Liesbeth Geevers | Lund University (original) (raw)

Books by Liesbeth Geevers

Providing a novel research methodology for students and scholars with an interest in dynasties, a... more Providing a novel research methodology for students and scholars with an interest in dynasties, at all levels, this book explores the Spanish Habsburg dynasty that ruled the Spanish monarchy between c. 1515 and 1700. Instead of focusing on the reigns of successive kings, the book focuses on the Habsburgs as a family group that was constructed in various ways: as a community of heirs, a genealogical narrative, a community of the dead and a ruling family group. These constructions reflect the fact that dynasties do not only exist in the present, as kings, queens or governors, but also in the past, in genealogies, and in the future, as a group of hypothetical heirs. This book analyses how dynasties were 'made' by the people belonging to them. It uses a social institutionalist framework to analyse how family dynamics gave rise to practices and roles. The kings of Spain only had limited power to control the construction of their dynasty, since births and deaths, processes of dynastic centralisation, pressure from subjects, relatives' individual agency, rivalry among relatives and the institutionalisation of roles limited their power. Including several genealogical tables to support students new to the Spanish Habsburgs, this book is essential reading for all students of early modern Europe and the history of monarchy.

In state formation research, princely houses have been a blind spot. The development of states ha... more In state formation research, princely houses have been a blind spot. The
development of states has been discussed from many perspectives, like
interstate competition, internal social conflicts, fiscal-military developments,
etc., but at the centre of most European states, there was a princely
house. These ruling houses have been overlooked in studies about state
formation. What’s more, when discussing such dynasties, the vertical
chronological perspective (grandfather-father-son) is all dominating, for
instance in the focus on dynastic continuity, dynastic culture and
representation, and the like. This collection of essays highlights the
horizontal perspective (ruler, all children, siblings, cousins), in asking how
the members of a princely family acted as a power network. The quest is
to develop an understanding how this family network interplayed with
other factors in the state formation process. This volume brings together
existing knowledge of the topic with the aim of exchanging insights and
furthering knowledge.

Aristocratic dynasties have long been regarded as fundamental to the development of early modern ... more Aristocratic dynasties have long been regarded as fundamental to the development of early modern society and government. Yet recent work by political historians has increasingly questioned the dominant role of ruling families in state formation, underlining instead the continued importance and independence of individuals. In order to take a fresh look at the subject, this volume provides a broad discussion on the formation of dynastic identities in relationship to the lineage’s own history, other families within the social elite, and the ruling dynasty. Individual chapters consider the dynastic identity of a wide range of European aristocratic families including the CroÃs, Arenbergs and Nassaus from the Netherlands; the Guises-Lorraine of France; the Sandoval-Lerma in Spain; the Farnese in Italy; together with other lineages from Ireland, Sweden and the Austrian Habsburg monarchy. Tied in with this broad international focus, the volume addressed a variety of related themes, including the expression of ambitions and aspirations through family history; the social and cultural means employed to enhance status; the legal, religious and political attitude toward sovereigns; the role of women in the formation and reproduction of (composite) dynastic identities; and the transition of aristocratic dynasties to royal dynasties. In so doing the collection provides a platform for looking again at dynastic identity in early modern Europe, and reveals how it was a compound of political, religious, social, cultural, historical and individual attitudes.

Papers (in English) by Liesbeth Geevers

After Catherine de Medici became the mother-in-law of Philip II of Spain in 1559, as a result of ... more After Catherine de Medici became the mother-in-law of Philip II of Spain in 1559, as a result of her daughter Elisabeth of Valois' marriage to the Spanish king, she set out to augment and multiply the family ties between the Valois and the Habsburgs by negotiating further marriages. These efforts have been ridiculed by her biographers, who accuse her of a naïve faith in marital bonds. In line with more recent French historiography, this article re-evaluates Catherine's efforts by placing them in the context of other kinship networks, especially the very dense one connecting the royal houses of Portugal and Spain. Seen in this light, it makes perfect sense for the French queen mother to weave an ever more intricate web of marriage alliances herself. It also means that most kinship relations between members of early modern ruling families were multi-layered and being 'only' a mother-in-law to a son-in-law was rare, complicating the conceptualisation of this particular role.

