VUB Contextual Research in Law

(image source: Firenze University Press) Prof. Dave De ruysscher contributed to the roundtable “Risk, Uncertainty and Bankruptcy before Modernity: Language, Experience and Historical Understanding”, published in the collective volume Gestione del rischio, insolvenza e bancarotta nel mondo premoderno (secc. XIII-XVIII) / Risk Management, Insolvency, and Bankruptcy in the Pre-Modern World (13th-18th Centuries) , edited by Angela Orlandi.  Read the contribution here in open access: DOI 10.36253/979-12-215-0963-2.32.

  (image: Passau; Source: Wikimedia Commons ) Prof. Frederik Dhondt and dr. Stefano Cattelan will present the ERC Consolidator Grant TREATYLAB at the Transkribus User Conference 2026 in Passau (Germany). More information on the conference website .

  EUTopia CoLeCo Legal History 2026-2027: Law and Image(s) (image: the judgment of Cambyses, or what happens to a bad judge, by Gerard David, Groeningemuseum Brugge; source: Topstukkencollectie Vlaamse Overheid) Since 2021, students and academic staff from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), the University of Ljubljana, CY Cergy Paris Université, Universitat Pompeu Fabra (Barcelona), NOVA University Lisbon, and the University of Warwick have been working together in a unique hybrid learning environment. The Connected Learning Community combines online and hybrid meetings with a physical peak event and the publication of student research on the EUTopia CoLeCo Blog. For the 2026–2027 academic year, we invite you to explore the theme Law and Image. At first sight, this may seem like a thoroughly contemporary topic. We live in a world shaped by images : short videos, streaming platforms, social media, and visual communication influence how we understand law, politics, and so...

(image source: University of Cambridge) Drs. Louis Debersaques  will present his paper “(Un)built to Escape Inspection? Problematising the Building Sector as an Industrial Category in (Inter)national Statistics. Case Study: Belgium, 1890s” at the Twelfth Annual Conference of the Construction History Society , held at Queens' College, Cambridge, from 25 to 27 September 2026.  This year’s conference focuses on “Building Practice: regulation, corruption, and adaptation.”  More information here .

Drs.  Hugo von Vietinghoff will participate in the XXXth   Annual Forum of Young Legal Historians , entitled Values in Law through the Ages , which will take place at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań from 23 to 26 September 2026.  He will present a paper entitled “Legal Diversity and Financial Values in Early Modern Cities” , exploring the relationship between legal diversity, commercial practices and financial values in early modern urban contexts. The Annual Forum brings together young legal historians from across Europe and beyond to discuss historical approaches to law and its underlying values.  Read more about the conference here .

(image source: UNED ) dr. Stefano Cattelan and Prof. Frederik Dhondt will present papers at the symposium Esta admirable antorcha. La Monarquía de España y la nueva forma de pensar el derecho público europeo a mediados del siglo XVIII , organised by Prof. Núria Sallés Vilaseca (UNED Madrid), part of the project De la hegemonía al equilibrio: La reubicación de la Monarquía de España en el orden de Utrecht  (PID2024-1621619NA-100 (Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades). Program: Frederik Dhondt (Vrije Universiteit Brussel). “Continuity and change: legal argumentation in the Public Law of Europe (1700-1771).” Pelayo Fernández García (Universidad de Oviedo). “Tener presentes los sucesos de la Historia: la proyectada colección de tratados de Santa Cruz de Marcenado. Francisco Eissa-Barroso (Universidad de Manchester). “Los orígenes de la Colección de los tratados de paz de España (1740- 1752) atribuida a Joseph Antonio de Abreu y Bertodano: marco intelectual, contexto soci...