Janna Everaert | Universiteit Gent (original) (raw)

Papers by Janna Everaert

Stadsgeschiedenis (Hilversum), 2017

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Urban History, 2020

Current historiography endorses a narrative that the political elite of pre-industrial gateway ci... more Current historiography endorses a narrative that the political elite of pre-industrial gateway cities became more 'open' in the wake of efflorescence and that their city councils became populated with merchants. Yet, according to the existing literature, Antwerp challenges this narrative, as the influx of merchants was very limited during late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries when Antwerp transformed from a medium-sized Brabantine city into the leading economic centre in western Europe. Moreover, scholars disagree on whether the economic expansion had any impact at all on the composition and profile of Antwerp's political elite. By analysing the social composition of the city council and how this evolved from the beginning of Antwerp's commercial expansion around 1400 until its apogee around 1550, I revisit the question whether Antwerp constitutes an exception to the established pattern of elite formation in gateway cities and, if so, why.

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International Medieval Congress 2017, 2017

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This article explores whether or not Flemish commercial networks reached the interior of the Iber... more This article explores whether or not Flemish commercial networks reached the interior of the Iberian Peninsula and if so, how they functioned. By analysing the case of the Valladolid region through hitherto unexplored sources, this study shows that the economic opportunities offered by this region did not pass unnoticed by the Flemish merchants. While previous research focused on the conceptual dichotomy between ambulant and sedentary migration, this article shows that in practice, the Flemish merchant community in the Valladolid region covered the whole spectrum between these two positions. In fact, the hybrid nature of this Flemish merchant community seem to have been its strength as it connected different trade networks to each other and permitted the transfer of commercial expertise.

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Urban History

Current historiography endorses a narrative that the political elite of pre-industrial gateway ci... more Current historiography endorses a narrative that the political elite of pre-industrial gateway cities became more ‘open’ in the wake of efflorescence and that their city councils became populated with merchants. Yet, according to the existing literature, Antwerp challenges this narrative, as the influx of merchants was very limited during late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries when Antwerp transformed from a medium-sized Brabantine city into the leading economic centre in western Europe. Moreover, scholars disagree on whether the economic expansion had any impact at all on the composition and profile of Antwerp's political elite. By analysing the social composition of the city council and how this evolved from the beginning of Antwerp's commercial expansion around 1400 until its apogee around 1550, I revisit the question whether Antwerp constitutes an exception to the established pattern of elite formation in gateway cities and, if so, why.

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This article provides a comparative analysis of four large towns in the Southern Low Countries be... more This article provides a comparative analysis of four large towns in the Southern Low Countries between c. 1350 and c. 1550. Combining data on Ghent, Mechelen and Antwerp - each of which is discussed in greater detail in the articles in this special section in this issue of Urban History - with recent research on Bruges, the authors argue against the historiographical trend in which the political history of late medieval towns is supposedly dominated by a trend towards oligarchy. Rather than a closure of the ruling class, the four towns show a high turnover in the social composition of the political elite, and a consistent trend toward aristocracy, in which an increasingly large number of aldermen enjoyed noble status. The intensity of these trends differed from town to town, and was tied to different institutional configurations as well as different economic and political developments in each of the four towns.

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The Low Countries Journal of Social and Economic History, 2017

This article explores whether or not Flemish commercial networks reached the interior of the Iber... more This article explores whether or not Flemish commercial networks reached the interior of the Iberian Peninsula and if so, how they functioned. By analysing the case of the Valladolid region through hitherto unexplored sources, this study shows that the economic opportunities offered by this region did not pass unno-ticed by the Flemish merchants. While previous research focused on the conceptual dichotomy between ambulant and sedentary migration, this article shows that in practice, the Flemish merchant community in the Valladolid region covered the whole spectrum between these two positions. In fact, the hybrid nature of this Flemish merchant community seems to have been its strength as it connected different trade networks to each other and permitted the transfer of commercial expertise.

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Stadsgeschiedenis, 2017

Ook dit jaar neemt Stadsgeschiedenis een overzicht op van wat er verschenen is in Belgische en Ne... more Ook dit jaar neemt Stadsgeschiedenis een overzicht op van wat er verschenen is in Belgische en Nederlandse historische tijdschriften en jaarboeken, een rubriek die al sinds 2009 in stand wordt gehouden. De massa aan tijdschriftartikels, working papers op websites en platforms zoals Academia.edu en ResearchGate maakt het immers vrijwel onmogelijk voor de individuele onderzoeker om systematisch alle historische tijdschriften te doorzoeken, wat tot gevolg heeft dat vele bijdragen in lokale stadshistorische tijdschriften onopgemerkt blijven. In samenhang met de jaarlijkse review over de bijdragen in internationale tijdschriften heeft deze rubriek tot doel de laatste ontwikkelingen in het stadshistorische veld te signaleren. 58 historische tijdschriften van jaargang 2015 werden door een groep stadshistorici doorgenomen om uiteindelijk tot voorliggende selectie van 67 verschillende artikels te komen.

