In the most general sense Judith Pollmann’s work concerns the question how people and societies in the past negotiated change. This has resulted in work on early modern identity formation, the history of the early modern Netherlands and the Dutch Revolt; the Reformation and Counter-Reformation in Europe and the social history of religion; the history of early modern memory, news and public opinion. Much of her work is based on the study of chronicles, diaries, and other personal records. Her most recent book is Memory in early modern Europe, 1500-1800, that was published by Oxford University Press in 2017

More information about Judith Pollmann

Spreekuur / Hours

By appointment

Research

In the most general sense Judith Pollmann’s work concerns the question how people and societies in the past negotiated change. This has resulted in work on early modern identity formation, the history of the early modern Netherlands and the Dutch Revolt; the Reformation and Counter-Reformation in Europe and the social history of religion; the history of early modern memory, news and public opinion. Much of her work is based on the study of chronicles, diaries, and other personal records.

Curriculum vitae

Judith Pollmann studied history at the University of Amsterdam and Renaissance Studies at the Warburg Institute in London. In 1998 she was awarded her doctorate at the University of Amsterdam for a study of the religious development of the diarist and humanist Arnoldus Buchelius (1565-1641). From 1995-2005 she taught early modern European history at Somerville College and the University of Oxford. She came to Leiden in 2005, and currently holds a personal chair in Early Modern Dutch History. From 2008-2013 Judith Pollmann was director of the NWO VICI research project Tales of the Revolt. Memory, oblivion and identity in the Low Countries, 1566-1700. With Henk te Velde, she is currently directing the NWO Vrije Competitie project, The persistence of civic identities in the Netherlands, 1747-1848. She is a member of the editorial board of Past and Present.  

Selected recent publications

Memory in early modern Europe (Oxford University Press 2017)

with Erika Kuijpers, ‘Turning sacrilege into victory. Catholic memories of iconoclasm, 1566-1700’ in Éva Guillorel, David Hopkins, Will Pooley (eds), European Traditions of Revolt: Memories of Social Conflict in Oral Culture (Routledge 2018)

‘Archiving the present, chronicling for the future in early modern Europe’, in; The Social History of the Archive: Record Keeping in Early Modern Europe, ed. Liesbeth Corens, Kate Peters and Alexandra Walsham, Past & Present Supplement 11, 2016, 232-252

‘Iconoclasts Anonymous, or why did it take historians so long to identify the image-breakers of 1566?’, BMGN 131/1 (2016), 155-176

PhD supervision in progress

• Carolien Boender, Civic identity in Haarlem, 1747-1848, AiO UL, with Prof. Henk te Velde.
• David de Boer, Beyond the Borders of Tolerance. Religious Persecution in Europe and the Dutch Republic, 1648-1748. Co-tutelle Universität Konstanz, Germany. 1st promotor dr. Malte Griesse.
• Erica Boersma, Veranderend geefgedrag bij bijzondere collectes, ca 1621-1800, copromotor Dr. Ariadne Schmidt.
• Silvia Gaiga, De Educatiereis in de XVIe eeuw tussen Peregrinatio en Grand Tour
• Carolina Lenarduzzi, Katholieke subcultuur in de Republiek
• Thérèse Peeters, Trust in the Counter-Reformation co-promotor Dr. Felicia Roşu
• Cees Reijner, Italiaanse Geschiedschrijving over de Nederlandse Opstand co-promotor Dr. Raymond Fagel

Ancillary positions

Past & Present, Member of the Editorial Board

Leibniz Institut für Europäische Geschichte, Mainz, Member of the Wissenschaftliche Beirat

Rijksmuseum, Honorary Curator for Dutch History

Huizinga Instituut. Onderzoeksschool voor Cultuurgeschiedenis, Chair of the Board

Werkgroep Zeventiende Eeuw, Chair

Koninklijke Bibliotheek, member of the academic advisory board of Metamorfoze

Publications