Är det möjligt att diskutera ett nytt forskningsfält som heter "ny dynastisk historia"? Fanns det... more Är det möjligt att diskutera ett nytt forskningsfält som heter "ny dynastisk historia"? Fanns det då något som vi brukade benämna "gammal dynastisk historia"? Detta bidrag hävdar att en ny dynastiska historia faktiskt finns-ett fält som har vuxit ut ur många andra fält, såsom statsbildningshistoria, hovstudier, adelsstudier, kvinnohistoria, familjehistoria med mera. Nya insikter om alla dessa fält tillåter en omvärdering av kanske ett av de äldsta inom historieämnet nämligen dynastisk historia. Genom nya perspektiv och forskningsmetoder förvandlas ett ämne som kan verka vara gammaldags och ointressant till något innovativt med stor påverkan på alla fält det växte ut ur. Under de senaste åren har det arrangerats många konferenser med resul-terande antologier, samt många artiklar och monografier som formar detta nya fält. Denna nya dynastiska historia kännetecknas av sin internationella karaktär. Många av de forskare som skapade fältet var tyska och studerade tyska furstehus. Det fanns ju så många och på grund av förstfödslorättens sena genombrott i det tysk-romerska riket var frågan hur arvet fördelades mellan arvingarna, och relationerna sinsemellan, tills ungefär 1700 betydelsefull för statens möjlighet att centraliseras och bildas. 1 Men själva dynastierna var förstås ett enormt internationellt, och även transnationellt, fenomen och forskningen likaså. 2 Det finns pågående forskningsprojekt som fokuserar på Jagiellonerna, Habsburgarna och Oldenburgarna, för att nämna bara några, 3 medan konferenser om temat kan räkna med deltagare från inte bara hela Europa utan hela världen. 4 Några av de viktigaste begreppen som präglar den nya dynastiska forskningen utvecklades i icke-europeiska kontexter. 5 Om vi skulle formulera en avgörande skillnad mellan "gammal" och "ny" dynastisk forskning, så är den att moderna forskare brukar fokusera på fler familjemedlemmar än förr. Det finns fortfarande många böcker med "dynasti" i titeln som fokuserar på en rad enstaka härskare, men det nya perspektivet blir alltmer dominerande. 6 Hur skedde detta skifte från dynastisk forskning, där dynastier fungerade framför allt som ordningsprincip i politisk historia, till en mer inkluderande syn på härskande familjer, som präglas av sociala och kulturella metodologier? Dynastiforsking är som Rom: många vägar leder dit. I den här artikeln, diskuterar jag fältets framkomst från tre olika håll: en idéhistorisk, en socialhistorisk och en kulturell väg.

This essay discusses the commemoration of the Mughal emperor Humayun (r. 1530–40, 1555–56) by his... more This essay discusses the commemoration of the Mughal emperor Humayun (r. 1530–40, 1555–56) by his son Akbar (r. 1556–1605), focusing both on Akbar’s practice of visiting the tomb and the way in which these tomb-visits were dealt with by contemporaneous chroniclers. The article shows how Akbar’s chief ideologist, Abu’l Fazl, misrepresented Akbar’s history of visiting his father’s tomb, predating these visits by decades and exaggerating their extent. This manipulation of history formed part of Akbar’s broader effort to present himself as a sacred ruler who was unchallenged by his own dynasty.

The Spanish Habsburg Monarchy was a composite state that needed several individuals of royal bloo... more The Spanish Habsburg Monarchy was a composite state that needed several individuals of royal blood other than the ruler to govern its constituent parts. Since the dynasty was one of few central institutions, the participation of relatives in rule can be seen as part of state building at an imperial level. This essay analyzes the increasing involvement of relatives and thus the " patrimonialization " of dynastic rule in the seventeenth century. We focus on the career of Emanuele Filiberto of Savoy (1588-1624), nephew of Philip III. His career shows first, how and why the Spanish monarchy went through a phase of increased involvement of royal relatives during his lifetime; and second, how the employment of nephews (and thus the functioning of the Habsburg composite state) took shape in the fraught context of dynastic interests, honor and diplomatic relations with the paternal families of the nephews. Keywords Dynastic rule – state building – Spanish Habsburg Monarchy – Duchy of Savoy – Emanuele Filiberto of Savoy. I would like to thank the reviewers at the Journal of Early Modern History, all the participants at the conference, and my colleagues in the Eurasian Empires program for their insights, help, and encouragement.

