse (c. 1427-1492), a counsellor of the Dukes of Burgundy and a bibliophile, (may have possibly) owned the manuscript, which remained in private hands for several centuries. It was included in the collection of the Dutch Royal Library The Hague (NL) in 2007.

The Gruuthuse manuscript is the starting point and the main theme of an exhibition at the Bruggemuseum-Gruuthuse. After a brief introduction about the manuscript (who owned it, its discovery, its content, and its reception) and the city of Bruges c. 1400 the exhibition goes on to examine a number of themes broached by the manuscript: music, love, art, fellowship and devotion. The conference will reprise these themes as the starting point for an international and multidisciplinary approach to (urban) culture in North-western Europe in the early fifteenth century.

A number of plenary sessions will start with a multidisciplinary examination of the (cultural) space in which compilations such as the Gruuthuse manuscript existed, of the technical study of the manuscript and its results for the various disciplines and of music and literature around 1400. Parallel sessions will then elaborate on specific aspects of the aforementioned disciplines. New insights in terms of history, art history, literature and musicology will be explained and developed during this conference.


Call for papers
The organisers are launching a call for papers for the parallel sessions. Speakers shall have 20 minutes for their lecture, followed by a 10-minute discussion with the participants. Proposals in the form of a summary of max. 250 words should reach [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> at the latest by May 25th, 2012. The proposal shall also mention the speaker’s name, discipline and affiliation as well as the language in which the lecture shall be given. The conference language is Dutch but lectures may also be given in French, English or German. The conference committee shall notify its decision at the latest on June 30th, 2012.

The lecture shall be included in a conference publication to which all participants can subscribe upon registration. Speakers at the parallel sessions shall be offered the dinner on the opening evening and the conference publication free of charge.



Conference committee
-      Prof. Dr. Jos Koldeweij, Radboud University Nijmegen (NL)
-      Dr. Ad Leerintveld, Dutch Royal Library, The Hague (NL)
-      Dr. Nele Gabriëls, Alamire Foundation – KU Leuven (B)
-      Dr. Noël Geirnaert, City Archive Bruges (B)
-      Dr. Pieter Mannaerts, Alamire Foundation – KU Leuven (B)
-      Prof. Dr. Johan Oosterman, Radboud University Nijmegen (NL)
-      Dr. Manfred Sellink, Director Musea Brugge (B)
-      Ludo Vandamme, Historic Fund Public Library Bruges (B)
-      Prof. Dr. Frank Willaert, University of Antwerp (B)
-      Inge Geysen, Bruggemuseum, Bruges (B)
-      Eva Tahon, Bruggemuseum, Bruges (B)
-      Katelijne Vertongen, Bruggemuseum, Bruges (B)

Organisation
-      Jos Koldeweij, Radboud University Nijmegen
-      Ad Leerintveld, Dutch Royal Library, The Hague
-      Inge Geysen, Eva Tahon and Katelijne Vertongen, Bruggemuseum, Bruges

More information? Mail [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>

Practical information about the conference
Dates           Thursday, April 25th until Saturday, April 27th, 2013
Opening        Thursday, April 25th (afternoon) at the Town Hall, followed by a public lecture and a dinner
Location        City centre of Bruges
Concert         April 26th, 2013, Concertgebouw Bruges
                   April 27th, 2013, Concertgebouw Bruges (optional)
Evening opening
                   Option to visit the exhibition at the Bruggemuseum-Gruuthuse (with an introduction by the curator) on April 26th, from 5 p.m.
Registration   Before April 14th, 2013



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Dr. Pieter Mannaerts
Musicology  Research Fellow KU Leuven
Mgr. Ladeuzeplein 21, pb 5591
B3000 Leuven, Belgium
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