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Masterthesis geschiedenis

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Book Reviews by Janna Everaert

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Conference Presentations by Janna Everaert

ERC Conference – STATE: Lordship and the Rise of States in Western Europe, 1300-1600, 20-22/06/20... more ERC Conference – STATE: Lordship and the Rise of States in Western Europe, 1300-1600, 20-22/06/2022, Ghent

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This paper analyzes the interaction between three distinct elite groups in the late medieval Low ... more This paper analyzes the interaction between three distinct elite groups in the late medieval Low Countries: the nobility who exercised substantial amount of power over the countryside via their lordships, the urban political elites, and the princely officeholders active in regional bodies like the Councils of Brabant and Flanders or the Collateral Councils. Traditionally, scholars like Raymond van Uytven claimed that these elites developed conflict-ridden relations, trying to increase their own power at the expense of other power brokers. Yet, recent research trends emphasized the intermingling between various elite groups, with urbanites showing interest in the ‘rural’ noble lifestyle, for instance by purchasing lordships; noblemen marrying with non-noble city dwellers; and urban political elites siding with the state elites. Some researchers, like Jan Dumolyn event went as far as stating that elites merged into a county-wide ‘power elite’. In this paper, we test and nuance these views by assessing the interaction between the urban elites of respectively Ghent and Antwerp, the regional nobility of Flanders and Brabant, the political elites of other cities, and the Burgundian-Habsburg state elites. Our focus is on the extent to which these elite groups were knitted together and whether or not state formation propelled this elite intermingling. We find that the relations between lords, urban rulers and state officials of Brabant and Flanders were more harmonious than Van Uytven claimed, yet, they were far cry from the integrated county elite Dumolyn pictured.

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New Institutional Economics has sparked a renewed interest in urban regulations and the elites wh... more New Institutional Economics has sparked a renewed interest in urban regulations and the elites who issued them. Yet, for various reasons, scholars have not yet examined the complex social configurations in which power elites had to function, and how these configurations shaped the incentives and constraints for urban politics. Antwerp in c. 1490-1560 serves as a case study, as this town seems to confound all expectations of current scholarship about urban elite formation in pre-industrial gateway cities.

As Antwerp gradually took over the role of Bruges as the dominant gateway city of the Low Countries, its population exploded from c. 10.000 inhabitants in 1400 to 100.000 in 1570. Much of Antwerp’s efflorescence is attributed to the commercial policies that were implemented by the City Council. Yet, merchants were, according to existing literate, by and large absent from the urban political arena. This provides a striking contrast with other trading hubs – e.g. late medieval Bruges, sixteenth-century Lyon and Seville, or seventeenth century Amsterdam – where the urban government was largely populated by merchants who ensured that urban legislation was trader-friendly. This begs the question how Antwerp pursued merchant-friendly policies and were the political elite got it economic knowhow.

This paper will investigate whether or not Antwerp is as divergent as generally assumed, why this is the case and which (semi-)informal relations and alternative influence channels between Antwerp’s political elite and its growing community of merchants might have existed. The central claim is that that Antwerp represents a hitherto understudied trajectory in urban decision making, in which politics were not so much shaped by social overlaps between different types of elites, but rather on interactions between a political elite and an economical elite which remained socially distinct. By probing (semi-)informal lobby networks, the distinct case study of Antwerp allows to uncover how politics might have worked behind the scenes and to reconsider deep-rooted but untested assumptions about political elites and urban politics, two topics that are curiously separated in current historiography.

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Stadsgeschiedenis (Hilversum), 2017

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Urban History, 2020

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International Medieval Congress 2017, 2017

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Urban History

Current historiography endorses a narrative that the political elite of pre-industrial gateway ci... more Current historiography endorses a narrative that the political elite of pre-industrial gateway cities became more ‘open’ in the wake of efflorescence and that their city councils became populated with merchants. Yet, according to the existing literature, Antwerp challenges this narrative, as the influx of merchants was very limited during late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries when Antwerp transformed from a medium-sized Brabantine city into the leading economic centre in western Europe. Moreover, scholars disagree on whether the economic expansion had any impact at all on the composition and profile of Antwerp's political elite. By analysing the social composition of the city council and how this evolved from the beginning of Antwerp's commercial expansion around 1400 until its apogee around 1550, I revisit the question whether Antwerp constitutes an exception to the established pattern of elite formation in gateway cities and, if so, why.

