Binnen het door de European Research Council gefinancierde project ‘Sharing Knowledge in Learned and Literary Networks: the Republic of Letters as a pan-European Knowledge Society’ onder leiding van Dirk van Miert zijn er met ingang van 1 januari 2018 drie vacatures voor een 4-jarig promotietraject. Zie voor meer informatie en om te solliciteren de website van AcademicTransfer:

De deadline is 20 oktober 2017.

29 September 2017
09:30 – 17:45 hrs.
University Library, Witte Singel 26-27, Leiden, Vossiuszaal

Effects of the rise of reason of state in political thought on history

It is well known that historical writings and historical information played a crucial role in the development of ideas on reason of state and ‘modern’ political thought (including natural law). The reverse relation, i.e. the effects of the rise of reason of state in political thought on the methods, questions and approaches in history has received far less attention. The purpose of this meeting is an exchange of ideas about this side of the relationship between researchers in the broad field of intellectual history (coming from disciplines such as history, literature, law and philosophy) working on reason of state in the 16th -18th century in various regions in Europe.

Possible specific topics for papers include the changes in historiography as a result of changing ideas on ethics and historical causality and/or the nature of human society; effects of secularisation, and of a sharper distinction between secular and ecclesiastical (or confessional) politics; of the rise of economic thought and the emergence of ‘social sciences’ (such as in the Strasbourg school, which has deep roots in late humanism); connections between growing doubts and controversies regarding the relevance of the Classics in the contemporary world (Querelle des Anciens et Modernes); and questions as to the different effects of reason of state-thought between Catholic and Protestant regions in Europe.

Registration

There is no entrence fee for this symposium. However, we would like you to register on monday september 25 at the latest. You can register by sending an email to Lisa Kattenberg: L.F.Kattenberg@uva.nl with subject Registration symposium. Please also include the following information:

  • Your name (first and last name)
  • If you would like to have lunch. We ask a contribution of 5 euros for lunch, which you can pay on site.
  • If you would like to join for diner. Diner will be at your own expense.

Program

9:30 – 9:45  Opening

9:45 – 11:30  Session 1: Historiography and reason of state: remarks on theory  (Chair: Lisa Kattenberg)
Jan Waszink (Leiden University): Causality and secularisation; the difficult beginnings of a new historiography
Jacques Bos (University of Amsterdam): Reason of state and the circumstances of political action: from exemplarity to historicity

10:45  Short coffee & tea break

Jan Rotmans (University of Amsterdam): ‘Man as he is, not as he ought to be’. The predictability of history and the anti-utopian image of human nature in late Dutch Enlightenment thought
Discussion

11:30 – 11:45 Coffee & tea break

11:45 – 12:45  Session 2: History and reason of state in various European contexts (Chair: tba)
Sarah Mortimer (Christ Church, University of Oxford): History, Reason of State, and the succession crises of the 1590s
Marisol García Gonzalez (Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia): Della conservazione della pace dell’Italia. Reason of State and historiography of the Early Modern Milan
Discussion

12:45 – 13:45  Lunch 

13:45 – 14:45  Session 3: Religion, reason of state and the Dutch Revolt (Chair: Jan Waszink)
Alberto Clerici (Università degli Studi “Niccolò Cusano”): Morality, politics and religion in Guido Bentivoglio’s account of the Twelve Years’ Truce (1609)
Lisa Kattenberg (University of Amsterdam): Conscience, experience and reason of state: Spanish debates about peace or truce in the Low Countries
Discussion

14:45 – 15:15  Coffee & tea break

15:15 – 16:15  Session 4: History and reason of state in early Enlightenment thought (Chair: tba)
Arthur Weststeijn (Utrecht University) Classical Colonisation in a Commercial World: Colonial Concepts and Practices between Carlo Sigonio and the Encyclopédie
Marianne Klerk (St. Antony’s College, University of Oxford): Reason of State and Interest in the Dutch Republic: the legacy of Duc de Rohan
Discussion

16:15 – 16:45  General discussion and closing remarks 

16:45 – 17:15  Publication Launch:  Electronic critical edition of Hugo Grotius, De Iure Praedae Commentarius/ The Law of Prize and Booty,   ed. J. Waszink e.a.

