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Bob Pierik

@bobpi.bsky.social
918 followers 513 following 164 posts

Historian. Researching early modern space, gender, water and other things. Assistant Professor in Early Modern Urban History at the VUB. Brussels based. Posts in Dutch and English linktr.ee/bobpierik

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Reposted by Bob Pierik
Liesbeth Corens @onslies.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
A programme! A veritable programme! Would you look at these cool talks for our Autumn line-up, with dream team @bobpi.bsky.social, @ninondubourg.bsky.social, and @ewatson.bsky.social Join us at the @ihr.bsky.social (or on zoom) on Fridays at 17:30 www.history.ac.uk/news-events/... #LowCountries
Autumn term programme for the Low Countries seminar at the Institute f Historical research on Fridays at 17:30

23 Oct	Bob Pierik (Brussels), ‘Water, Space and Environmental Inequality in Early Modern Amsterdam’ 
 
20 Nov	Ninon Dubourgh (Cologne), ‘Between Old Age, Illness, and Disability: Everyday Care in the Hospitals of Late Medieval Liège’ 
 
18 Dec	Elise Watson (Edinburgh), ‘”For women by women”: Gendered Networks in Operation in the Dutch Book Trade’
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Rombert Stapel @rjstapel.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
HisGIS.nl is live! De afgelopen jaren hebben we ontzettend hard gewerkt om dit mogelijk te maken en ik ben echt blij met het resultaat. HisGIS was als digitaal geesteswetenschappelijk project altijd al uniek in de wereld, maar met deze nieuwe interactieve website zijn we echt klaar voor de toekomst.
hisgis.nl
HisGIS
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Bob Pierik @bobpi.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
they probably got lost on the ring due to the Bergen signs
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Bob Pierik @bobpi.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Ja dat systeem is klaar, 2026 is een overgangsjaar vol marketing om mensen 'aan het merk Wero te laten wennen' omdat ze anders in paniek zouden raken :')
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Bob Pierik @bobpi.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Irritant dat er overal Wero reclame is terwijl dat hele Wero nog niet werkt. Zet het aan! I am begging you, laat me Tikkies sturen naar Belgen, ze zijn er mentaal klaar voor beloof ik.
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Bob Pierik @bobpi.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Lol yeah I think that the problem for a struggling business in this part of Ixelles is that you didn't cater enough to the cargo bike crowd
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Bob Pierik @bobpi.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
New dog-toral student in the office @shoc-vub.bsky.social
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Bob Pierik @bobpi.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
I do hope his health bar gets replenished at lunch
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Bob Pierik @bobpi.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
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Bob Pierik @bobpi.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
Unfortunately not pictured but happening off-screen: a second much larger dog running amok over the campsite, my parents chasing her.
A small dog standing on a table in a caravan, looking challengingly into the camera
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Jeroen Puttevils @jeroenputtevils.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
Doctoraatstudent (4 jaar) gezocht voor project Leven in tijden van crisis. Veerkracht door aanpassing en accommodatie in de middeleeuwse stad: Gent, 1436-38, deadline 17 augustus www.uantwerpen.be/nl/jobs/vaca...
uantwerpen.be
Doctoraatsbursaal in de Middeleeuwse Stadsgeschiedenis | Universiteit Antwerpen
YUFE vacature
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Erika Gaffney @erikagaffney.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
1) We welcome book proposals to this new series with DeGruyter / Brill - Genders and Sexualities in the Early Modern World Series Editors: Elizabeth Rhodes, James Daybell & Merry Wiesner-Hanks brill.com/page/forthco... Image: Vrolijk gezelschap in de buitenlucht, 1658, by Gesina ter Borch
A watercolor drawing of about 16 people sitting around a table, outdoors - they are eating, drinking, and generally enjoying themselves.
