Roosje Peeters is working on a PhD thesis on the landed property of the counts of Holland in the period 900-1300.

More information about Roosje Peeters

Research

Roosje Peeters is working on a PhD thesis on the landed property of the counts of Holland in the period 900-1300.

She is interested in the location and organisation of the estates ('domeinen') and manors ('hoven') of the counts. The manors functioned as centers of exploitation for the estates, but (over time) also served many other purposes. Roosje is interested in the way the counts used these central places to exert their influence and build power, and how they adapted their property to ever changing circumstances. She is also interested in the extent to which the landscape in Holland shaped the rise to power of the counts of Holland, and in what way the possibilities and limitations of the landscape resulted in the specific power dynamic that was found in Holland in the Late Middle Ages. Her central research question is: what role did the landed property of the counts play in the development of Holland to a dominant county?

To answer this, Roosje will create a digital reconstruction of the property of the counts, by tracing the exact locations of the manors and estates. To do so, she uses a Geographical Information System (GIS) and a digital reconstruction of Holland based on the land registry's of 1832, provided by the Fryske Akademy (HisGIS). The resulting reconstruction of the property of the counts of Holland will show how their power increased throughout their 400 year rule.

Curriculum vitae

Roosje Peeters completed a BA in Psychology, a BA in History and an MA in Medieval and Early Modern History (cum laude) at Leiden University. As part of her MA she studied abroad at Leuven University and did an internship at the Huygens Institute for the History of the Netherlands (Huygens ING).

She currently works as a PhD candidate at Leiden University. She is also a guest-researcher at the Huygens ING, at the 'Johan de Witt correspondence project', and is one of the editors of 'Holland Historisch Tijdschrift'.

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