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JOURNAL: Rechtsgeschichte XXXIV (2026) [OPEN ACCESS]

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(image source: MPILHLT ) Prof. Dave De ruysscher published an article on "The Bill of Exchange and the Dynamics of Legal Interpretation (15th–18th Centuries)" Abstract: This article analyses the developments of the law of bills of exchange in the later Middle Ages and early modern period from the vantage point of »legal dynamics«. From the 14th century onwards, the bill of exchange developed in interactions between international mercantile practice, legislative approaches and juristic interpretation. Close attention to mercantile documents and sources of practice allows us to nuance a largely »monolithic« image of the emergence of bills of exchange and their corresponding norms. For a long time, financial instruments have been presented as mere functional creations, derived from mercantile practice. This presentation went together with an assumption of continuity. With regard to bills of exchange, this resulted in the identification of the late medieval varieties with the st...

VACATURE: 50% docent (ZAP) Rechtsgeschiedenis (DEADLINE 9 OKT 2026)

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In het kader van het ERC-mandaat van prof. Frederik Dhondt zoekt de faculteit Recht en Criminologie van de Vrije Universiteit Brussel een tijdelijk docent (ZAP, 50%) om de opleidingsonderdelen Grondslagen van het Publiekrecht en Internationaal Recht  (plichtvak eerste jaar rechten) en Rechtsgeschiedenis  (keuzevak master rechten) te doceren, onderzoek te verrichten binnen de onderzoeksgroep CORE en bij te dragen tot de werking van onderzoeksgroep, vakgroep en faculteit. Kandidaten dienen houder te zijn van een doctoraatsdiploma in de rechten  en het Nederlands  perfect te beheersen. Het mandaat gaat in op 1 februari 2027 . Meer informatie op de vacaturesite van de universiteit .

CONFERENCE: Deutscher Rechtshistorikertag 2026 (Vienna: University of Vienna, 14-18 SEP 2026)

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  (image source: Rechtshistorikertag ) Prof. Dave De ruysscher will present at the German Legal History Days ( Deutscher Rechtshistorikertag ) on Wednesday. See program here .

BOOK: Dave DE RUYSSCHER & Janne E. NIJMAN (eds.), Amsterdam: Sovereignty and Legal Agency of a 17th-Century Commercial City [Legal History Library, eds. Dirk HEIRBAUT, Michelle MCKINLEY & C.H. VAN RHEE, 87] (Leiden/Boston: Brill Nijhoff, 2026), ISBN 9789004761100 [OPEN ACCESS]

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  (image source: Brill Nijhoff)  Prof. Dave De ruysscher and Prof. Janne E. Nijman edited the volume Amsterdam: Sovereignty and Legal Agency of a 17th-Century Commercial City , published by Brill Nijhoff in the Legal History Library.  Abstract: This volume examines the sovereignty and autonomy of the city of Amsterdam in the seventeenth century. Analysing aspects of the city's institutions, trade, art and religion, the contributions shed new light on Amsterdam's legal and institutional agency during its Golden Age.  Read more here , DOI 10.1163/9789004761537.

BOOK: Laurence HEINDRYCKX & Dave DE RUYSSCHER (eds.), Sites of Construction: Connected Histories (Ghent: Owl Press, 2026), 312 p. ISBN 9789493470118

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(image source: Owl Press)   Prof. Laurence Heindryckx and Prof. Dave De ruysscher edited the volume Sites of Construction: Connected Histories , published by Owl Press. The book is the final publication of the EOS research project Above and Beyond Construction History. Abstract: Sites of Construction: Connected Histories reconceptualises construction as a dispersed, multi-sited and interdisciplinary field of practice. The volume explores the legal, logistical, educational, colonial, political and social forces that shape the production of the historic built environment.  The volume also includes two contributions involving CORE researcher Louis Debersaques : “The Chambers of the Investigating Judge: The Translocation of the Construction Site via Preliminary Judicial Inquiries into Accidents and Some Methodological Considerations (Belgium, Late Nineteenth–Early Twentieth Centuries)”, authored by Louis Debersaques, and “The Expert’s Not-knowing: Authority as Art”, co-authored ...

CHAPTER: Dave DE RUYSSCHER, “Monitoring the Law of Trade: The Perceived Dangers of Legal Pluralism in 16th-Century Antwerp”, in: Anja AMEND-TRAUT, Sonja BREUSTEDT, Andreas DEUTSCH & Stephan DUSIL (eds.), Friedlicher Handel oder umkämpfte Geschäfte? Handel und Handelsrecht in der Vormoderne zwischen Krieg und Frieden [Beihefte der Vierteljahrschrift für Sozial- und Wirtschaftsgeschichte, 264] (Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag, 2026), pp. 17-39

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(image source: Franz Steiner Verlag)  Prof. Dave De ruysscher contributed a chapter on the perceived dangers of legal pluralism in sixteenth-century Antwerp to the collective volume Friedlicher Handel oder umkämpfte Geschäfte? Handel und Handelsrecht in der Vormoderne zwischen Krieg und Frieden , published by Franz Steiner Verlag.  Read more here .

BOOK PRESENTATION: Laurent DESUTTER, Superweak (London: Polity, 2025) (Lisbon: Livraria Ler Devagar, 11 SEP 2026)

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  (image generated with AI, click to enlarge) Prof. Laurent Desutter will present his book Superweak  (see earlier on our blog) in Lisbon on Friday 11 September. The work will be introduced by drs. João Tiago Freitas Mendes .