This essay deals with rules and attitudes towards the Spanish succession crisis from 1580 to the ... more This essay deals with rules and attitudes towards the Spanish succession crisis from 1580 to the extinction of the Spanish Habsburg dynasty in 1700. It argues that apart from succession laws, set down in the legal texts of the many different realms under Habsburg authority, attitudes and expectations created implicit rules for the succession. These attitudes and expectations have been distilled by analyzing testaments, representation of deceased relatives in the Escorial and the behaviors towards royal children. This analysis shows that Spanish royal attitudes to the succession differed considerably from codified law, and that the behavior and policies of the kings of Spain were mainly guided by the former. This essay demonstrates, therefore, that in order to understand the development of the Spanish succession crisis, the traditional focus on biology, politics and laws needs to be expanded to include the dynasty’s implicit rules of succession.

The Bahrāmī Safavids, a relatively unknown collateral branch of the Safavid dynasty, active in ... more The Bahrāmī Safavids, a relatively unknown collateral branch of the Safavid dynasty, active in Iran from 1517 to 1593, played a crucial role in dynastic developments in Safavid Iran. This essay examines the dynastic developments of the Safavid rulers and their contemporaries to argue that they embarked on a process of dynastic centralization, presenting themselves increasingly as the only holder of dynastic power, at the expense of their male relatives. The persistence of the Bahrāmī branch illuminates how this process took shape in Iran and how dynastic developments among neighbouring Central Asian dynasties influenced the fate of the Safavid collaterals.

International History Review

The hierarchical ordering of diplomats, and of the princes they represented, was a hallmark of ea... more The hierarchical ordering of diplomats, and of the princes they represented, was a hallmark of early-modern diplomacy and caused endless conflicts. France and Spain in particular argued continuously over precedence, both claiming to outrank the other. Rather than reconstructing specific squabbles over ceremonial or offering general explanations for precedence issues in early-modern diplomacy, this article focuses on the reasons why both the French and Spanish monarchs felt they were the worthiest king in Christendom by reconstructing the debate between their publicists between 1564 and 1610. The focus on the characteristics of each prince or kingdom that - according to them, at least - entitled them to a position of honor, will allow us to analyze the nature of the international hierarchy under construction. This debate shows that the arguments employed were closely connected to ideas on kingship in both monarchies, so that one can say precedence was fought as much between states and dynasties as between concepts of kingship.

M.A. Ebben, R.P. Fagel en R. Vermeir (eds.), Agentes e identidades en movimiento. España y los Paises Bajos siglos XVI-XVIII (Madrid 2011)

Dutch Crossing: Journal of Low Countries Studies, Jan 1, 2011

Providing a novel research methodology for students and scholars with an interest in dynasties, a... more Providing a novel research methodology for students and scholars with an interest in dynasties, at all levels, this book explores the Spanish Habsburg dynasty that ruled the Spanish monarchy between c. 1515 and 1700. Instead of focusing on the reigns of successive kings, the book focuses on the Habsburgs as a family group that was constructed in various ways: as a community of heirs, a genealogical narrative, a community of the dead and a ruling family group. These constructions reflect the fact that dynasties do not only exist in the present, as kings, queens or governors, but also in the past, in genealogies, and in the future, as a group of hypothetical heirs. This book analyses how dynasties were 'made' by the people belonging to them. It uses a social institutionalist framework to analyse how family dynamics gave rise to practices and roles. The kings of Spain only had limited power to control the construction of their dynasty, since births and deaths, processes of dynastic centralisation, pressure from subjects, relatives' individual agency, rivalry among relatives and the institutionalisation of roles limited their power. Including several genealogical tables to support students new to the Spanish Habsburgs, this book is essential reading for all students of early modern Europe and the history of monarchy.

In state formation research, princely houses have been a blind spot. The development of states ha... more In state formation research, princely houses have been a blind spot. The
development of states has been discussed from many perspectives, like
interstate competition, internal social conflicts, fiscal-military developments,
etc., but at the centre of most European states, there was a princely
house. These ruling houses have been overlooked in studies about state
formation. What’s more, when discussing such dynasties, the vertical
chronological perspective (grandfather-father-son) is all dominating, for
instance in the focus on dynastic continuity, dynastic culture and
representation, and the like. This collection of essays highlights the
horizontal perspective (ruler, all children, siblings, cousins), in asking how
the members of a princely family acted as a power network. The quest is
to develop an understanding how this family network interplayed with
other factors in the state formation process. This volume brings together
existing knowledge of the topic with the aim of exchanging insights and
furthering knowledge.

