An exceptionally rich set of liturgical sources survives from the medieval Diocese of Turku, roughly equivalent with medieval Finland. Despite this, the chant tradition of the diocese has never been systematically studied. This project seeks to reconstruct the official chant tradition of the diocese, to trace its development in the Middle Ages, and to understand its influence on the liturgical life of the reformation period. In addition, the project examines the local variation of the music of the liturgy. Did local chant traditions exist in medieval Finland, and if they did, from where did they derive? By improving our grasp of the music in the liturgical manuscripts the project will also make these sources more accessible to other kinds of historical research. The more fully we understand these sources the better they can be made to cast new light on more general historical questions, such when and from where Christianity arrived in the different parts of present day Finland.

2022

2026