Current projects

A Living Law: Minor Canonical Collections in the Carolingian Period

This two-year project, funded by the Gerda Henkel Stiftung, aims to improve our understanding of eighth- and ninth-century canonical dynamism through a systematic study and analysis of ‘minor’ canonical collections

Dating the Remains of an Agricultural System in Southern Iraq

Remains of a massive irrigation system covering over 50,000 hectares surround the former site of the city of Basra, Southern Iraq. The remains of the agricultural system today consist of a regular pattern of ridges of soil in straight lines, separated by old canal beds. Dr Peter Brown will work together with Iraqi colleague Dr Jaafar Jotheri (University of Al-Qadisiyah, Iraq), and Dr Louise Rayne (Newcastle University, UK) to try and date the ridges.

Making a martyr in medieval Iberia, 659-1080

This project promises new insights into how societies make martyrs by looking to early medieval Iberia, which was home to a widespread and very active devotion to indigenous Christian martyr saints.

Mirror of mutual relations: communication between Hanseatic cities

This project studies the development of urban networks in the so-called Cologne region around the rivers Rhine, Meuse, Waal and IJssel, and their relation to Hanse between ca. 1450 and 1650. The Hanse, a cross-border cooperation of cities and businessmen, dominated European trade and politics for nearly four centuries (14th-17th century). The project focuses on its function for cities in the Cologne area at both sides of the actual Dutch-German border as well as on the function of individual towns and groups of cities within the contemporary Hanseatic network.

Source of Life: Water Management in the Premodern Middle East

The Source of Life project combines historical and archaeological evidence to explore the interrelationship between water installations, governance, and legal and cultural frameworks within five Middle Eastern cities from the first Arab conquests to Ottoman rule (the 7th-15th centuries).

The Medical Compendium of Henricus Spijker, Doctor and Canon in Fifteenth-Century Nijmegen

This project discloses a medical compendium composed between 1475 and 1493 to a wider audience by making it digitally available.

Viabundus. Map of premodern European transport and mobility

Viabundus provides an open-source available, digital map of long-distance routes in Northern Europe (ca. 1350-1650) and a database with places along these routes, a fair calendar, and a route planner.

Water heritage in Istanbul: an integrated model for conservation and public engagement

Istanbul and its hinterland have a very rich water heritage, dating back over 1500 years. Dr Mariëtte Verhoeven will work at the Dutch Consulate General in Istanbul to develop an integrated model for increasing public awareness and preserving Istanbul's water heritage.