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Bob Pierik @bobpi.bsky.social · 28/05/2026
Ik euh, kreeg dit
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Caitlin G. DeAngelis @caitlindeangelis.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
Recently, FamilySearch digitized and uploaded tons of microfilmed records, including many from 18th-century Massachsuetts. They're using some sort of AI to transcribe/summarize the handwritten documents. I've noticed that the AI strips out references to race and enslavement in 18thc documents.
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Bob Pierik @bobpi.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
Poepexplosie bij bruidswinkel in Boxmeer. Wat moet je dan doen? Jan Baptista van Helmont weet raad. (via @omroepbrabant.nl en Daniel Jütte's Strait Gate)
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Bob Pierik @bobpi.bsky.social · 05/05/2026
milieudesertie
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SHOC VUB @shoc-vub.bsky.social · 30/04/2026
In his article, Brent sets out to answer the question: what role did traffic flows in eighteenth-century Brussels play in shaping the urban (retail) landscape? Curious? Read all about it via the article link: lnkd.in/erEd7GU2 Image: Hendrik van Wel, view on the Halle Gate and Brussels, ca. 1700.
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SHOC VUB @shoc-vub.bsky.social · 30/04/2026
Recently, our SHOC colleague Brent Huygh published his first academic article, titled "Commercialisation from below: the Brussels gateway roads in the eighteenth century", in the journal "History of Retailing and Consumption".
lnkd.in
LinkedIn
This link will take you to a page that’s not on LinkedIn
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Bob Pierik @bobpi.bsky.social · 27/04/2026
We had a very interesting @shoc-vub.bsky.social seminar this morning by @kbruisch.bsky.social who presented her fascinating book: Burning Swamps. Peat and the Forgotten Margins of Russia's Fossil Economy.
Book cover: Burning Swamps. Peat and the Forgotten Margins of Russia's Fossil Economy. Katja Bruisch.
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Bob Pierik @bobpi.bsky.social · 20/04/2026
Ha thanks! Very good to know and nice to digitally meet you :)
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Bob Pierik @bobpi.bsky.social · 09/04/2026
Ja, juist daarom misschien!
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Bob Pierik @bobpi.bsky.social · 09/04/2026
Stevin werkt in Nederland wel hoor, NWO heeft nota bene een prijs naar hem vernoemd, er zijn ook straten naar hem vernoemd etc.
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Bob Pierik @bobpi.bsky.social · 03/04/2026
Hey #skystorians! In case you are working on the history of horses directly or indirectly, or know someone who is: Check out my CfP for a session for the @esshc.bsky.social in Lyon 2027. Link to PDF: drive.google.com/file/d/1HRab...
Text of a Call for Papers: 
The Horse in History: 
Animal Agency, Labour and Mobility, c. 1500-1900
Call for papers for a panel for the ESSHC 2027 in Lyon, FR. April 21-24
Bob Pierik (Vrije Universiteit Brussels)
Humans and horses have shaped each other's histories during an intense symbiosis of millennia. From the Columbian Exchange to industrialization, during grand transformative moments in history as well as during more structural longue durée shifts, the horse was not just there, but was a crucial piece of the puzzle, a co-constitutive actor that supplemented human bodies with strength and mobility. McShane and Tarr famously characterized horses as ‘living machines.’ But horse history is not just a story of practical utility. Horses were deeply ingrained in social and cultural fabrics. Through thousands of years of Eurasian history, one's relation to horses shaped and signified one's social status. The social, economic and cultural status of the horse (or in fact of different types of horse) reveals a lot about a given historical society and is in fact an underappreciated lens to ‘read’ historical societies through. Going even further, in recent decades, human-animal studies have challenged us to think beyond anthropocentric perspectives and accentuate animal agencies.
This session is aimed at bringing together scholars with an interest in the horse as historical subject. It invites perspectives that consider human-horse symbiosis from a social, economic and/or cultural angle. Proposals are invited to consider themes such as:
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The working horse, horsepower and horse labour.
