Until very recently malaria was an impactful disease in the Netherlands. While currently mainly regarded as a tropical disease, references to symptoms which could be related to the disease are found in several historical documents from the 17th century onwards. To be able to better understand this disease…

In lieu of the Medieval Studies Day 2021, the Dutch Research School for Medieval Studies has organised the following alternative event online: TOTENTANZ, Reflection Online, December 17, 16.00-17.30. Totentanz is an animation opera produced by the Dutch stage director Wim Trompert, based on Bernt…

Barbarism: from the 18th century to the present.

Learn the newest insights from established scholars.

Women in the Middle Ages often wore better quality clothes than men. This is one of the conclusions drawn by Leiden archaeologist Chrystel Brandenburgh, who studied textile remnants from the period from 400 to 1000 A.D. PhD defence 10 May.

De lichtheid van literatuur: Engagement in de multiculturele samenleving (The Lightness of Literature: Engagement in the Multicultural Society) is a plea for the social relevance of literature. The book delves into an age-old debate about literature and social engagement, which has recently been reinvigorated…

On Wednesday, 22 September, at 17.00, this interdisciplinary research group kicks off a series of online seminars.

A rare medieval bookmark emerged in Leiden University Library. Book historian Erik Kwakkel found the disk in an archive of manuscript descriptions called the Bibliotheca Neerlandica Manuscripta. It was likely put their in the early twentieth century by Willem de Vreese, who made the descriptions. The…

Generations of Leiden students and academics have done archaeological research into the early medieval history of Oegstgeest. This makes this old settlement one of the best-documented sites from that era. In a new book Leiden researchers take stock.

The Greater Angkor Region in contemporary Cambodia was dramatically more urbanized in the 13th century than previously thought, and home to 700.000 to 900.000 people. These discoveries were made by a research team led by Sarah Klassen. Their findings are published in Science Advances.

Charles University (Prague) is seeking highly qualified international post-doc researchers in the following domains: medieval literature, medieval Latin, and medieval philosophy. Deadline: 15 July 2021.

Archives were a common target during the Second World War, and hundreds suffered damages. Among these archival losses, the losses to medieval manuscript collections stand out.

Researchers within the cluster are committed to the close and expert analysis of the materiality and content of the arts, literature and media they study. Different types of media bring various aspects of this core interest to the fore.

What is the name of the medieval Persian poet Nezami (✞ ca. 1209) doing on the cover of an Eric Clapton rock album? Asghar Seyed Gohrab, associate professor at the Institute for Area Studies, talks about it in a new blog for the Leiden Medievalists Blog.

On the 31 March 2022 Mr. Taufiq Hanafi successfully defended a doctoral thesis and graduated.

Wenxin Wang defended her thesis on 26 October 2016

Who had a say in making decisions about the natural world, when, how and to what end? How were rights to natural resources established? How did communities handle environmental crises? And how did dealing with the environment have an impact on the power relations in communities?

The Leiden University Centre for the Arts in Society (LUCAS) is one of the few research institutes in the world in which researchers in the field of literature, art, architecture, design and media studies come together to conduct research into the cultural production of the western world, from classical…

Medievalism is the area of academic study that investigates the reception and reconstruction of the medieval past since the Middle Ages came to an end.

By comparing the archaeological evidence at Sedgeford and other sites located on both English and Continental coastal zones, what evidence is there for a shared maritime culture between these North Sea communities? Also if evidence is found, can we reveal to some extent a separate coastal identity to…

On June 26-28, 2024, the Annual Conference of the International Society for the Study of Medieval Theology will take place. The theme this year is "The End: Finiteness, Death and Completion in Medieval Theology". Deadline for paper proposals: 20 December 2023.

The interplay between literature and law is what Frans-Willem Korsten wants to address as a brand-new professor of Literature, Culture and Law. That means doing research, but certainly also teaching. 'The Hague is of crucial importance for the humanities.'

Learn the newest insights from the researchers who uncover them.

In 2013, Thijs Porck wrote a guest blog for 'medievalfragments'...

It is integral to many cluster members’ research to use Medieval and Early Modern Arts as a lens for studying the medieval and early modern periods at large:

The Middle Ages are becoming increasingly more popular: just look at the popularity of such ‘medievalist’ TV series as Game of Thrones and Vikings, and let’s not forget popular re-enactments of medieval battles. Leiden University is home to many specialists of this fascinating period and this new blog…

Op 22 februari leidt Karst Schuil (Wenen) het derde seminar (online) van de seminarreeks van de Onderzoekschool Mediëvistiek: Emotionality and Late Medieval Self-Transformative Processes. Hij onderzoekt de relatie tussen pelgrimages en emoties en zal zijn prospectus (een uitgewerkt voorstel) van zijn…

Working during Corona brings along various challenges but also unexpected opportunities. Thijs Porck, university lecturer medieval English at the Leiden University Centre for the Arts in Society (LUCAS), was asked to give a digital guest lecture for the University of Costa Rica and shares his experi…

The 7th European Congress of Medieval Studies of the Fédération Internationale des Instituts d’Études Médiévales (FIDEM) will be organized by the Department of Arts, Media, and Philosophy of the University of Basel, Switzerland. There is a number of slots for papers (20 minutes) and special sessions…

Ahab Bdaiwi, University Lecturer of Islamic history, religion and philosophy, was received the first Faculty Impact Award. His interest lies in ‘everything that has to do with antiquity’, especially the religious and philosophical ideas that arose at that time. ‘They can move people. And many of those…

How do you recount historic events if you are not allowed to talk about them? For his dissertation, Taufiq Hanafi tried to find out how a period of mass murder – despite heavy censorship – found a place in Indonesian literature. PhD defence 31 March.

An Introduction and Field Guide, Second and Revised Edition (15 December 2014)

The coastal site of Butrint is situated on a peninsula in south-western Albania, opposite the island of Corfu and Apulia in southern Italy (across the Adriatic Sea). In Medieval times, Butrint served as a connecting bridge between East and West – between Byzantium and the Latin world.

Conference