Blog
Language Expertise: The Driving Force Behind Early Modern Societies
Alisa van de Haar (Leiden University, PI LangPro) In early modern Europe, language skills were truly foundational. Language education was considered so important for children that, in the Low Countries, the different types of primary and secondary educational institutions were even named after the primary language they taught: the Dutch school, the French school, and…
Workshop: Literary Transfers in the Multilingual Low Countries (1450–1600)
Utrecht University Library, 2 September 2026 (Robin Koch, Leiden University, PhD candidate LangPro) Bringing together multidisciplinary scholars, with the added benefit of access to primary source material relating to each of their fields, led to fruitful discussion in the Utrecht University Library. Within the map room of the library, we were introduced to various printed…
Magdalena Valery: Migrant, Language professional, Entrepreneur
Alisa van de Haar (Leiden University, PI LangPro) Language skills could be an important source of social and financial capital in early modern Europe. This is clearly illustrated by the case of Magdalena Valery, who, as both a woman and a migrant, was doubly disadvantaged in early modern society, yet cleverly exploited her linguistic expertise…
