Blog

On 25 February 2026, Posthumus alumnus Junhao Cao sucessfully defended the PhD thesis ‘Property Rights and Agricultural Growth in Northwestern Europe, 1300-1800’ at Utrecht University. Supervisors were Professor Bas van Bavel and Dr Jessica Dijman (both Utrecht University).

Junhao Cao’s research seeks to explain the agricultural growth in the Low Countries and England over the period 1300–1800. This study investigates whether the transition towards private and secure land property rights drove agricultural growth, and through what mechanisms such impact occurred. The study employs regional, long-term and comparative approaches. Five case studies—the two main cases being Holland and Norfolk and the three minor ones inland and coastal Flanders and the South Midlands—serve as representatives of the advanced agriculture in the Low Countries and England, and broader in northwestern Europe. The study demonstrates that the favourable development of land property rights formed a precondition for and drove agricultural growth under certain conditions, but the extent of this growth varied, and in some cases stagnation occurred. The crucial points were as follows: free, private and secure property rights increased the transferability of land; land was transferred to dominant social groups which were different across regions; this gave rise to different strategies of land management and different farm size distribution; which in turn shaped labour input patterns and land use models, and thus determined agricultural growth in terms of labour productivity.

The N.W. Posthumus Institute staff congratulates Junhao Cao with obtaining the PhD!

THESIS INFO

The International Institute of Social History (IISH), in cooperation with the École normale supérieure de Lyon (ENS Lyon), welcomes paper and session proposals for the 16th edition of the European Social Science History Conference (ESSHC 2027), to be held at ENS Lyon on 21-24 April 2027.

The aim of the ESSHC is bringing together scholars interested in explaining historical phenomena using the methods of the social sciences. The conference welcomes papers and sessions on any historical topic and any historical period and is organised in 28 thematic networks.

Proposals should be submitted ultimately by the extended deadline of 22 April 2026 via the dedicated Oxford Abstracts Platform of the IISH.

FULL INFO

On Thursday 23 April and Friday 24 April 2026, the section Economic, Social and Demographic History of Radboud University, supported by the N.W. Posthumus Institute, will host the international seminar and workshop on “Trust, institutions, and capitalism in early modern Europe”. The keynote lecture at this event will be delivered by Professor Craig Muldrew (University of Cambridge).

Thursday 23 April: Keynote lecture

On the first day of the event, Professor Craig Muldrew will present his new book The Capitalist Self: the Social Origins of Financial Capitalism in Early Modern Britain (Cambridge University Press, 2025), at the ESDG seminar of Radboud University in room 9.14 of the Erasmus building from 15:30-17:00. The seminar will be followed by drinks and dinner with the speaker.

Friday 24 April: Workshop

The workshop on the second day of the event is open to early-career researchers (MA/PhD/Postdoc) who wish to receive feedback on their (ongoing) research. The workshop wants to explore the relationship between the behaviours and norms of economic actors and the accumulation of credit and capital in early modern Europe.

The organisers call for papers to be presented at the workshop: four participants will be invited to present their work in short presentations, after which the floor is open for feedback and discussion. Please consult the Call for Papers for more information on participation in the workshop.

Participation

Participation in the seminar and the workshop is free of charge. Participants are welcome to attend only one of the events, but participants in the workshop are especially encouraged to also attend the lecture during the seminar. For further details or questions about participation, please contact organiser Marte Stoffers.

For participation in the seminar on Day 1, you can register via the button below

For submitting a paper proposal, make sure to submit your abstract (500 words max.) and a one-page CV to organiser Marte Stoffers ultimately by 6 March 2026.

FULL INFO

On 5 and 6 November, the Department of Economic History of the London School of Economics (LSE) and the Centre for Late Antique and Medieval Studies will jointly organise the workshop ‘Swoing the Seeds VIII’; this workshop will also act as the 13th Annual Conference of the Research Group for Late Medieval Economic History. The first day will be hosted at the premises of LSE, the second day will take place at King’s College in London.

The conference brings together two research communities: the UK-based Sowing the Seeds network and the Continental European Research Group for Late Medieval Economic History, creating a space for dialogue concerning the range of sources and methodologies used in medieval economic history. As a conference shared between LSE and KCL, the organisers also aim to bridge generalist history departments and specialised economic history programs, to foster interdisciplinary conversation and support innovative (and collaborative) scholarship.

This conference will provide a supportive environment for presenting work-in-progress and workshopping new methodologies, where participants can receive constructive feedback from scholars working across diverse theoretical and methodological approaches. The event is designed to foster lasting research networks between UK and Continental European scholars, facilitating the kind of focused, cross-regional and interdisciplinary discussions that deepen our understanding of medieval economies and societies and build opportunities for collaboration. The keynote lecture will be delivered by Professor Oliver Volckart (London School of Economics).

Proposals (300 words max.) for attending this conference should be sent ultimately by 31 March 2026 to Spike Gibbs at LSE.

FULL INFO

The SHOC Research Group at Vrije Universiteit Brussel, in association with the Medieval Caucasus Network and the National Association for Armenian Studies and Research, will organise the international conference ‘Studying Non-Elites in the Medieval Caucasus’ on 13 and 14 March 2026 at the premises of the VUB Campus in Elsene, Belgium. The conference can also be attended online.

The conference features two days of papers on a variety of topics, from the Caucasian slave trade, to the place of women in medieval Armenian society, to the bioarchaeology of the medieval Caucasus. The keynote speakers are Nik Matheou (University of Edinburgh) and Irina Arzhantseva (Insitute of Archaeology, Russian Academy of Sciences). The organisers welcome anyone, including academics, students and members of the public, with an interest in the history of the Caucasus or in methodologies for studying the experience of non-elite groups, such as women, peasants, or enslaved people.

Registration is now open until 11 March 2026 via the online registration form. A participation fee of 20 euros applies for postdoctoral and permanent staff members, for members of the public, students, and PhD candidates a reduced fee of 10 euros applies.

FULL INFO

~ because of scope in Dutch only ~

In 2026 viert de Utrechtse Historische Studentenkring (UHSK) het honderdjarig bestaan. Ter gelegenheid hiervan verschijnt in maart van dit jaar bij uitgeverij WBooks de publicatie De Utrechtse Historische Studentenkring 1926 – 2026: Een eeuw verenigd door Geschiedenis. Aan deze jubileumpublicatie werkten naast Posthumus fellow Elise van Nederveen Meerkerk als auteurs Mette Bruinsma en Jorrit Steehouder en twee redactieassistenten van de UHSK, Jasmijn Cox en Chiara Evans mee, ondersteund door drie stagiairs voor de dataverzameling voor het boek: Lieke Loman, Aigui Thewissen en Zita Zwart.

Op 14 maart 2026 vindt de boekpresentatie plaats in de Theaterzaal van de Neudebibliotheek (Neude 11, Utrecht). Vanwege de beschikbare ruimte wordt belangstellenden gevraagd zich vooraf aan te melden.

MEER INFO EN AANMELDEN