17:15  Drinks

20:00  Dinner (location tba)

Binnen het kader van de OIKOS-onderzoeksagenda ‘Anchoring Innovation’ is er met ingang van 1 maart 2018 een vacature voor een 4-jarig promotietraject binnen het project ‘Anchoring the Fascist Revolution: Latin and Its Audiences in Fascist Italy (1922– 1943)’ aan de Rijksuniversiteit Groningen. Download hier de vacature of kijk op de website van Anchoring Innovation.

In december is Spaans theater in de Republiek van Frans Blom en Olga van Marion verschenen.

Niemand zal ontkennen dat Joost van den Vondel de grootste toneeldichter van de Gouden Eeuw is geweest, maar de publieksprijs ging naar andere toneelschrijvers. De Spaanse comedias van topauteurs als Félix Lope de Vega y Carpio (1562-1635) en Pedro Calderón de la Barca (1600-1681) waren razend populair. Talloze dichters, vertalers, acteurs (en actrices!) rond de Amsterdamse Schouwburg hebben zich laten inspireren door het populaire barokke drama met z´n vele liefdesintriges, duels, balkonscènes, verkleedpartijen en liederen. Daarnaast maakten ze furore met hun Nederlandse bewerkingen van Spaanse toneelteksten. De vernieuwing is op gang gebracht door auteurs die het toneel van binnenuit wilden veranderen en die, buiten de gebaande paden van het traditionele vaderlandse toneel om, streefden naar visueel aantrekkelijk, emotioneel aangrijpend en inhoudelijk schokkend spektakel in de Nederlandse schouwburgen. Spaans theater in de Republiek brengt het begin, het hoogtepunt en het einde van deze beweging in beeld.

Kijk voor meer informatie op de website van de uitgever.

In oktober is Vijftien strekkende meter. Nieuwe onderzoeksmogelijkheden in het archief van de Bibliotheca Thysiana onder redactie van Wim van Anrooij en Paul Hoftijzer verschenen.

De Bibliotheca Thysiana aan het Leidse Rapenburg 25 herbergt sinds de opening in 1655 tot op de dag van vandaag ruim 2.500 boeken van Johannes Thysius (Amsterdam 1622-Leiden 1653), telg uit een rijk koopmans‑ en geleerdengeslacht dat oorspronkelijk afkomstig was uit Antwerpen. Nadat Thysius onverwachts ziek was geworden, stelde hij een testament op waarin hij bepaalde dat zijn boeken bij elkaar moesten blijven ‘tot publijcque dienst der studie’. Bij de boekenschat van Thysius behoort ook een familie‑ en bibliotheekarchief van vijftiende strekkende meter dat loopt vanaf de zestiende eeuw tot heden. In 2014 is daarvan een herziene inventaris verschenen. Het archief bevat een schat aan informatie voor historici, kunsthistorici, taal‑ en letterkundigen (latinisten, neerlandici, romanisten, germanisten, italianisten en oriëntalisten) en boekwetenschappers. In deze bundel geven specialisten afkomstig uit een aantal van deze disciplines een eerste indruk van de rijkdom van dit veelzijdige historische materiaal.

