VUB Contextual Research in Law

  (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...

  (click on poster to enlarge) Dr.  Stefano Cattelan  wil present his recent monograph Mare Clausum. The Formation of the Law of the Sea in Pre-Modern State Practice and Legal Doctrine (c. 1350-1650)  ( Brill, 2025 ) at the Centro internazionale di studi gentiliani  (CISG-ETS) in San Ginesio (Aula consiliare del Comune/Colle San Giovanni), introduced by prof. Luigi Lacchè (Macerata) on 23 April 2026 at 18:00. More information here .

Hugo A. Brethenoux von Vietinghoff joins CORE as PhD student under the supervision of Prof. dr. Dave De ruysscher. He will work on FWO Senior Fundamental Research Project G0ACT25N,  Cities as Breeding Grounds: Legal Change in Financial Law (c. 1620–c. 1750). Hugo presents himself as follows: Trained in legal theory and analysis (ENS, EHESS, Paris Nanterre) and completing an intensive B.A. in Art History at the Sorbonne, I work at the intersection of law, culture, and historical research. My academic and professional path leads me to study how legal norms change through social and institutional interactions, particularly in European transnational settings. I focus on the development of financial and commercial law and judicial practices from the seventeenth to the twentieth century, with regular engagement in archival research. Speaking French, English, German and Russian, experienced in archival work, I bring an interdisciplinary and cross-cultural perspective that aligns closely ...

  (image source: KCOWV/CRALO ) Prof. Dave De ruysscher and prof. Frederik Dhondt contributed to vol. LIX of the Handelingen/Bulletin  of the Royal Commission for the Publication of Old Laws and Ordinances of Belgium (ISBN 9782960272451). The fulltext of their contributions can be read in open access on rechtsreeks.be .

     Dr. Marie-Sophie Silan  (PhD in Law, Assistant Professor at the University of Liège, Service de droit romain et droit privé comparé, Centre Liégeois d’Histoire du Droit) Wives and Mothers: The Legal Position of Women within Marriage in Early Modern Liège  (16th-17th centuries) Abstract This contribution explores the legal status of married women in Liège during the 16th and 17th centuries. It first examines the role of women as wives, particularly their legal relationship with their husbands. Central to this discussion is the  mainplévie  regime, which governed married women unless otherwise stipulated in their marriage contract. This system not only subjected wives to marital authority—requiring obedience to their husband and restricting their legal capacity—but also stripped them of ownership over the assets they brought into the marriage, typically through their dowry. The second part of this study focuses on the legal relationship between moth...

(image source: dagvandewetenschap )   The Research Foundation Flanders (FWO) published the outcome of its 2024 call for Senior Fundamental Research Projects. Prof. Dave De ruysscher obtained two four year research grants (2025-2028): Collective Bargaining in State Bankruptcies and Corporate Insolvencies (1890–1920) (G0A3025N) (co-supervisor: Prof. Frederik Dhondt ) Cities as Breeding Grounds: Legal Change in Financial Law (c. 1620–c. 1750) (G0ACT25N) (co-supervisors: Prof. Luisa Brunori /ENS Paris and Prof. Stefania Gialdroni (Padova))

  (bron: ifese.be ) Op woensdag 20 maart 2024 organiseert het Instituut voor Filosofische en Sociaalwetenschappelijke Educatie (Ifese) i.s.m. Historia een lezing met prof. dr. Frederik Dhondt (VUB) over de constitutionele identiteit van de Oostenrijkse Nederlanden in de 18e eeuw. De activiteit behoort tot de lezingenreeks over constitutionalisme in de Nederlanden. Ze zal te Leuven plaatsvinden in aula 01.16 van het Mgr. Sencie-Instituut (Erasmusplein 2 , 3000 Leuven), starten om 19.30 uur en eindigen om 21.00 uur. Nadien is er de gelegenheid om na te praten op café. Tijdens deze lezing zal professor Frederik Dhondt aan de hand van de werken van Goswin Arnould de Wynants (1661-1732) een dieper inzicht verschaffen op de institutionele organisatie van de Oostenrijkse Nederlanden toen destijds onder gezag staand van keizer Karel VI van Habsburg. Hiervoor levert het werk van Wynants getiteld als “Mémoires contenant des notions générales de tout ce qui concerne le Gouvernement des ...

Dr. Stefano Cattelan (pp. 125-152) and Prof. Frederik Dhondt (pp. 153-176) authored chapters in the edited volume  Soggettività contestate e diritto internazionale in età moderna  (eds. Giuseppina de Giudici, Dante Fedele & Elisabetta Fiocchi Malaspina), vol. 9 of the series "Collana di studi di storia del diritto medievale e moderno" (edited by Paolo Alvazzi del Frate, Giovanni Rossi and Elio Tavilla).  Abstract of Challenging empires: pirates, privateers and the Europeanisation of ocean spaces (c. 1500-1650)  (dr. Stefano Cattelan): Throughout the Middle  Ages, piracy and hybrid warfare  (public/ private) remained endemic across the seas surrounding the European continent. Once Spain and Portugal opened new sailing routes towards the Americas and East Asia, these phenomena rapidly assumed an all-new geographical scale. With the Treaty of Tordesillas (1494), Spain and Portugal divided the Atlantic Ocean into two exclusive spheres of infl uence. In re...