Aristocratic dynasties have long been regarded as fundamental to the development of early modern ... more Aristocratic dynasties have long been regarded as fundamental to the development of early modern society and government. Yet recent work by political historians has increasingly questioned the dominant role of ruling families in state formation, underlining instead the continued importance and independence of individuals. In order to take a fresh look at the subject, this volume provides a broad discussion on the formation of dynastic identities in relationship to the lineage’s own history, other families within the social elite, and the ruling dynasty. Individual chapters consider the dynastic identity of a wide range of European aristocratic families including the CroÃs, Arenbergs and Nassaus from the Netherlands; the Guises-Lorraine of France; the Sandoval-Lerma in Spain; the Farnese in Italy; together with other lineages from Ireland, Sweden and the Austrian Habsburg monarchy. Tied in with this broad international focus, the volume addressed a variety of related themes, including the expression of ambitions and aspirations through family history; the social and cultural means employed to enhance status; the legal, religious and political attitude toward sovereigns; the role of women in the formation and reproduction of (composite) dynastic identities; and the transition of aristocratic dynasties to royal dynasties. In so doing the collection provides a platform for looking again at dynastic identity in early modern Europe, and reveals how it was a compound of political, religious, social, cultural, historical and individual attitudes.

After Catherine de Medici became the mother-in-law of Philip II of Spain in 1559, as a result of ... more After Catherine de Medici became the mother-in-law of Philip II of Spain in 1559, as a result of her daughter Elisabeth of Valois' marriage to the Spanish king, she set out to augment and multiply the family ties between the Valois and the Habsburgs by negotiating further marriages. These efforts have been ridiculed by her biographers, who accuse her of a naïve faith in marital bonds. In line with more recent French historiography, this article re-evaluates Catherine's efforts by placing them in the context of other kinship networks, especially the very dense one connecting the royal houses of Portugal and Spain. Seen in this light, it makes perfect sense for the French queen mother to weave an ever more intricate web of marriage alliances herself. It also means that most kinship relations between members of early modern ruling families were multi-layered and being 'only' a mother-in-law to a son-in-law was rare, complicating the conceptualisation of this particular role.

Är det möjligt att diskutera ett nytt forskningsfält som heter "ny dynastisk historia"? Fanns det... more Är det möjligt att diskutera ett nytt forskningsfält som heter "ny dynastisk historia"? Fanns det då något som vi brukade benämna "gammal dynastisk historia"? Detta bidrag hävdar att en ny dynastiska historia faktiskt finns-ett fält som har vuxit ut ur många andra fält, såsom statsbildningshistoria, hovstudier, adelsstudier, kvinnohistoria, familjehistoria med mera. Nya insikter om alla dessa fält tillåter en omvärdering av kanske ett av de äldsta inom historieämnet nämligen dynastisk historia. Genom nya perspektiv och forskningsmetoder förvandlas ett ämne som kan verka vara gammaldags och ointressant till något innovativt med stor påverkan på alla fält det växte ut ur. Under de senaste åren har det arrangerats många konferenser med resul-terande antologier, samt många artiklar och monografier som formar detta nya fält. Denna nya dynastiska historia kännetecknas av sin internationella karaktär. Många av de forskare som skapade fältet var tyska och studerade tyska furstehus. Det fanns ju så många och på grund av förstfödslorättens sena genombrott i det tysk-romerska riket var frågan hur arvet fördelades mellan arvingarna, och relationerna sinsemellan, tills ungefär 1700 betydelsefull för statens möjlighet att centraliseras och bildas. 1 Men själva dynastierna var förstås ett enormt internationellt, och även transnationellt, fenomen och forskningen likaså. 2 Det finns pågående forskningsprojekt som fokuserar på Jagiellonerna, Habsburgarna och Oldenburgarna, för att nämna bara några, 3 medan konferenser om temat kan räkna med deltagare från inte bara hela Europa utan hela världen. 4 Några av de viktigaste begreppen som präglar den nya dynastiska forskningen utvecklades i icke-europeiska kontexter. 5 Om vi skulle formulera en avgörande skillnad mellan "gammal" och "ny" dynastisk forskning, så är den att moderna forskare brukar fokusera på fler familjemedlemmar än förr. Det finns fortfarande många böcker med "dynasti" i titeln som fokuserar på en rad enstaka härskare, men det nya perspektivet blir alltmer dominerande. 6 Hur skedde detta skifte från dynastisk forskning, där dynastier fungerade framför allt som ordningsprincip i politisk historia, till en mer inkluderande syn på härskande familjer, som präglas av sociala och kulturella metodologier? Dynastiforsking är som Rom: många vägar leder dit. I den här artikeln, diskuterar jag fältets framkomst från tre olika håll: en idéhistorisk, en socialhistorisk och en kulturell väg.