Inhoud: WIM VAN ANROOIJ/PAUL HOFTIJZER, Ter inleiding: een opmaat tot verder onderzoek   AREND PIETERSMA, De archieven van de Bibliotheca Thysiana: over gezinsleven, handel en wetenschap   JOHANNES MÜLLER, De koopmansfamilie Thijs en het ontstaan van transnationale Zuid-Nederlandse netwerken in vroegmodern Europa   JENNIFER HENDRIKS, Taalgebruik in woelige tijden. Het belang van egodocumenten in het archief van de Bibliotheca Thysiana   LODEWIJK PETRAM, Kwitanties, kasboeken en koopmansregisters. Unieke documenten over het economische leven in de Republiek   ESTHER MOURITS, Wie was Johannes Thysius? Vondsten uit het archief   JEANINE DE LANDTSHEER, Een lofdicht van Johannes Thysius op zijn bibliotheek   J.W.J. BURGERS, Johannes Thysius en de muziek   MARTIJN STORMS, Een woning met landerijen in Voorschoten. Analyse van de enige kaart in het Thysiusarchief   CHRIS L. HEESAKKERS, Een scholier uit de zeventiende eeuw vertaalt Erasmus   ANNE VAN DEN DOOL, Stille werkers. De custodes van de Bibliotheca   ANDY WIELES, Interview met mevrouw Leny Segijn-Kret, echtgenote van de voorlaatste custos van de Bibliotheca Thysiana

Kijk voor meer informatie op de website van de uitgever. Zie ook het nieuwsbericht over Esther Mourits’ proefschrift Een kamer gevuld met de mooiste boeken. De bibliotheek van Johannes Thysius.

Leuven viert 500 jaar Collegium Trilingue

De 500ste verjaardag van Erasmus’ Drietalencollege of Collegium Trilingue zal niet onopgemerkt voorbijgaan. De Universiteit Leuven en de Leuvense Universiteitsbibliotheek brengen het roemrijke college in een tentoonstelling voor het voetlicht. Die tentoonstelling loopt van 19 oktober 2017 tot en met 18 januari 2018 in de Centrale Bibliotheek op het Ladeuzeplein 21 te Leuven.

In een multimediale opstelling zullen Busleydens testament, Erasmus’ onvermoeibare inspanningen de moeizame realisatie van deze ‘humanistische droom’ worden belicht. Niet alleen zullen de gekende hoogdagen van de eerste helft van de zestiende eeuw worden verhaald, het verhaal over het gebouw, de lessen, de professoren en de presidenten van het college zal reiken tot de opheffing tijdens de Franse Revolutie. Het vernieuwde onderwijs Latijn, Grieks en Hebreeuws – het magische recept van het nieuwe college en de sleutel tot het Europese succes – zullen bovendien samen aan bod komen. Die nieuwe didactiek zal in detail worden getoond en uitgelegd aan de hand van (vaak onbekend of weinig bestudeerd) archiefmateriaal, geannoteerde handboeken, studentennotities, lesmateriaal van professoren. Download the flyer hier.

Bij de tentoonstelling horen twee publicaties, beide verzorgd door de Leuvense drukkerij-uitgeverij Peeters. Vooreerst is er een wetenschappelijke catalogus, rijkelijk met kleurenfoto’s van vaak ongekend materiaal geïllustreerd, de notities zijn het werk van een team van 40 auteurs:

Jan Papy (ed.), Erasmus’ droom. Het Leuvense Collegium Trilingue 1517 – 1797. Catalogus bij de tentoonstelling in de Leuvense Universiteitsbibliotheek, 18 oktober 2017 – 18 januari 2018 (Leuven: Peeters, 2017).

Daarnaast is er een prachtig uitgegeven volume met essays over het onderwijs aan het Collegium Trilingue. Na inleidende hoofdstukken over de stichting, organisatie en het opzet van het Drietalencollege en de bittere tegenkanting van sommige Leuvense theologen tegen het doceren van Grieks en Hebreeuws, volgen hoofdstukken over het taalonderwijs (van het Latijn en de volkstalen) in Europa, en het ‘nieuwe’ onderricht van het Latijn, Grieks en Hebreeuws aan het dan meest gerenommeerde instituut van Europa:

Jan Papy (ed.), Het Leuvense Collegium Trilingue 1517-1797. Erasmus, humanistische onderwijspraktijk en het nieuwe taleninstituut Latijn – Grieks – Hebreeuws (Leuven: Peeters, 2017).

