Vice, Tyranny, Violence, and the Usurpation of Flanders (1071) in Flemish Historiography from 1093 to 1294
The earliest sources of the history of medieval Flanders do not agree on the origins of the counts. The earliest source, the so-called “Genealogy of Arnold [I],” credibly traces the counts’ origin to Baldwin I “Iron Arm,”…
Flandria Illustrata: Flemish Identities in the Late Middle Ages and the Early Modern Period
This chapter discusses identity formation in early modern Flanders. It argues that policy makers and their intellectual agents transformed the perception of a province that had been divided by urban rivalries, civil war and conflicts with the Burgundian and Habsburg overlords, into a bastion of the Catholic Counter Reformation with strong ties to the Spanish King and his representatives.
Urban Territories in Late Medieval Brussels. Imagined Frontiers and Responsible Institutions
This chapter focuses on the spatial analysis of intra-urban territories which existed in late medieval and early modern Brussels (Belgium). By studying their morphological characteristics and origins, I seek to understand their functions within urban society.
Medieval Letter-Collections as a Mirror of Circles of Friendship? The Example of Stephen of Tournai, 1128-1203
We are well informed on the life of Stephen of Tournai and some of his work (97). Born in 1128, he grew up in the chapter of Sainte-Croix in Orléans, where he was educated in the artes liberales.
Famous medieval bridge in Belgium under threat from canal project
The Pont des Trous, a 13th century bridge in the city of Tournais, could be torn down and replaced as part of large project to create a canal that would link France with the Low Countries.
Learning by doing or expert knowledge? Technological innovations in dike-building in coastal Flanders (13th-18th centuries AD)
Dike construction apparently uses simple technology, with slow and gradual change; not the kind of technology that reshaped the material conditions of living, comparable to the spread of electricity or sanitation in the 19th century ‘networked’ city (and linked to the disciplining of society and the rise of domesticity and the modern self-reflexive individual) (often inspired by Latour and Foucault).
Reconstruction of the diet in a mediaeval monastic community from the coast of Belgium
The aim of the present article is to report the results of stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis on skeletons from a Belgian mediaeval population, and to look at variations in diet that may relate to age and social status.
Modernization of the Government: the Advent of Philip the Good in Holland
As I have shown elsewhere, the county of Holland underwent a structural change in the second half of the fourteenth century, when economically the emphasis shifted from agriculture to trade and industry and demographically from the country to the towns. The institutions however did not change.
State power and illicit sexuality: the persecution of sodomy in late medieval Bruges
The study of marginal groups in the late medieval Low Countries is much neglected. The issues of when, where and how homosexuals came to be marginalized, to be regarded as a danger to social order, have not been specifically investigated in this part of Europe.
The Resolution of Commercial Conflicts in Bruges, Antwerp, and Amsterdam (1250-1650)
The Resolution of Commercial Conflicts in Bruges, Antwerp, and Amsterdam (1250-1650) Gelderblom, Oscar (Utrecht University) Merchants in the Low Countries: The Organization of Long-Distance Trade…
Experiencing Space Through Women’s Convent Rules: the Rich Clares in Medieval Ghent (Thirteenth to Fourteenth Centuries)
The order of the Clares is generally regarded as the Second Order of Saint Francis of Assisi and was founded by Francis of Assisi himself in 1212 CE at San Damiano near Assisi, and headed by Saint Clare of Assisi (1193/94-1253 CE)
Physical Sight and Spiritual Light in Three Sixteenth-Century Plays of the Low Countries
Physical Sight and Spiritual Light in Three Sixteenth-Century Plays of the Low Countries Steenbrugge, Charlotte Marginalia, Vol.3 (2006) Abstract I shall investigate the…
Self-Representation of Court and City in Flanders and Brabant in the Fifteenth and Early Sixteenth Centuries
Self-Representation of Court and City in Flanders and Brabant in the Fifteenth and Early Sixteenth Centuries BLOCKMANS, WIM DONCKERS, ESTHER Leiden University (1999)…