Medieval and Early Modern Studies (c. 600-1800)

History of Cultures, Knowledge and Ideas

It is integral to many cluster members’ research to use Medieval and Early Modern Arts as a lens for studying the medieval and early modern periods at large:

Within our cluster there is a strong tradition of using our expertise with regard to specific objects (cultural products) to study the medieval and early modern world more broadly. In this area, we integrating visual, literary and scholarly materials to reach an interdisciplinary analysis, and open up to global and gender perspectives. Currently, our focus is on three particular domains: religion, politics, and science. In the history of religion, we study spirituality, and the impact of religious reformation(s). In the history of science, our cluster members study medicine, emotions, (scientific) collections, scholarship, education, humanism, scholasticism, universities, and the history of ideas. In the history of politics, research concerns, among other things, the propaganda in art and literature, (national) identities, diplomacy, and court culture(s).