His Majesty the King's Gold Medal is awarded annually to outstanding young researchers for a scientific work evaluated at the University of Oslo.
This year, Johanna-Pauline Thöne from the Department of Musicology is among the eight recipients honoured for her dissertation titled “Papal Polyphony during the Great Western Schism (1378–1417)”.
“It feels like a meaningful acknowledgment of the time and effort I put into researching and piecing together these musical fragments,” Thöne says.
“Often, work like mine is regarded as ‘old-fashioned’ or niche, but this award shows that understanding our past is still vital. It’s a reminder that history – and the arts – continue to shape how we see the world.”
Like solving a puzzle
In her thesis, she explored polyphonic, or multi-voiced, music written for popes during one of the most chaotic periods in Church history.
This was the time of the Great Western Schism, which lasted from 1378 to 1417, when multiple popes were competing for power. The music she studied, which she refers to as “papal polyphony”, was not just beautiful – it was also political. It was used to support different papal claims and honour key figures in the conflict.
“What fascinates me is how these centuries-old songs still speak to us today. They show how people used music to make sense of a divided world, much like we do now,” she says.
Thöne explains that many of these pieces have only survived as tiny fragments. She describes her work as solving a musical jigsaw puzzle, and figuring out where these fragments came from, how they were used, and what they meant.
Through her work, she discovered that each papal court had its own musical style and strategy. They had different musical genres, languages, and even rhetorical tricks in the lyrics.
“It’s amazing how music shaped public opinion back then, just as it does today. Some songs even hint at apocalyptic fears – because without a legitimate pope, people believed the world might end. Can you imagine that kind of anxiety being sung into a melody?”
Challenging but rewarding
Thöne has now relocated from Norway to Ireland, where she has a postdoctoral position at Maynooth University and continues to explore medieval music.
Her current focus is on polyphony in England and Ireland during the late Middle Ages. She is also in the process of turning her PhD into a series of articles.
“It’s certainly keeping me busy, but I really enjoy the process. There’s always something new to uncover, and that makes the work both challenging and rewarding.”
The King's Gold Medal will be presented on 2 September 2025 as part of The University of Oslo's Annual Celebration.