Arnoud-Jan Bijsterveld, born in Waalre, the Netherlands, in 1962. Ph.D. from VU University Amsterdam. Professor of Medieval History at Tilburg University.
VNC Fellow (1 September 2009 – 31 January 2010)
SPACES AND RITUALS: STAGING RELATIONS BETWEEN RELIGIOUS GROUPS AND LAITY IN THE CENTRAL MIDDLE AGES
A VNC-grant awarded to Steven Vanderputten and me by the Dutch Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) and the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO) enabled us to stay at NIAS for one term (September 2009-January 2010). We intended to further the scientific debate on the symbolic and social meanings of public behaviour in the Central Middle Ages by writing an article presenting the state of the art to an international audience. In January we submitted an article entitled “Why Laymen Repented: Instrumentalizing Morality in Eleventh- and Early-Twelfth Century Politics” to the British journal Past and Present. In addition, we started working on an article in which we trace excommunication formulas in eleventh century charters from the southern Low Countries. I furthermore finished the editing of a book of my collected papers on cultural heritage and identity entitled Maakbaar erfgoed, the writing of a conference proceeding, as well as some book reviews.