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The Low Countries Journal of Social and Economic History, 2017

This article explores whether or not Flemish commercial networks reached the interior of the Iber... more This article explores whether or not Flemish commercial networks reached the interior of the Iberian Peninsula and if so, how they functioned. By analysing the case of the Valladolid region through hitherto unexplored sources, this study shows that the economic opportunities offered by this region did not pass unno-ticed by the Flemish merchants. While previous research focused on the conceptual dichotomy between ambulant and sedentary migration, this article shows that in practice, the Flemish merchant community in the Valladolid region covered the whole spectrum between these two positions. In fact, the hybrid nature of this Flemish merchant community seems to have been its strength as it connected different trade networks to each other and permitted the transfer of commercial expertise.

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Stadsgeschiedenis, 2017

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Masterthesis geschiedenis

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During the late 15th and early 16th centuries, the city of Antwerp replaced Bruges as the “gatewa... more During the late 15th and early 16th centuries, the city of Antwerp replaced Bruges as the “gateway city” for international trade in the Burgundian-Habsburg Low Countries. Antwerp transformed from a medium-sized Brabantine city into the leading economic centre and its population increased from around 10,000 inhabitants in ca 1400 to no less than 100,000 in ca 1550. Yet, this economic and demographic transformation appears to have had little impact on the city’s government. In other gateway cities – e.g. Seville, Lyon, Venice, London, Bruges, and Amsterdam, - the City Council became dominated by the commercial elite, but this did not happen in Antwerp. As politics was an all-male affair, it was inevitable that, over time, political dynasties became extinct because of a lack of male heirs. In consequence, the urban elite constantly recruited new members, usually among the most prominent groups in the town. In gateway cities, the new aldermen were very often merchants. The question is then why, in Antwerp, the empty seats in the City Council were not filled by merchants, and who did fill those empty seats.

This paper will test the hypothesis that access to the City Council was not regulated by capital markets (and thus primarily by trade), but by the market for urban real estate. In cities such as Medieval Ghent or Early Modern Rome, the prerequisite for political power was that one’s family had significant control over a part of urban space. This stemmed from ownership of urban soil, often reinforced with a strong grasp on neighbourhood institutions. A preliminary study of Antwerp suggests that around 1400 the urban landscape was also dotted with clusters of real-estate monopolies by prominent families, perhaps not unlike the famous Alberghi of Genoa. I will assess how these real-estate monopolies evolved when Antwerp transformed into a commercial hub and the pressure on urban land drastically increased and how they and the corresponding neighbourhood functions might have influenced the composition of the City Council. Consequently, this paper also ties in with existing debates on residential patterns of elites in pre-modern towns.

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During the late 15th and early 16th centuries, the city of Antwerp replaced Bruges as the “gatewa... more During the late 15th and early 16th centuries, the city of Antwerp replaced Bruges as the “gateway city” for international trade in the Burgundian-Habsburg Low Countries. Antwerp transformed from a medium-sized Brabantine city into the leading economic centre with a population of no less than 100,000 inhabitants. Post-war historiography focused on the demographic and economic aspects of Antwerp’s growth. Much less attention was given to the impact on the city’s political elite. Did economic and demographic efflorescence affected the leading political dynasties of the city? Did it lead to a more open elite, with an increasing influx of merchants and university-trained administrators? Or did Antwerp fits in the frequently observed trend towards increasing oligarchisation in late medieval and early modern towns? Following the historiography on urban elites I will address this question by looking into the composition and evolution of the Antwerp magistrate between 1400 and 1550. By investigating the moment of the economic growth (c. 1490-1550) as well as the years before (c. 1400-1489) I will compare both periods and investigate the social context of urban government and how this evolved over time.

