Position

• Lecturer (UD) in Early Modern History

Bio and Research 

My work concentrates on 16th- and 17th-century Europe and the Mediterranean, with a particular interest in Venetian urban history and the social history of politics and diplomacy. I studied Economic and Social History at the University of Amsterdam and the Università di Ca' Foscari di Venezia.  

My current research project, financed by a NWO Veni grant, investigates social unrest and popular politics in early modern Venice. I have also worked on Dutch and Flemish merchants in early modern Venice; the merchant, art collector, and spy Daniel Nijs; and Dutch converts to Islam in the Mediterranean. 

Research Interests:

early modern popular politics - history of Venice - the early modern Mediterranean - the social history of diplomacy 

Trading Places. The Netherlandish Merchants in Early Modern Venice    

In my book Trading Places , published by Brill in 2009, I focused on the Netherlandish mercantile community in early modern Venice. Through an analysis of their  commercial activities, collective associations, and integration, I showed how these merchants continually renegotiated their relations with the Venetian Republic.

Trading Places was awarded the History Book Prize 2009-2012 by Werkgroep Italie Studies

Previous grants & fellowships

• Research Fellow, Italian Academy of Advanced Studies in America, New York (Fall 2013)
• Queen Wilhelmina Visiting Professor, History Department, Columbia University in New York (Fall 2013)
• Conference grant, Fritz Thyssen Stiftung (2012)
• Honorary Research Fellow, Birkbeck, University of London (2011)
• NWO VENI Research grant (2011-2015)
• Dr. Ernst Crone Research Fellowship, National Maritime Museum Amsterdam (2008-2009)
• Travel grant Fonds Doctor Catharine van Tussenbroek (2008):  http://www.cvtfonds.nl
• 2 Marie Curie Fellowships, European Doctorate in the Social History of Europe and the Mediterranean (2002-2003; 2004)
• Research fellow Royal Netherlandish Institute in Rome (2001)
• Scholarship Datini International Institute (2000)

"People, politics and protests in Venice (15th-17th centuries)" -  Workshop. Amsterdam, 27-28 February 2015

Organisation: Maartje van Gelder (University of Amsterdam), Claire Judde de Larivière
(University of Toulouse/Labex SMS)

For many years, the classical historiography of Venice claimed that the most Serene Republic
knew no noble factions, no popular revolts, no uprisings, and no real resistance against
patrician authority. Scholars have criticized the so-called myth of Venice, analyzing and
dismissing it as a rhetorical device used by patricians to promote their institutions: the
Venetian government was neither better nor more efficient. Yet while other Italian and non-
Italian states went through revolts and violent uprisings, Venice alone seems to have been
inherently socially and politically stable. Recent studies for other states and periods, however,
underline that the absence of successful rebellion does not equate the absence of political
protest.

We welcome proposals for papers for a workshop to be held in Amsterdam (27-28 February
2015) that address the topic of popular political protest in late medieval and early modern
Venice. The workshop will aim to propose a new research agenda for Venetian socio-political
relations, popular actions and politics.

Topics may include, but are not limited to: the form and patterns of popular political protest;
patrician reactions to popular protest; institutions and instruments of coercion. We are
especially interested in contributions that address the relation between protest and gender/the
role of women; resistance to patrician authority and patrician responses; ways in which
dissent could be voiced; collective protests and/or dissent by immigrants and minorities.
For more themes and questions that can serve as guidelines, see below.

Papers

Papers will be 20 minutes long and are meant to fuel the discussion. Young scholars and PhD
students are welcome. Travel and accommodation costs will be paid for.

Deadline for submission: 15 September 2014
Proposals consist of an abstract (250 words) and should be send to Maartje van Gelder
(M.vanGelder@uva.nl) and Claire Judde de Larivière (judde@univ-tlse2.fr)

Themes and questions

Forms

Do we need to consider forms of crowd actions and demonstrations that have not been
identified as “revolts”, but that had the same intention or manifestation? Which groups or
individuals were involved? Can we discern patterns in the use of urban space during protests?

Did the Venetian urban setting itself (more canals than streets; more lagoon than piazze)
influence the shape of popular protests? Are there specific “Venetian” rituals or a specific
symbolic language of protest?

We would like to explore the different forms of action that we can find in the archives, such
as demonstrations of the Arsenalotti asking for the rise of their salary, the contestation of the
authority of public officers, popular rituals during major celebrations, etc.

Sources

In what way do the Republic's archives report protests and dissent? Was there any space to
record incidents of dissent and forms of protest? If not, can we answer our main question by
reading the official records“against the grain”, by focusing on contradictions, silences, and
denials? Are there alternative sources that go beyond the official perspectives and rhetoric of
peace and concord?

Reaction

How did patricians react to contestation and resistance? Did popular protests influence
patrician decision making? In what ways?
The workshop could be an opportunity to reconsider the different institutions of coercion in
Venice (police, justice, guards, new institutions or changes in their mandates…), the way they
could act and react, and their jurisdiction.

Comparison

We have invited scholars working on other geographical areas, but with an interest in
popular revolts and politics, to act as discussants. This can help challenge our usual
questions about Venice and shift our interest towards fields, forms, and events that may have
been underrated or forgotten.

• Geen nevenwerkzaamheden
• Geen nevenwerkzaamheden