🌐 As part of our research project on multilevel governance in medieval and early modern commercial cities, we are expanding our website with a series of short vignettes on the legal histories of key trading hubs. In each of these introductions we explore the organisation of urban governance in relation to the economy of the city (including recommendations for further research).

✨Now, my student-assistant Wenneke Bos and I turned the spotlight to Schoonhoven, a modest city with great aspirations during the Middle Ages. While heavily involved in shipping and trading along the Rhine, Schoonhoven did not shy away from competing with larger cities like Dordrecht and Gouda. It aimed at becoming a staple market instead of Dordrecht and tried to establish a cheese market in competition with Gouda.

Read more about the fascinating history of this city?
👉 Check out the new page on our website!

dr. Marco in ‘t Veld

Co-author

Wenneke Bos

Co-author