 

Neo-Latin Scholarship on the Slavs

An international conference organised by

the Ján Stanislav Institute of Slavistics of the Slovak Academy of Sciences

to be held in Bratislava on 5–7 December 2018

Call for Papers

Almost all branches of modern science and scholarship, including humanities, can trace their existence back to at least early modern times when Latin was a common medium of European erudition. Yet, present-day researchers in individual disciplines are largely unaware of the existence of early modern Latin scholarship related to their respective fields of study.

This conference aims to explore the rich corpus of Neo-Latin scholarly texts written about the Slavs, thereby intending to throw light on the early stages of what later became established as Slavistics or Slavonic Studies. We also hope to bring closer together researchers from the fields of Slavistics and Neo-Latin Studies, a combination which we believe carries great potential for future research in both disciplines.

We welcome papers of twenty to thirty minutes in English, German or Latin concerning early modern Latin scholarship on the history, philology, mythology, ethnography, geography, etc., of the Slavs. Publication of a collection of essays based on the conference proceedings is envisaged in 2020. Please send your proposal of ca. 250 words and a very short biographical note to Dr Svorad Zavarský (svorad.zavarsky@savba.sk) no later than 15 December 2017. All authors will be notified by the end of 2017.

website https://neolatinscholarshi.wixsite.com/conference2018

A PDF of the Call for Papers can be downloaded here.

On 5 and 6 October the seminar ‘Meeting Spinoza: Books, Letters, Networks, Personal Encounters’ will be organised in Utrecht. The organising committee consists of Dr Albert Gootjes, Prof. Piet Steenbakkers and Dr Jeroen van de Ven (all from the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies), who finished the NWO research project Spinoza’s Web this summer.

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

  • Raphaële Andrault (CNRS, IHRIM, ENS-Lyon)
  • Mogens Laerke (CNRS, IHRIM, ENS-Lyon)
  • Steven Nadler (Wisconsin-Madison)
  • Antonella Del Prete (Tuscia University)

SPINOZA’S WEB

The Spinoza’s Web-project examines the life and work of the Dutch philosopher Benedict de Spinoza (1632-1677), as well as the networks in which he participated. In the reception and assessment of his thought, scholars have always seen an indissoluble connection between his writings, character and reputation, and the course of his life. Every era thus forms its own impression of Spinoza, and this image plays an important role—more than it does with other philosophers—in the way his thought is understood. This project seeks to develop tools for documenting Spinoza’s life, writings, and work as completely as possible, and will trace out the impact of his philosophy by mapping out the context in which his thought evolved. The project revolves around four research axes, each of which will produce its own output.

For more details and the programme, see programme_seminar_meeting_spinoza. Due to the limited seating capacity please register by email (meetingspinoza@gmail.com) on or before October 1.

For more information about the project, see The Spinoza Web.

Solliciteren kan via www.academictransfer.com/42315:

Job description
We are looking for four researchers (3 PhD candidates and 1 Postdoc researcher) to form the team of the NWO VICI project Citizenship Discourses in the Early Middle Ages (400-1100), granted to dr. Els Rose and running from 2017-2022.

The project as a whole explores how the early medieval world employed citizenship terminology inherited from the classical and biblical past, to shape and give expression to the new social, political and religious identities of Europe’s post-Roman inhabitants. The project examines the radical semantic changes to the use of citizenship terminology in a variety of written sources dating to the period 400-1100 and applies discourse analysis to these sources in order to lay bare their social implications.