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Mobility, carriages, driving, riding.
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Horses and social status/class
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Animal agency, more-than-human perspectives.
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Horse geography: Fields, stables, streets and roads
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Comparing urban/rural horse experiences
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History of veterinary medicineProposals for other topics that fit the broader theme of the history of the horse are also very welcome. I am open to changing accents of the session theme if that is constructive to the overall goal of bringing scholars interested in this broader theme together. I am myself working on Europe in the long eighteenth century, but promising abstracts from other periods and places are very welcome.
Submit your abstract (max. 500 words) as soon as possible and before the 11th of April to bob.pierik@vub.be
Image: Archives Municipales Lyon. Plan scénographique de Lyon, chevaux tractant des embarcations le long de la Saône: gravure NB par Seon et Dubouchet (1872-1876, cote : 2SAT/6/32, pl. 24, détail)
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Bob Pierik @bobpi.bsky.social · 03/04/2026
Hey #skystorians! In case you are working on the history of horses directly or indirectly, or know someone who is: Check out my CfP for a session for the @esshc.bsky.social in Lyon 2027. Link to PDF: drive.google.com/file/d/1HRab...
Text of a Call for Papers: 
The Horse in History: 
Animal Agency, Labour and Mobility, c. 1500-1900
Call for papers for a panel for the ESSHC 2027 in Lyon, FR. April 21-24
Bob Pierik (Vrije Universiteit Brussels)
Humans and horses have shaped each other's histories during an intense symbiosis of millennia. From the Columbian Exchange to industrialization, during grand transformative moments in history as well as during more structural longue durée shifts, the horse was not just there, but was a crucial piece of the puzzle, a co-constitutive actor that supplemented human bodies with strength and mobility. McShane and Tarr famously characterized horses as ‘living machines.’ But horse history is not just a story of practical utility. Horses were deeply ingrained in social and cultural fabrics. Through thousands of years of Eurasian history, one's relation to horses shaped and signified one's social status. The social, economic and cultural status of the horse (or in fact of different types of horse) reveals a lot about a given historical society and is in fact an underappreciated lens to ‘read’ historical societies through. Going even further, in recent decades, human-animal studies have challenged us to think beyond anthropocentric perspectives and accentuate animal agencies.
This session is aimed at bringing together scholars with an interest in the horse as historical subject. It invites perspectives that consider human-horse symbiosis from a social, economic and/or cultural angle. Proposals are invited to consider themes such as:
-
The working horse, horsepower and horse labour.
-
Mobility, carriages, driving, riding.
-
Horses and social status/class
-
Animal agency, more-than-human perspectives.
-
Horse geography: Fields, stables, streets and roads
-
Comparing urban/rural horse experiences
-
History of veterinary medicineProposals for other topics that fit the broader theme of the history of the horse are also very welcome. I am open to changing accents of the session theme if that is constructive to the overall goal of bringing scholars interested in this broader theme together. I am myself working on Europe in the long eighteenth century, but promising abstracts from other periods and places are very welcome.
Submit your abstract (max. 500 words) as soon as possible and before the 11th of April to bob.pierik@vub.be
Image: Archives Municipales Lyon. Plan scénographique de Lyon, chevaux tractant des embarcations le long de la Saône: gravure NB par Seon et Dubouchet (1872-1876, cote : 2SAT/6/32, pl. 24, détail)
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Brodie Waddell @brodiewaddell.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
If this seems like your sort of thing, you can read the whole thing for free #OpenAccess here: www.cambridge.org/core/books/e...
