The Encyclopedia of Global Human Migration provides a complete exploration of the prominent themes, events, and theoretical underpinnings of the movements of human populations from prehistory to the present day.

Slavoj Žižek is one of the most prominent public intellectuals of the left. His central claim holds that “today, it is more crucial than ever to continue to question the very foundations of capitalism as a global system”.

Mining the unusually rich diaries, memoirs, and poems written by Netherlandish Catholics, Judith Pollmann explores how Catholic believers experienced religious and political turmoil in the generations between Erasmus and Rubens.

How has migration affected Irish and Italy society since 1945?

Thirty years ago, the Leiden Journal of International Law (LJIL) was born, at a time when the writing of histories was hardly a popular endeavor for international legal scholars. In his 1987 article ‘Probleme der Völkerrechtsgeschichte’ (‘The Problems of International Legal History’), Heinhard Steiger…

For many people, five o’clock signals the end of their working day. But not for the motivated students of the Honours College Law. With some drinks and snacks, they keep going well into the evening. This time, they met for the festive conclusion of a course which brought the history of Dutch crime to…

As always, 5 students take part in the Departmental Teaching Committee History. The five of us want to represent the history students to the best of our abilities and enhance the visibility of the Committee. We are looking forward to an interesting year!

The new book, ‘Njord in de Oorlog’ (Njord during the War), describes how the Leiden student rowing club was affected by the Second World War in a detailed series of personal stories. On Monday 16 November, Njord president Rosalie ten Wolde presented the first copy to Rector Magnificus Carel Stolker.

The Executive Board has appointed Herman Paul (Institute for History) as Professor of History of the Humanities. He will take up the role from 1 January 2019.

This study interrogates contemporary and historical uses of barbarism, arguing that barbarism also has a disruptive, insurgent potential.

Providing a valuable overview of regionalism throughout the entire continent, Regionalism in Modern Europe combines both geographical and thematic approaches to examine the origins and development of regional movements and identities in Europe from 1890 to the present.

The World of a Mid-Eighth-Century Egyptian Official

In this article, Ben de Jong, research fellow at the Institute of Security and Global Affairs, examines the relationship between double agents and their handlers.

Ann Marie Wilson and Andrew DJ Shield have been recently awarded a Leiden Global Interactions SEED grant to support the launch of a new platform for sexuality studies at Leiden University: the Leiden Queer History Network (LQHN).

Vera van Noort, professor in Computational Systems Biology at the KU Leuven (Belgium), is appointed holder of the rotating chair “Van der Klaauw Professor” for the year 2015-2016 at the Institute of Biology. Holders of the chair bring inspiring research and teaching in theoretical biology to the University.…

Het boek met de titel ‘the story of constitutions’ probeert interdisciplinair te begrijpen waar de grondwet vandaan komt en waarom het juist nu in korte tijd viral is gegaan. Waarom is dit oeroude fenomeen de laatste jaren zo in populariteit toegenomen en ook nog eens in een tijd, waarin democratieën…

This project proceeds from the observation that since the second half of the twentieth century, forgiveness and reconciliation have become pervasive themes in western culture, both on a political level and in personal relations.

The subject of this thesis is Alverata, a twenty-first-century typeface whose design was inspired by the shapes of Romanesque capitals such as those found in inscriptions of the eleventh and twelfth centuries.

In this doctoral dissertation (2012) the effects of the monetization of the Greek world in the 5th and 4th century on conceptions of reciprocity in friendship are analyzed.

Asim Zubcevic defended his thesis on 11 November 2015

This research investigates the impact of socioeconomic developments on the physical condition of medieval populations in Holland and Zeeland between AD 1000 and 1600 through the analysis of human skeletal remains from three archaeological sites.

In White Lies and Black Markets, Fatah-Black offers a new account of the colonization of Suriname—one of the major European plantation colonies on the Guiana Coast—in the period between 1650-1800.

This book investigates how the rulers of the Habsburg world empire developed and implemented a central maritime policy for the Netherlands and appointed an admiral of the sea or admiral-general for that purpose.

This book argues that the combined literary, epigraphic and archaeological evidence supports the theory that early-imperial Italy had about six million inhabitants.

During the early modern period, many medieval manuscripts were cut up into strips of parchment which were reused to reinforce the bindings of newly printed books. Until recently, these reused pieces of medieval manuscripts only came to light when the early modern book binding was damaged and/or subjected…

This volume was edited by Jeroen Duindam, Jill Harries, Caroline Humfress, and Nimrod Hurvitz.