This essay discusses the commemoration of the Mughal emperor Humayun (r. 1530–40, 1555–56) by his... more This essay discusses the commemoration of the Mughal emperor Humayun (r. 1530–40, 1555–56) by his son Akbar (r. 1556–1605), focusing both on Akbar’s practice of visiting the tomb and the way in which these tomb-visits were dealt with by contemporaneous chroniclers. The article shows how Akbar’s chief ideologist, Abu’l Fazl, misrepresented Akbar’s history of visiting his father’s tomb, predating these visits by decades and exaggerating their extent. This manipulation of history formed part of Akbar’s broader effort to present himself as a sacred ruler who was unchallenged by his own dynasty.

The Spanish Habsburg Monarchy was a composite state that needed several individuals of royal bloo... more The Spanish Habsburg Monarchy was a composite state that needed several individuals of royal blood other than the ruler to govern its constituent parts. Since the dynasty was one of few central institutions, the participation of relatives in rule can be seen as part of state building at an imperial level. This essay analyzes the increasing involvement of relatives and thus the " patrimonialization " of dynastic rule in the seventeenth century. We focus on the career of Emanuele Filiberto of Savoy (1588-1624), nephew of Philip III. His career shows first, how and why the Spanish monarchy went through a phase of increased involvement of royal relatives during his lifetime; and second, how the employment of nephews (and thus the functioning of the Habsburg composite state) took shape in the fraught context of dynastic interests, honor and diplomatic relations with the paternal families of the nephews. Keywords Dynastic rule – state building – Spanish Habsburg Monarchy – Duchy of Savoy – Emanuele Filiberto of Savoy. I would like to thank the reviewers at the Journal of Early Modern History, all the participants at the conference, and my colleagues in the Eurasian Empires program for their insights, help, and encouragement.

This essay deals with rules and attitudes towards the Spanish succession crisis from 1580 to the ... more This essay deals with rules and attitudes towards the Spanish succession crisis from 1580 to the extinction of the Spanish Habsburg dynasty in 1700. It argues that apart from succession laws, set down in the legal texts of the many different realms under Habsburg authority, attitudes and expectations created implicit rules for the succession. These attitudes and expectations have been distilled by analyzing testaments, representation of deceased relatives in the Escorial and the behaviors towards royal children. This analysis shows that Spanish royal attitudes to the succession differed considerably from codified law, and that the behavior and policies of the kings of Spain were mainly guided by the former. This essay demonstrates, therefore, that in order to understand the development of the Spanish succession crisis, the traditional focus on biology, politics and laws needs to be expanded to include the dynasty’s implicit rules of succession.

The Bahrāmī Safavids, a relatively unknown collateral branch of the Safavid dynasty, active in ... more The Bahrāmī Safavids, a relatively unknown collateral branch of the Safavid dynasty, active in Iran from 1517 to 1593, played a crucial role in dynastic developments in Safavid Iran. This essay examines the dynastic developments of the Safavid rulers and their contemporaries to argue that they embarked on a process of dynastic centralization, presenting themselves increasingly as the only holder of dynastic power, at the expense of their male relatives. The persistence of the Bahrāmī branch illuminates how this process took shape in Iran and how dynastic developments among neighbouring Central Asian dynasties influenced the fate of the Safavid collaterals.

International History Review

The hierarchical ordering of diplomats, and of the princes they represented, was a hallmark of ea... more The hierarchical ordering of diplomats, and of the princes they represented, was a hallmark of early-modern diplomacy and caused endless conflicts. France and Spain in particular argued continuously over precedence, both claiming to outrank the other. Rather than reconstructing specific squabbles over ceremonial or offering general explanations for precedence issues in early-modern diplomacy, this article focuses on the reasons why both the French and Spanish monarchs felt they were the worthiest king in Christendom by reconstructing the debate between their publicists between 1564 and 1610. The focus on the characteristics of each prince or kingdom that - according to them, at least - entitled them to a position of honor, will allow us to analyze the nature of the international hierarchy under construction. This debate shows that the arguments employed were closely connected to ideas on kingship in both monarchies, so that one can say precedence was fought as much between states and dynasties as between concepts of kingship.

