Emotional Contrast: Spanish Repertoire in the 1640s-1660s

In this second blog, I discuss why Spanish plays were so eagerly translated and adapted by Dutch authors. It seems that Spanish repertoire formed a reaction of sorts to the staid plots of Vondel, Hooft, Coster, and Bredero.

Tim Vergeer • February 01, 2018

A 21st-century Dutch ‘Beeldenstorm’? The Frame of Iconoclasm in Historical Perspective

Over the past week colonial heritage has been the subject of a public debate in the Netherlands, called the 'Beeldenstorm' discussion. Why is this term used and how does it frame a variety of views as iconoclastic?

Lieke Smits • January 24, 2018

The Personal Tragedy of the Popular Theodore

Theodore Rodenburgh (1574-1644) was an overly productive playwright whose plays were exceptionally popular. Nonetheless, he was discredited by fellow playwrights and critics, and was denied a place in Dutch literary history. Why is this?

Tim Vergeer • November 30, 2017

Dolls for Adults

Dolls as devotional aids, liturgical props and objects of desire: on the various ways medieval adults interacted with dolls and lifelike sculptures.

Lieke Smits • November 23, 2017

Goose barnacle and barnacle goose

Early Modern Natural historians often referred to other texts of natural history, and in doing so they included unreliable knowledge. An example is the genesis of geese out of Pedunculata shells, a so-called spontaneous generation.

Charlotte Kießling • October 12, 2017

The many meanings of reading (3). Speed.

The term 'to read' is used for a myriad of activities. In this series, I will explore the different uses of the word in the context of book history. In this third instalment: speed.

Andrea Reyes Elizondo • September 14, 2017

Exploring the Game of Thrones Citadel's library: Knowledge repositories in history and fantasy

Knowledge is power, and libraries are its centres of preservation, both in history and in fiction. How closely does the fantastic Game of Thrones' Citadel Library mirror equivalents from history?

Fleur Praal and Andrea Reyes Elizondo • September 07, 2017

Medieval Women as Terrorists?

What connects medieval women to current discussion on violence and religion? This post looks into the projection of political ideas on historical figures.

Lieke Smits • July 06, 2017 • 2 comments

The Rooster & the Pearl: A Little Aesopic Odyssey

Fables are very old and flexible. This is substantiated by a juxtaposition of several versions of the fable of The Rooster and the Pearl, which may be called a “metafable”, since it is a fable about fables.

Gert-Jan van Dijk • March 16, 2017

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