The Cantus Database and Cantus Index Network

Abstract

Perhaps the oldest and certainly the most enduring of online, medieval chant databases, the Cantus Database for Latin Ecclesiastical Chant and its sister site Cantus Index: Catalogue of Chant Texts and Melodies have experienced stimulating growth over many years. Developments in software and web technologies, coupled with institutional and government support, have enabled multiple rejuvenations for the Cantus Database, now in its fourth decade. Although the original manuscript inventories continue to be the foundation of the Cantus Database and the principal focus of many online searches, its expanded contents and the interactive nature of the website allow for a variety of uses as well as the collection of new data from worldwide contributors. Through sample textual and melodic searches, description of the resources in the database, and demonstration of the infrastructure that ensures compatibility and interoperability with other chant research websites, the place and impact of the Cantus Database and Cantus Index in fields related to medieval musicology and digital humanities are explored in this chapter. The well-known “Cantus” websites, traversing into public musicology and engaging academic crowdsourcing, continue to supply scholars with both raw data and comparative digital tools for chant research, all freely accessible online as the products of collaborative efforts.