Exhibition 'Judith. A Carolingian Princess in Ghent?' opens its doors and hits the media

It's finally here! The long-awaited exhibition 'Judith. A Carolingian Princess in Ghent?' in St. Peter's Abbey in Ghent (Historische Huizen) has opened its doors to the public on Friday 4 October 2024! What started almost two years ago as an ambitious multidisciplinary research idea, triggered by the TV hit-documentary series 'Het Verhaal van Vlaanderen', now results in a beautiful exhibition on Judith of West Francia, the Carolingian world, the origins of the County of Flanders, and, of course, the early medieval archaeological discoveries under Ghent's St. Peter's Square. International loans from all over Europe, professional staging, exceptional storyfication, even tailored activities for children: visitors are in for a treat! But among all of it, the fundamental research underpinning the exhibition narrative takes pride of place!

At the heart of this research is a collective of bio-anthropologists and historians from Ghent University (ArcheOs and the Pirenne Institute) and archaeologists from the City of Ghent who together reopened both the "Case of Judith" (historically) and the "Case of individual S127 within an early medieval necropolis" (bio-anthropologically and archaeologically). The announcement of the research project back in 2023 received significant media attention.

Core research team members involved in the exhibition are Ghent University's Prof. Steven Vanderputten (History), Prof. Isabelle De Groote and Dr. Jessica Palmer (Bio-anthropology), as well as Marie-Anne Bru and Geert Vermeiren (archaeologists City of Ghent). The team is supported for valorisation by Dr. Stefan Meysman, coordinator of the Pirenne Institute. The fundamental research was supported by the King Baudoin Foundation (Jean-Jacques Comhaire Fund), while various valorisation efforts were co-funded by Ghent University's Societal Valorisation Fund and the Faculty of Arts of Philosophy.

The exhibition runs from 4 October 2024 to 15 January 2025. Parallel to the exhibition, the scientific findings of a larger, international team of researchers have been published in the book 'Judith of West Francia, Carolingian Princess and First Countess of Flanders. Biographical Elements and Legacy' (Brepols, 2024), edited by the project's PI Prof. Steven Vanderputten. It represents the state of the art in history, archaeology and bio-anthropology concerning Judith, the early county and comital dynasty of Flanders in the Carolingian world, (later) representations of Flemish history, and, of course, the early medieval St. Peter's Abbey in Ghent, including 'Individual S127'. Here you can find the flyer in English, Dutch and French.