Medieval and Early Modern Soundscapes

Sheds new light on the concept of "soundscapes", enriching our understanding of the functions of music and sound in medieval and early modern cultures.

Sheds new light on the concept of "soundscapes", enriching our understanding of the functions of music and sound in medieval and early modern cultures.


Scholarly interest in the idea of the "soundscape" has grown steadily in recent years, particularly in relation to the ways in which music and sound shaped communities, articulated social hierarchies, and marked significant events. However, while detailed studies have illuminated the sonic life of individual medieval and early modern cities, broader approaches to historical sensory experience have remained comparatively underexplored. This volume addresses that gap by asking how the sensory phenomena of the past might be recovered and understood. Moving beyond a primary focus on urban spaces and formal musical practice, it places sensory reality at its centre, across both urban and rural contexts, and examines the emotional and physical effects that sound and music exerted on participants and listeners alike.

Organised into three thematic sections - sacred soundscapes; sound, identity, and belonging; and processional soundscapes - this book reconsiders the concept of the "soundscape" across the countries of medieval western Europe. It explores rural environments and liturgical atmospheres, sounds during processions and rituals, the sensory dimensions of pilgrimages and sea journeys, and the relationship between sound and collective identity. Drawing on previously unexamined archival sources, it brings medieval and early modern acoustic worlds vividly to life, highlighting diverse musical practices and forms of musicking across a variety of settings, from bell-ringing in medieval Avignon to the progresses of Henry VIII of England.


This volume is open access with funding provided by the Universidad de Granada and the European Research Council ERC-2021-ADG no.101054069.