VUB Contextual Research in Law

(image source ( ACFHAB )  The Conference of Historical and Archaeological Societies of Belgium will return to Brussels for its next edition. The event will take place at the Palace of the Academies from 20 to 23 August 2026 , with the support of the French-Speaking Community of Belgium, the Académie Royale de Belgique, urban.brussels, and the City of Brussels.  The section devoted to Institutional and Legal History , chaired by Prof. em. Jean-Marie Cauchies with dr. Marc Ronvaux and Prof. Frederik Dhondt as vice-presidents and dr. Nicolas Simon as secretary, will bring together a series of academic presentations. Prof. Frederik Dhondt   will present on “ The little-known memoir of the Count of Calenberg on the Ostend Company (1725) ”, as detailed in the official programme.  Learn more about the program and details here .

  (image source: TREATYLAB )  Three full-time PhD vacancies for the ERC Consolidator Grant TREATYLAB ("The Labyrinth of Treaties, 1712-1763. International Law Behind the Scenes of Early Enlightenment Diplomacy") have been published.  More information on the project's website .

  (image source: Premio Bartolo da Sassoferrato ) Next Saturday ( 13 June at 16:30 ), dr. Stefano Cattelan (JURI/CORE) is due to receive the prestigious Premio Bartolo da Sassoferrato per le scienze giuridiche e politico-sociali for his monograph Mare Clausum. The Formation of the Law of the Sea in Pre-Modern State Practice and Legal Doctrine (c. 1350–1650) (Martinus Nijhoff/Brill, Legal History Library, eds. Dirk Heirbaut, Michelle McKinley, Matthew C. Mirow & Remco Van Rhee, vol. 77/ Studies in the History of International Law, ed. Randall Lesaffer, vol. 28, 2025).  This prestigious legal award is named after Bartolus of Sassoferrato (1313-1357), the renowned fourteenth century postglossator or commentator, who continues to live on in the adagium “ nemo bonus jurista nisi bartolista” (no one can be truly called a lawyer if he or she is not familiar with Bartolus’ work). Among the other laureates this year: Sabino Cassese, president of the Corte Costituzionale (the It...

(Léna Sylvestre reading out the French Ministry for Higher Education and Research's oath as doctor, ' serment d'intégrité scientifique ') On Saturday 23 May, dr. Léna Sylvestre became the 7th doctor of our research group since 2020 , after succesfully defending at the Maison de la Recherche Annie Ernaux , Auditorium (Cergy-Pontoise), 23 May 2026. We congratulate her on this achievement. Dissertation title:  L'influence de la pluralité linguistique dans l'élaboration et l'application de normes juridiques internationales : Étude de cas historique du régime multilingue de l'Organisation des Nations Unies )  (539 p., incl. annexes)   Supervisors: prof. dr. Frederik Dhondt - prof. dr. Caroula Argyriadis-Kervégan (Cergy Paris Université) Jury: Prof. dr. Dirk Heirbaut (UGent/KVAB) Prof. dr. Sylvie Monjean-Decaudin (Sorbonne Université) Prof. dr. Paul De Hert (VUB) Dr. Gesa Dannenberg (CY) Prof. dr. Renaud Baumert (CY) (president)

  (Louis XIV by Le Brun; source: Wikimedia Commons ) On Thusrday 28 May, prof. Frederik Dhondt was interviewed by Gert Geens (VRT Radio 1/De Wereld Vandaag) on the abolition of the Code Noir  enacted by Louis XIV. More information here .

  (image source: SHD Turin ) dr. Stefano Cattelan and Prof. Frederik Dhondt will present at the Journées internationales  of the Société d'Histoire du Droit , organised in Turin by the University of Turin around the theme "Droit de l’art, du patrimoine et des biens culturels: histoires, normes, circulations". More information on the conference website .