Hora est: Drs Wink becomes Dr Wink! On Monday, 22 September, our colleague Jurriaan Wink successfully defended his PhD in Amsterdam.

We're thrilled to welcome Nel de Mûelenaere as the newest member of our research group! Nel de Mûelenaere is Associate Professor of Contemporary History, holder of the chair Traces of Resistance, and head of the VUB history program.

Axel joins SHOC's TvO team! We’re pleased to announce that, starting in September 2025, Axel Van der Maelen will be joining SHOC as a TvO student.

Join us for the first event in our new series The Foragers with a screening of Up on the Mountain (2022, dir. Olivier Matthon and Michael Reis), a powerful documentary following three groups of commercial mushroom pickers as they travel the “mushroom circuit” across North America.

New chapter ahead! As of 1 October, Mathijs Speecke joins SHOC as a postdoctoral researcher within the interdisciplinary iBOF project LOCO, which traces the movement of materials, people, and ideas in and out of the Low Countries from the Neolithic to the Late Middle Ages.

We welcome Arne Vinck as a Talent-for-research student! Arne studies justice, work ethics and corruption among lower law court officials in early modern Brabant under supervision of Klaas Van Gelder.

Introducing: "The Foragers": Engagements Beyond the Human A fruitful collaboration between, FORAGENCY, the VUB Casterman-Hamers Chair in the History and Philosophy of Science, and VUB CROSSTALKS has led to a series of talks, screenings and an exhibition building bridges between arts and sciences.

Trade in the late Middle Ages was risky: travel was slow, information was often incomplete, and danger was ever-present. Yet the importance of trade generally increased. Why did merchants and sailors continue to follow their trade routes, despite the dangers?

Meet Rhea Mertes, our new SHOC colleague! Rhea obtained her MA in History at VUB, where she focused on the role of social status and origin in legal prosecution in late medieval Bruges. Her broader interests include mobility, inclusion and exclusion, and the social history of late medieval Europe.

Noémi Tomaszynski joins SHOC as a Talent for Research Student! Noémi began her studies in History at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) in 2022. Her academic interests include socio-economic and migration history, with a particular focus on the Middle Ages.

On advance access: "Fossil Energy and the Ecology of Everyday Life in the Low Countries during the Long Eighteenth Century" by Wout Saelens (University of Antwerp/VUB-University of Brussels) doi.org/10.1093/past...

In a new article in Economic History Review, Centre for Urban History and SHOC researcher Bas Spliet and Anne McCants measure the cost of the early modern consumer revolution. (read more in the posts below👇)

Bob Pierik joins SHOC! As of 1 September, Bob Pierik will join VUB and the SHOC research group as an assistant professor of early modern history. At VUB, Bob will be teaching courses on early modern, urban and cultural history.

Join Professor Hugh Kennedy (School of Oriental and African Studies, London) and Professor Frederik Buylaert (Ghent University) for the launch of SHOC member Dr. John Latham-Sprinkle's book, 'The North Caucasian Kingdom of Alania, 850-1240'.

Smoky, dirty, unhealthy. That is how peat and coal were long perceived in the early modern period. So why did households start bringing them home, just as ideals of cleanliness and health were gaining ground?

From September 2025, Daan Huysman will be part of SHOC as a TVO student under the supervision of Reinout Vander Hulst. Daan will contribute to the DIGICOLJUST-2 and GUSANGIRA projects, which investigate court martial archives of the Belgian colonization of Congo, Rwanda and Burundi.

Now on Early View: 'The cost of the consumer revolution: Prices, material living standards, and real inequality in Amsterdam (1630‒1805)'. By Bas Spliet & Anne E. C. McCants. @urbanhistoryua.bsky.social‬ @shoc-vub.bsky.social‬ onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Call for Papers for the First International Conference of the Medieval Caucasus Network! ‘Studying Non-Elites in the Medieval Caucasus'. Click on the poster to find out more!

New publication by SHOC member Anna Derhaeg and Kaat Wils (KU Leuven)! ‘Power relations in the delivery room: Anaesthesia in Belgian obstetrics between 1880 and 1900’ was based on Anna's master's thesis and can be read in the latest issue of Historia, via the link below 👇 ugp.rug.nl/historica/ar...

📢 Call for Papers! Join Stephan Struntz and Jolien Gijbels at VUB on February 19–20 for a workshop exploring the historical use of health and medical questionnaires. Stephan and Jolien are delighted to invite submissions—deadline for abstracts is September 15. shoc.research.vub.be/en/call-for-...

Meet Reinout Vander Hulst, new SHOC colleague! shoc.research.vub.be/en/reinout-v...

SHOC had the honour of attending Rose Southard PhD defence, "Biting the hand that Feeds. Contesting the Food Guilds in 18th-century Brussels". A successful and engaging defence followed by a lovely reception: the ideal recipe for the start of a new chapter! Hearty congratulations, Dr. Southard!

A new article by SHOC member Anne Winter and Thijs Lambrecht! Curious about it? Of course you are. SHOC is happy to share the results of their research with you! www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Join us for our last seminar of the academical year! We welcome Giulio Ongaro (University of Milano-Bicocca) and Matteo Di Tullio (University of Pavia) for a lecture entitled "Unequal mountains? Political inclusion, commons and local finances in central-northern Italy during the early modern period"

We are proud to present @foragency.bsky.social's first research output! “Weaving the Future: Duiker Hides Trade and the Aka in Colonial Central Africa” by Etienne Gontard is now available via following link: www.jstor.org/stable/jj.23... For more info, see website: ercforagency.eu/index.php/20...