  (image: "Belseburs" offer ter Hulding des Eersten Paus van Rome; source: Europeana/Rijksmuseum ) dr. Stefano Cattelan and Prof. Frederik Dhondt  will present papers at the 16th Congress of the International Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies in Rome.  Consult the conference website for further information .

      Prof.  Frederik Dhondt  and dr.  Stefano Cattelan  convened a symposium on  Small Powers and Maritime Neutrality. Theory and Practice of the Law of Nations ( 1650-1800)  at the Fondation Biermans-Lapôtre (Cité internationale universitaire de Paris), in the framework of dr. Cattelan's Carlsberg Fondet Internationalisation Grant (2022-2023).  We warmly thank all participants for their papers, as well as the  Fondation Biermans-Lapôtre , the  Carlsberg Fondet  and the Research Group CORE for their support.  The result of the meeting will be submitted as an edited volume to an international publisher. The symposium's progamme can be found below: Symposium:  Small Powers and Maritime Neutrality.  Theory and Practice of the Law of Nations (1650-1800)    Fondation Biermans-Lapôtre  Paris, France - April 22, 2023   Convened by Stefano Cattelan (Vrije Universiteit Brussel & Carlsberg Fou...

  dr.  Stefano Cattelan  (Carlsberg Fondet Internationalisation Grantee) will present on the N eutrality and the Nine Years' War (1688-1697)  as seen from French diplomatic records on Denmark/Norway and Sweden   on Tuesday 18 April 2023 (12:30-14:00). This presentation takes place physically in  B 4.08 . RSVP with Rodrick dot Van dot der dot Smissen at vub dot be. 

(image source: Brill ) Dr. dr. Gijs Dreijer, who defended his PhD at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel in June 2021 (supervisor: Prof. Dave De ruysscher ), has just published his monograph. Warmest congratulations! This dissertation was written in the framework of a Joint PhD (Law - History) with the University of Exeter (supervisor: Prof. Maria Fusaro), funded through the ERC Consolidator Grant "Average - Transaction Costs and Risk Management during the First Globalization (Sixteenth-Eighteenth Centuries)".  Abstract: As the fall-out of the Ever Given Suez canal blockage shows, an ancient instrument like General Average (GA) is still highly relevant in redistributing risks and costs in maritime trade. However, bar marine insurance, not much is known about the development of tools of maritime risk management like GA, which redistributes extraordinary costs incurred for the common safety of maritime ventures. This book investigates the development of General Average and other so...

(afbeelding: zicht op het Hof van Friesland te Leeuwarden; bron: Wikimedia Commons ) Het HUF-Project. Over het nut van digitale archiefontsluiting Abstract: In deze lezing bespreek ik aan de hand van enkele voorbeelden wat het nut is van digitale ontsluiting van de civiele procesdossiers van het Hof van Holland, het Hof van Utrecht, het Hof van Friesland en het Hof van Gelre en Zutphen (1700-1811). In deze voorbeelden besteed ik ook aandacht aan het gebruik van netwerkanalyse.   Over de spreker: Prof. dr. Hylkje de Jong (1971) studeerde Klassieke Talen (UvA), Algemene Taalwetenschap (UvA), Rechten (RuG) en Filosofie (RuG). Sinds 2019 is zij hoogleraar Rechtsgeschiedenis aan de Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Zij publiceerde eerder Stephanus en zijn Digestenonderwijs (2008), Ἐντολή (mandatum) in den Basiliken (2019) en artikelen op het gebied van het Byzantijnse recht en de receptie van het Romeinse recht.    RSVP: rodrick dot van dot der dot smissen at vub ...

  (image source: candidate) Drs.  Cornelis Marinus (Marco) in 't Veld  will defend his PhD Dissertation in law entitled  Commerce and Customs in the Courts: A Comparison Between Mercantile Customs, Jurisdictions and Institutions in Amsterdam and Lyon During the Early 18th Century  (supervisor: Prof. dr.  Dave De ruysscher ). Drs. in 't Veld studied Law (Erasmus University Rotterdam) and was active as PhD-researcher on the  FWO Fundamental Research Project   Cataloguing Customs of Trade: Looking Behind the Labels (Amsterdam and Lyon, 1700-1730)  at our research centre. He currently works as lecturer at Tilburg Law School. Jury: Prof. dr. Stefania Gialdroni (Università di Padova) Prof. dr. David Deroussin (Université Jean Moulin Lyon 3) Prof. dr.  Niels Van Dijk  (VUB/CORE) Prof. dr. Dave De ruysscher (VUB/CORE - Tilburg Law School/supervisor) Prof. dr.  Frederik Dhondt  (VUB/CORE - president) Abstract: This dissertation has...