The process of unification and the character of the union are the central topics of Magnanimous Dukes and Rising States. Robert Stein mirrors continuity and modernisation in Burgundian times with the bankruptcy of the former dynasties and the decline of feudal government. The powerful towns played an…

De Pagus Renensis van de 4de tot de 8ste eeuw na Chr.: Een archeologische synthese

Political scientists Tom van der Meer, Lisa Janssen (University of Amsterdam) and Tom Louwerse (Leiden University) analyse polls presented by the main polling agencies in the Netherlands, as well as micro-level panel data. They reach three main conclusions. First, vote intention polls in the Netherlands…

On the 9th of June Bahaddin Budak successfully defended a doctoral thesis and graduated.

The central aims of this project are to establish the shapes of the various urban hierarchies existing in the provinces of the Roman Empire and (especially) to use the quantitative properties of these hierarchies to shed new light on levels of economic integration.

Blood, Sweat and Tears: The Changing Concepts of Physiology from Antiquity into Early Modern Europe

Vijf jaar na de overhandiging van ‘A History of Russian Law’, overhandigde emiritus hoogleraar Ferdinand Feldbrugge op 16 januari het tweede deel van zijn unieke overzichtswerk aan decaan van de Faculteit der Rechtsgeleerdheid Joanne van der Leun.

The Yearbook for Dutch Book History publishes Open Access articles in the Dutch and English language on all aspects of the book history of the Low Countries. For the 32nd edition of 2025, they particularly welcome contributions within the theme of “Books across borders.”

The Dutch Research School Art History (OSK) and Utrecht University organize the Technical Art History Days. On April 4 and 5, experts present and discuss current research at Utrecht University that brings together material and digital approaches for the study of art and heritage.

How should the Quran be read? The manuscript of this holy book makes different interpretations possible. Researcher Marijn van Putten has been awarded an ERC Consolidator Grant of two million euros to explore centuries-old recitations.

The Leiden wall formulae, Einstein's sink or the signature wall of Ehrenfest. It are just a few of Leiden's hidden science treasures. Alumnus from the Leiden Observatory Alex Pietrow described a few of these places on travel website Atlas Obscura.

The Department of History at Amherst College invites applications for a full-time, tenure-track position at the rank of assistant professor in medieval and early modern European history, beginning July 1, 2024. The area of specialization is open, but we particularly seek candidates who will offer a…

The Yearbook for Dutch Book History publishes Dutch and English articles on the book history of the Low Countries, in all time periods (including the Middle Ages). For the 30th Yearbook, to be published in 2023, they welcome in particular contributions for the theme ‘Technology and Transformation’.…

This NWO-funded research programme focuses on the assumptions and methodology of the writing of history of science. History of science is in many respects a flourishing discipline: it currently yields an impressive volume of studies. Systematic reflection about the ways in which history of science may…

Arab Identity and the Rise of Islam

This research project focuses on the thoughts of ethnicity and political orthodoxy in Medieval China by investigating Wang Tong’s works.

On the 2nd of September Jiyan Qiao successfully defended a doctoral thesis and graduated.

The Tides of History is a history podcast that takes listeners into the past while trying to identify how it echoes today. The current season centers around the Iron Age and the new episode features an interview with our own Bleda Düring.

Leidens's Classics and History rank 6th and 15th place in the QS World University Rankings by Subject. Every year, QS ranks universities all over the world on academic reputation and research impact, grouped by subject. Linguistics (23), Languages (39) and Religious Studies (40) also do well in the…

Bird, butterfly, fish: when you look through a children’s book, you usually don’t think about the fact that humans divided these animals, depicted in bright colours, into categories. Yet, this division has been discussed for centuries. In her PhD dissertation, Didi van Trijp shows how natural scientists…

French title: Communication et violences dans le Guéra et le Moyen-Chari (Tchad) de 1940 à 2010. This research investigates the relationship between the introduction of new means of communication and violence experienced by the local populations in the Moyen-Chari and the Guéra regions in Chad from…

Nadine Akkerman recently appeared as a guest on a BBC podcast and the History Extra podcast to discuss her book Spycraft. In these interviews, she delved into the fascinating world of espionage, sharing insights from her research and highlighting key themes from her work.

This study employs a comparative perspective to identify generic and specific qualities of petitions and petitioning. It charts the chronological development of petitioning practices over centuries. The interdisciplinary approaches provide range of conceptual and methodological expertise for reade…