On Friday 27 March 2026, dr. Maurits den Hollander organised a workshop titled ‘Urban Professionals and Commerce in the Medieval and Early Modern Low Countries’. Besides the organiser, five speakers presented their draft papers that will be developed into articles for a special issue of the journal TSEG. Ester Zoomer (Tilburg University) and prof. dr. Louis Sicking (Leiden University, VU) offered comments on the draft papers.

From various actor-driven perspectives, the authors reflected on the institutional, social, and economic history of cities in the late medieval and early modern Low Countries, with a particular focus on how different types of ‘urban professionals’ contributed to the governance of the city, its local policies, and its commercial climate.

Program:

• Dr. Maurits den Hollander (Tilburg University), ‘Introduction’.

• Dr. Marco in ’t Veld (Tilburg University), ‘Multilevel Governance of the Medieval Dordrecht Wine Staple: The Problem of Enforcement (c. 1200-1555)’.

• Dr. Niels Fieremans (Universiteit Gent), ‘Urban professionals in princely courts. Urban legal expertise and princely centralization in fifteenth-century Flanders’.

• Dr. Lola Digard (Universiteit Leiden), ‘Caring for Corpses: The licensing of funerary practitioners in Flemish towns 1300-1600’.

• Dr. Jurriaan Wink (Vrije Universiteit Brussel), ‘Essential Envoys: The Role of Urban Servants and Other Professionals in Protecting Kampen’s and Utrecht’s Commercial Interests Abroad (ca. 1450–1550)’.

• Dr. Christian Manger (Tilburg University), ‘Voices from between. Petitions, political participation, and institutional change in Zwolle, c. 1550–1700’.

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