The research project Books, rituals and spaces in a Cistercian nunnery. Living, praying and reading in Lorvão 13th – 16th c., along with the Institute for Medieval Studies (IEM Nova FCSH), organizes the International Conference “Women of the Cistercian Order: unveiling nunneries and expanding horizons”, which will take place via Zoom January 29-31, 2025.

The primary goal of this international conference is to bring together and synthesize recent research on Cistercian scriptoria, books, and libraries, as well as to explore female agency in Cistercian convents and the connections between books and nuns. 

Scholars will explore the material characteristics of Cistercian liturgical books, particularly focusing on their codicological features, such as unique binding methods that often reveal insights into provenance, and the analysis of pigments used in the creation and blending of coloured inks. Aspects related with the ‘biography’ of the book, evidence of the books care process, as well as its conservation methods along the centuries preserving its identity, will be also considered.

The conference also aims to explore Cistercian liturgy and its ritual enactment within monastic spaces, focusing on the order’s quest for liturgical uniformity. In addition, we will examine how this ideal interacted with local practices, including its adaptation to the specific liturgical traditions of Cistercian convents. In this context, we seek to highlight the role of female agency in cultural and artistic patronage and in liturgical practice.

Further, it is also the conferenced organization’s intention to publish the papers delivered at the Conference in a peer-reviewed volume.