A full description of the project is available here:
https://www.uu.nl/en/research/utrecht-centre-for-medieval-studies/research/current-projects

The three PhD researchers will investigate citizenship discourse in the following domains of early medieval culture:

PhD 1 will work on hagiography and apocryphal literature (project P3);

PhD 2 will study liturgy and sermons (project P4);

PhD 3 will examine the role of the Latin language in the process of percolation of citizenship discourse through to all layers of society (project P5);

The Postdoc will concentrate on the legal aspects of citizenship in a Christianising world, both in the centres and the peripheries of the (former) Roman Empire, in urban as well as non-urbanised settings (project P2 shared with the PI; project P6).

Requirements
We are looking for four excellent and enthusiastic researchers who fulfil the following requirements:
For the PhDs:

  • Master’s Degree in Medieval, Ancient or Classical Studies or a related field;
  • Demonstrable knowledge of Latin and the willingness to specialise in Medieval Latin;
  • Excellent communication skills in English, both in written and spoken form;
  • Excellent writing skills at an academic level;
  • Preparedness and ability to work both as a creative and independent scholar and as part of an academic team;
  • Ability to speak or willingness to learn Dutch

For the Postdoc, in addition to the above:

  • A completed and approved PhD-thesis in a relevant field of studies;
  • Demonstrable knowledge of and experience in researching ancient or medieval legal history is an asset.

Conditions of employment
We offer a position in an ambitious research project, embedded in the rich interdisciplinary tradition of Medieval Studies at Utrecht University. You will carry out one of the sub-projects, in which process you will have the opportunity to choose your own focus and methodological paths, depending on your expertise and choice of sources, all in consultation with the project leader.

You will be based at the Department of Languages, Literature and Communication (TLC) and participate in the Utrecht Centre for Medieval Studies (www.uu.nl/ucms), which co-ordinates the Utrecht medievalists in the Institute for Cultural Inquiry (ICON) and the Research Institute for History and Art History (OGK). Both the department and UCMS provide a stimulating and internationally oriented research environment. As a project member you will take part in the international conferences and other activities the project will initiate. All projects require a limited amount of teaching, which will allow you to build up or extend a teaching record.

We offer

Three PhD-positions at 1.0 fte, starting 1 March 2018, initially for a period of 18 months. Upon good performance and a positive evaluation, the contract will be extended for the remaining 30 months period (4 years in total). The gross monthly salary will start at € 2,222 in the first year and ends at € 2,840 in the fourth, on a full time basis (P-scale of the Collective Employment Agreement Dutch Universities);

and

A Postdoc-position at 1.0 fte, starting 1 March 2018 at the latest, initially for a period of one year. Upon good performance and a positive evaluation, the contract will be extended for the remaining 24 months period (3 years in total). The gross monthly salary ranges between € 3,238 and € 3,605 for a full-time employment, depending on experience and qualifications.

Salaries are supplemented with a holiday bonus of 8% and and a year-end allowance of 8.3% per year. In addition, Utrecht University offers excellent secondary conditions, including an attractive retirement scheme, (partly paid) parental leave and flexible employment conditions (multiple choice model). Here you’ll find more information about working at Utrecht University.

Employer
A better future for everyone. This ambition motivates our scientists in their leading research and inspiring teaching. At Utrecht University, the various disciplines collaborate intensively on major societal themes. Our focus is on Dynamics of Youth, Institutions for Open Societies, Life Sciences and Sustainability.

The Faculty of Humanities has around 6,000 students and 900 staff members. It comprises four knowledge domains: Philosophy and Religious Studies, History and Art History, Media and Culture Studies, and Languages, Literature and Communication. With its research and teaching in these fields, the Faculty aims to contribute to a better understanding of the Netherlands and Europe in a rapidly changing social and cultural context. Enthusiastic and committed faculty members and excellent amenities in the historical city center of Utrecht, where the Faculty is housed, contribute to an inspiring working environment.

Additional information
Are you interested? Click here https://www.uu.nl/en/research/utrecht-centre-for-medieval-studies/research/current-projects for the full project description.

For further information, please contact dr. Els Rose via h.g.e.rose@uu.nl