Conference – Wouter Kreuze

Past Conference: Corruption and Scandal

Last week, I enjoyed the opportunity to present some of the ongoing research of the MALCONTENTS project at the conference ‘Corruption and Scandal in the Early Modern World, 1500-1800’ at the Institute for Historical Research in London. This was the first time that I attended a conference on behalf of Limerick’s MALCONTENTS project on social deviance among the early modern German professoriate.

My talk was titled ‘Reputation and Scandal in the Early Modern University: Delinquent Professors at the University of Rostock in the Sixteenth Century’ and was based on the archival work that I conducted in Rostock at the end of last year. The MALCONTENTS P.I., Richard Kirwan, has also been instrumental and supportive during this research and the preparation of the conference paper. The talk was a fruitful test case for transforming the archival work that we have undertaken into compelling research output. The conference was furthermore an excellent opportunity for us to contextualize our case studies within the broader framework of corruption and especially scandal.

Past Conference: 16th-Century Conference Baltimore

This year, the annual conference of the Sixteenth Century Society was held in Baltimore between 26 and 29 October. As I stationed not too far from there this year, it seemed a good opportunity to participate in person.

Instead of presenting from my current project on early modern news, I decided to go back and prepare some material taken from my master’s thesis, which was also based on extensive archival research.

Read my complete abstract here:

The blame for the French descent in Italy of 1494 is not rarely put on Ludovico Sforza. That has not been without reason as he was instrumental in Charles VIII’s advent. The overtly Italian patriotic rhetorics that he would express after his volte-face and adherence to the Italian league in 1495 has therefore raised many eyebrows. Less known, however, are his involvement in discussions on ‘the health of Italy’ while still collaborating with the French the year prior. When reading the correspondence with his Este and Gonzaga relatives residing in their own Padan courts, it is striking how often they dwell upon ‘the matters of Italy’. Already in 1494, before the French had even set foot in Italy, Ludovico seems fully aware that he endangered the international position of his own state as well as those of other Italian princes.

The fact that Ludovico felt pressured to come up with excuses in front of his peers for harming the interests of ‘Italy’ shows that this was a matter of concern among his relatives. A recurring expression in the correspondence is that of ‘Italy and her states’. The elite, therefore, seems to have represented the Italian ‘nation’ first and foremost as the status quo among themselves. As the princes of these states were often related to each other, the notion of the nation is therefore sometimes represented as a family affair, notwithstanding the heavy-handedness which with some of these Renaissance princes treated their relatives.

Past Event: Research Showcase

On 21 June, I was back in Cork to present at UCC’s Research Showcase on behalf of the EURONEWS project. Here, I discussed the general outline of the project endeavors to create a new workflow for the study of manuscript newsletters. At the same time, it was a good moment to receive an update about the other research projects active at UCC. A short impression of the day can be found hereunder.

Upcoming Conference: RSA

Tomorrow, the conference of the Renaissance Society America will commmence. This year the RSA will take place in Dublin. Naturally, the EURONEWS project cannot be absent from this venue. Therefore, I will present on the second day of the conference, Thursday 31 March. Together with my supervisor Prof. Brendan Dooley and with Dr. Davide Boerio, postdoc in our project, I will form a panel that will start at 09:00 in a room at the main venue, the Convention Center Dublin. Details can be found here.

My wish is use this opportunity to disclose some of my digital strategies in studying manuscript newsletters. This can of course also be understood from the abstract of my paper which follows:

Upcoming Conference: Free Speech

Next week, I will be participating in the conference Religion and Free Speech in the Early Modern Period on Thursday 25th and Friday 26th of November. Originally, it was planned to be held in person in Amsterdam, but due to recent developments the event is scheduled to take place online on zoom.

Upcoming Conference: Questioning Republicanism

This week, I am participating in the conference ‘Questioning Republicanism in Early Modern Genoa.’ Originally, this event was planned to be held in Genoa but because of the covid crisis it was, unfortunately, moved to the digital realm. On the bright side, the advantage of this is that it will be much easier for everyone to watch the papers.