M.A. Ebben, R.P. Fagel en R. Vermeir (eds.), Agentes e identidades en movimiento. España y los Paises Bajos siglos XVI-XVIII (Madrid 2011)

Dutch Crossing: Journal of Low Countries Studies, Jan 1, 2011

Renaissance Quarterly, Jan 1, 2010

The Habsburgs and the Nassaus, who collaborated during the reign of Charles V, clashed sharply du... more The Habsburgs and the Nassaus, who collaborated during the reign of Charles V, clashed sharply during the reign of Philip II: William of Nassau, Prince of Orange, became the leader of the Dutch Revolt. Instead of focusing on religious and political matters in the Netherlands, this article examines the underlying development of both men's dynastic identity to explain this new hostility. I argue that Habsburg family affairs -the division of the dynasty into two branches -led to an increasingly Spanish dynastic identity on Philip's part, while William could not, or would not, break free from his German-focused family identity, leading to a crucial loss of common ground between the two men.

Lamoraal, graaf van Egmont (1522-1568) gold lang als één van de tragische helden uit de Nederland... more Lamoraal, graaf van Egmont (1522-1568) gold lang als één van de tragische helden uit de Nederlandse geschiedenis. 1 Eén van de meest recente biografieën die in het Frans over hem werden geschreven, werd in het Nederlands vertaald onder de titel Slachtoffer van verraad en intrige. 2 De dood van Egmont op een Brussels schavot, vanwege zijn coulance jegens Nederlandse protestanten, past natuurlijk uitstekend in de Nederlandse nationale mythe over de Opstand: een kleine clubje dappere aanhangers van het jonge calvinisme verzette zich tegen de katholieke dwingelandij van het kolossale Spaanse rijk met zijn tirannieke vorst, Filips II. Diens wreedheid uitte zich in de executie van Egmont en zijn kompaan de graaf van Horn, die helaas wel altijd katholiek waren gebleven, maar toch als sympathisanten van de calvinisten konden gelden. In het Vlaamse narratief speelt Egmont grotendeels een vergelijkbare rol, als strijder tegen religieus fanatisme en buitenlandse overheersing, die zichzelf deels vanwege zijn eigen naïviteit in de problemen had gebracht. Al deze visies op Egmont zien hem binnen de context van moderne landsgrenzen, die van Nederland of België.

Conflicts over precedence were a disruptive but integral part of European diplomacy in the sixtee... more Conflicts over precedence were a disruptive but integral part of European diplomacy in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. This article will explain both the insolubility and the
importance of such conflicts, by analyzing the actual arguments made by French and Spanish publicists between 1564 and 1610 who argued for the supremacy of their own king. This analysis shows that national concepts of kingship were central to their reasoning: they identified the most characteristic features of their own brand of kingship and presented these as the criteria by which to construct international hierarchy. This meant first that no consensus was possible, either on the international order itself, or on the criteria to be used; and second, that not only princes, but also diplomats, lawyers, and historians were deeply involved in these conflicts.

Publicado en: Alicia Esteban Estríngana (ed.), Decidir la lealtad. Leales y desleales en contexto... more Publicado en: Alicia Esteban Estríngana (ed.), Decidir la lealtad. Leales y desleales en contexto (siglos XVI-XVIII) (Aranjuez: Doce Calles, 2017) 47-70