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Session M05. Strangers in the City: Migration, Identity and Place 1200–1700 - EAUH 2016 Helsinki

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Amsterdam University Press, 2023

Deze bijlagen horen bij het boek Macht in de Metropool. Politieke elitevorming tijdens de demogra... more Deze bijlagen horen bij het boek Macht in de Metropool. Politieke elitevorming tijdens de demografische en economische bloeifase van Antwerpen (ca. 1400-1550) geschreven door Janna Everaert en uitgegeven bij Amsterdam University Press (2023). Deze data werden verzameld door Janna Everaert tijdens haar

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Amsterdam University Press, 2023

In haar Gouden Eeuw nam Antwerpen de rol over van Brugge als handelscentrum van West-Europa. Antw... more In haar Gouden Eeuw nam Antwerpen de rol over van Brugge als handelscentrum van West-Europa. Antwerpen groeide daarbij uit van een middelgrote Brabantse stad tot de onbetwiste metropool van de Lage Landen met niet minder dan 100.000 inwoners. Over de impact van deze economische en demografische groei op het stadsbestuur was tot nu toe weinig bekend en dat terwijl Antwerpen een interessante en uitzonderlijke casus is. Terwijl in vergelijkbare handelsmetropolen – zoals vijftiende-eeuws Brugge, zestiende-eeuw Lyon of zeventiende-eeuws Amsterdam – het stadsbestuur steeds meer werd bevolkt door handelaars, was dat in Antwerpen niet het geval.

Macht in de Metropool reconstrueert wie er tussen 1400 en 1550 dan wel in het Antwerpse stadsbestuur zat als schepen of burgemeester, wat hun profiel was en hoe dit evolueerde door de tijd heen. Ook de vastgoedinvesteringen van deze groep en haar relatie met verschillende sleutelgroepen in de samenleving - de ambachten, de adel en het centraal bestuur – worden in kaart gebracht.

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by Jesús Ángel Solórzano Telechea, Herminia Vilar, José Simões, Ana Pereira Ferreira, Rui Miguel Rocha, Francisco García-Serrano, Fermín Miranda-García, EDUARD JUNCOSA BONET, Sandra Suárez García, Anna Maleszka, Justine Firnhaber-Baker, Janna Everaert, and Miriam Fernández-Pérez

Exclusion and social discipline in the European medieval city, 2018

Esta monografía tiene por objetivo común el análisis de las intersecciones entre el individuo y s... more Esta monografía tiene por objetivo común el análisis de las intersecciones entre el individuo y sus comunidades, y cómo la inclusión y la exclusión se manifestó en las ciudades bajomedievales europeas. En la Baja Edad Media, los discursos de exclusión/ inclusión social se convirtieron en un instrumento básico para el
gobierno urbano, ya que permitió a los líderes laicos y eclesiásticos mantener el control de los habitantes de los centros urbanos sobre la base del mantenimiento
de una determinada disciplina social y de una sociedad “ordenada”. Así, se definió la sociedad urbana medieval como una comunidad de valores acorde a la legislación
eclesiástica y secular, y se articuló un discurso político, que se incorporó a la esfera de lo público. La comunidad urbana se tuvo que acomodar a un marco legal e ideológico y a unos parámetros de comportamiento, en el que la exclusión y la inclusión de la comunidad fueron una poderosa herramienta de comunicación de la disciplina social.

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Lecture on the impact, possibilities and challenges of AI tools in history education for history ... more Lecture on the impact, possibilities and challenges of AI tools in history education for history teachers
OSSG, Ghent
HOWEST, Bruges

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Guest lecture Medieval Civilzation: Making the Middle Ages Relevant, University College Maastricht

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Lezing CVO Vitant Antwerpen (18 en 24 november 2021) voor reisleiders en gidsen van de provincie ... more Lezing CVO Vitant Antwerpen (18 en 24 november 2021) voor reisleiders en gidsen van de provincie Antwerpen.

Rond 1480 nam Antwerpen de rol over van Brugge als handelscentrum van West-Europa. Antwerpen transformeerde daarbij van een middelgrote Brabantse stad tot de op één na grootste stad ten noorden van de Alpen. Over de demografische en economische kanten van Antwerpens Gouden Eeuw is al veel gezegd en geschreven, maar tot op heden was er weinig geweten over de stadsbestuurders in deze periode en hoe zij omgingen met de mogelijkheden en uitdagingen van deze stedelijke groei. In deze nascholing neemt dr. Janna Everaert jullie mee terug naar de vijftiende en de eerste half van de zestiende eeuw. Samen ontdek je wie de Bart de Wevers en de Jinnih Beelsen van de vijftiende en de zestiende eeuw waren, wat hun band was met de ambachtswereld, de handelsgemeenschap en de Brabantse adel, welke eigendommen ze bezaten, wie ze kozen als huwelijkspartner en welke sporen ze nalieten in het Antwerpen van vandaag.

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