Always pleased to be able to add to my stock of historically accurate anti-immigrant slurs! Newest additions: 'false Lombard’, ‘strong French whoreson’, and 'rank Scot'. 🗃️ New #OpenAccess article by Bart Lambert and Josh Ravenhill: doi.org/10.25162/vsw...

Want to know why 'Fleming' was considered an insult in late medieval England and 'Dutchman' was not? Bart Lambert and Josh Ravenhill published an article about nationality-related slurs in 15th-century London in the Vierteljahrschrift für Sozial- und Wirtschaftsgeschichte.

🚨 How did medieval rulers and merchants use taxes and reprisals to signal resolve in trade disputes? This new article by Adam Hall explores conflicts involving foreign merchants in Bruges, offering insights into brinkmanship and diplomacy. www.mdpi.com/2409-9252/5/...

Trade wars are not just a modern phenomenon. In their new article, Bart Lambert and Louis Sicking show how the medieval counts of Holland and Zeeland tried to lure foreign merchants away from neighbouring Flanders. www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Op 9 juni 2025 presenteert SHOC-lid Dennis De Vriese op het Nerdland Festival, het grootste wetenschapscommunicatie festival van de Benelux. Daar heeft hij het over de geschiedenis van humor, waarom we daarin geïnteresseerd zouden moeten zijn en hoe we die kunnen ontdekken.

More about genetic diversity and the plague in medieval Sint-Truiden, including comments from Bart Lambert, in today’s De Standaard newspaper (in Dutch)! www.standaard.be/media-en-cul...

Check out this new article by an interdisciplinary team of researchers including SHOC historian Bart Lambert! Published in Genome Biology and available in open access. genomebiology.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....

Vorige vrijdag bracht een SHOC-delegatie een bezoek aan de Poorten-tentoonstelling in het STAM in Gent. De expo toont hoe rond (ondertussen vaak verdwenen) stadspoorten dynamische en kleurrijke stadswijken ontstonden.

New P&P article with SHOC colleague Klaas Van Gelder as one of the co-authors out now!

SHOC-colleague John Latham-Sprinkle will be presenting a conference paper on the theme 'Christianisation from Below' at the International Medieval Congress, Leeds, from 7th-10th July 2025. Check out the programme below👇 www.imc.leeds.ac.uk/imc-2025/pro...

Seminarie op 6 mei met SHOC-collega Benoît Henriet (VUB) en Margot Luyckfasseel (Universiteit Antwerpen) op 6 mei!

Happy to share this event, co-organised by SHOC member Benoît Henriet: 'Another Man in the Street', with award-winning writer Caryl Phillips on May 6th. For more info, click on the link below. www.vub.be/en/event/ano...

SAVE THE DATE: 19 May 2025! SHOC seminar with Alina-Sandra Cucu: "'Who was going to Paris at the time'? Training abroad, generational pride, and shopfloor politics in late socialist Romania". Registrations via [email protected]. For more info: shoc.research.vub.be/en/shoc-semi...

Meet Patxi Pérez Ramallo, new SHOC member! Patxi will be working as a postdoctoral researcher on the Make-Up of the cities project under the supervision of Bart Lambert. Click on the link below to read his bio. shoc.research.vub.be/en/patxi-per...

Join us for a seminar on two exciting cities, Florence and Bruges, during the Renaissance! 🏰 On Monday 5 May, 2-5pm. In collaboration with VUB’s VISU research group.

Received a tour at the excavations of the (first) castle of the counts of Flanders in Ypres today! A very exciting find regarding the earliest history of the city, and for my research on the city's earliest city-dwellers... 🏰 @amgc-vub.bsky.social @shoc-vub.bsky.social

JOB ALERT: new opportunities to come and work with us The LOCO project is looking for 2 PhDs and 2 Post-docs in (bio-)archaeology, history, geochemistry, and digital humanities.

On 25 March 2025 - i.e. today - the book 'World Cities of the Low Countries: Urban History of the Netherlands and Belgium' was published. Several authors, including SHOC historians Anne Winter and Klaas Van Gelder, recount fifty cities that were pre-eminent metropolises.

SHOC also has a LinkedIn account as of today! You can follow us via our profile: www.linkedin.com/company/shoc...

On Monday, 10 March 2025, SHOC colleague Dennis De Vriese succesfully defended his PhD theses called "Selling New Ways of Selling: Legitimising Regulation and Deregulation in the Brussels Meat Market." With a strong and inspiring presentation, Dennis convinced the jury and audience of his expertise.

Our colleague John Latham-Sprinkle will speak at a conference in Louvain-la-Neuve next Monday, 10 March. For more info, see flyer below.

Save the date! On the occasion of the republication of Badinter's book ‘The myth of motherhood’, colleague Jolien Gijbels shares her insights on ‘maternal instinct’ 24 years into the original publication of Badinter's work.

On March 4th, our colleague Jolien Gijbels will participate in a discussion together with @leahhazard.bsky.social , author of the book "Womb: The Inside Story of Where We All Began", and Dr. Joz Motmans, (UGent). The debate will be moderated by Heleen De Bruyne.

Ypres was one of 13th-century Europe’s economic powerhouses. Bart Lambert’s MOTC project drew on isotopic analyses of human skeletons to reconstruct mobility patterns of its inhabitants. Their new paper discusses evidence of regional, female and children’s mobility. link.springer.com/article/10.1...