Dit is niet de eerste biografie die Geoffrey Parker schreef over de Spaanse vorst Filips II (1527... more Dit is niet de eerste biografie die Geoffrey Parker schreef over de Spaanse vorst Filips II (1527-1598). Al in 1978 verscheen zijn eerste (een invloedrijk werk dat werd vertaald in meerdere talen en herdrukt werd in 1988, 1995 en 2002) en een tweede verscheen in 2010. Die laatste -een monsterproject van 1383 pagina's! -kwam alleen in het Spaans uit en had als ondertitel La biografía definitiva. Zo 'definitief' bleek die Spaanse pil toch niet te zijn, want vorig jaar leverde Parker opnieuw een biografie af. Parkers kennis van het leven en werk van Filips II is ongeëvenaard en zijn kwaliteiten als biograaf staan buiten kijf. Daarom is het oordeel van deze recensent een volmondige aanbeveling van dit werk dat uitstekend geschreven is en gefundeerd op een ongelooflijke beheersing van het bronnenmateriaal. Wel moeten we ons afvragen wat deze biografie onderscheidt van de vorige en of de geïnteresseerde lezer zich niet evengoed zou kunnen laven aan de aanmerkelijk beknoptere 'oude' biografie (van slechts 234 pagina's). De 'officiële' reden voor dit nieuwe werk is de vondst van een collectie documenten die historici eerder nog niet kenden. Één van de voornaamste bronnen voor de regering van Filips II is, afgezien van het archief van Simancas, de Altamira-collectie: een grote hoeveelheid persoonlijke aantekeningen van Filips II en zijn naaste medewerkers die in het bezit kwam van de graven van Altamira. Deze collectie raakte in de negentiende eeuw opgesplitst. Twee afzonderlijke delen werden onderdeel van privécollecties in Madrid, een ander deel raakte verzeild in Besançon, en het laatste in de British Library. Een voorheen onbekend deel kwam terecht in de collectie van de Hispanic Society of America (New York), maar werd pas © 2015 Liesbeth Geevers | Stichting Werkgroep Adelsgeschiedenis www.virtusjournal.org | print issn 1380-6130 virtus 22 | 2015

Includes media appearance concerning the Dutch Revolt (in Dutch with English subtitles), the book... more Includes media appearance concerning the Dutch Revolt (in Dutch with English subtitles), the book (in Dutch) and summary (in English). Link: https://jacozuijderduijn.wixsite.com/gevallenvazallen

The Court Historian, 2017

Conference report on ‘The Modern Invention of “Dynasty”: A Global Intellectual History, 1500-2000... more Conference report on ‘The Modern Invention of “Dynasty”: A Global Intellectual History, 1500-2000’, University of
Birmingham, 21-23 September 2017.

(In Dutch) In 1568 worden de graven Egmont en Van Horne op de markt in Brussel onthoofd. Het is... more (In Dutch)

In 1568 worden de graven Egmont en Van Horne op de markt in Brussel onthoofd. Het is het voorlopige slotstuk van de hoogoplopende spanningen tussen de edelen in de Nederlanden en onze vorst Philips II van Spanje. En het begin van een oorlog die tachtig jaar zou gaan duren. De strijd gaat om macht en vrijheid van geloof. Het dagboek van een non geeft een dramatisch beeld van de Beeldenstorm, de schedel van Egmont wordt onderzocht om te zien of zijn gezicht na zijn onthoofding nog extra is geschonden en de zoektocht naar het graf van Van Horne in Weert eindigt voorlopig op de binnenplaats van een klooster.

Almost every dynasty in Eurasia consisted of several branches, descended from earlier rulers in e... more Almost every dynasty in Eurasia consisted of several branches, descended from earlier rulers in either the male or female line. As a consequence, most royal families might be confronted with various claimants to the throne. This paper discusses various ways in which dynasties in Iran, south India, and Europe dealt with such collateral branches, either through elimination, incorporation, incarceration, continuous conflict, banishment etc. The outcomes of these processes had a great influence on the continuation of the dynasty and the state, leading in some cases even to their demise. Considering the central importance of the dynasty in early modern polities, focusing on the way rulers managed their extended families will allow us to gain important insights in the workings of Eurasian politics.

General Editors: Erin Griffey (Chair), University of Auckland; Vanessa de Cruz Medina, Pompeu Fab... more General Editors: Erin Griffey (Chair), University of Auckland; Vanessa de Cruz Medina, Pompeu Fabra University; Luc Duerloo, University of Antwerp; Jemma Field, Brunel University; Liesbeth Geevers, Lund University; Timothy McCall, Villanova University

Publisher: Amsterdam University Press

Early Modern Court Studies encourages rigorous, fresh examination on any aspect of court culture: political, military and social history; confessional identity and relationships with the church and monasteries/nunneries; court chapels and religious rituals; diplomacy, ritual and ceremonial; courtly retinues and household staff; visual and material culture; patronage, collecting and display; gender, sexuality, marriage, domesticity; architecture, furniture, interior decoration and garden design; clothing, jewelry and regalia; music; food and banquets; letter writing, diaries and personal and ambassadorial accounts; drama and dance; hygiene, medicine and beauty; the senses and emotions. It invites proposals on individual courts and comparative studies, both monographs and essay collections, and encourages cross-disciplinary work and the publication of transcriptions and translations of primary sources within the context of these studies.