Cover of The Experience of Work in Early Modern England
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Brodie Waddell @brodiewaddell.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
Thanks to @jwhittle.bsky.social, @markhailwood.bsky.social, @aucointaylor.bsky.social, @hkrobb.bsky.social (via @tomlukejohnson.bsky.social), for reminding me that my kids are slackers. 🗃️ Lovely discussion of *The Experience of Work in Early Modern England* in the LRB: www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
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Historici vertellen @historicivertellen.bsky.social · 25/03/2026
Vanmiddag de boekpresentatie van Cultural History for a Changing World, onder redactie van mij en collega @jochenhung.bsky.social, maar met bijdragen van onze hele afdeling. Wij pleiten voor een cultuurgeschiedenis die urgente issues als post-truth, klimaatverandering, en dekolonisatie bespreekt.
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Simon Otjes @simonotjes.bsky.social · 20/03/2026
We are being pulled into an immoral and illegal war without a clear end goal in order to secure oil. It’s 2003 all over again.
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Willemijn Ruberg @willemijnruberg.bsky.social · 16/03/2026
PhD position on medieval representations of disability within the project DISMANTLE at Leiden University. careers.universiteitleiden.nl/job/PhD-posi...
careers.universiteitleiden.nl
PhD position on medieval representations of disability within the project DISMANTLE
PhD position on medieval representations of disability within the project DISMANTLE
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Erika Gaffney @erikagaffney.bsky.social · 12/03/2026
The ERC project PROXISENSES - Entangled Histories of the Proximal Senses (1350-1650): A Mediterranean History of (Subjective) Knowledge is hiring 3 PhD fellows. Projects focus, respectively, on the history of salt, grapes & fish in the Renaissance Mediterranean. www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/43...
linkedin.com
University of Liège hiring Doctorant in Liège, Walloon Region, Belgium | LinkedIn
Posted 1:47:37 PM. The Department of History at the University of Liège invites applications for three fully-fundedPhD…See this and similar jobs on LinkedIn.
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Charmian Mansell @charmianmansell.bsky.social · 10/03/2026
Such lovely news! 🤩
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Charlotte Meijer @chrmeijer.bsky.social · 10/03/2026
Very excited to be traveling to York next month to discuss #worms, #bedbugs, and other unwanted critters 🪱🪳 #animalhistory
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Bob Pierik @bobpi.bsky.social · 08/03/2026
Internationale Vrouwendag Girlboss tip: als je dan weigert te betalen moeten ze de politie laten komen en loopt de administratie verder vast: www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2025/...
nrc.nl
Aanpak van winkeldieven stokt door gebrekkige medewerking van de politie
Justitie: Duizenden winkeldieven ontlopen ‘een boete’ van 181 euro vanwege organisatorische problemen bij de politie. Die moet gegevens van de dieven doorgeven aan winkeliers, voor de aansprakelijkste...
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Samuël Kruizinga @samuelkruizinga.bsky.social · 05/03/2026
Vacancy for a fully funded 4-year PhD at @uvahumanities.bsky.social on the key roles played by social science, demography, and nutritional science during the blockades of the First and Second World Wars, especially where they related to food.
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Bob Pierik @bobpi.bsky.social · 23/01/2026
Ha, dankjewel :)
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Bob Pierik @bobpi.bsky.social · 23/01/2026
Extra bijzonder: Marietje van Winter, de 98-jarige oprichter van het Prof. Van Winterfonds, was daar ook bij en sprak enkele woorden alsof ze nog altijd vol energie elke week een publiek toespreekt.
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Bob Pierik @bobpi.bsky.social · 23/01/2026
Gisteren mocht ik in het Bartholomeus Gasthuis in Utrecht de Prof. Van Winterprijs 2025 voor beste lokale geschiedenisboek in Nederland in ontvangst nemen voor mijn boek 'Zo veel leven voor de deur'. Ontzettend bedankt aan de jury voor het toekennen van deze prijs en de lovende woorden.
Beeld van mijn dankwoord tijdens de uitreking. In een historische zaal van het Gasthuis spreek ik het publiek toe en vertel ik wat over het boek. De historsiche gevel van het Bartholomeus Gasthuis in Utrecht. Bovenaan een klok en in de gevel zelf hoge historische ramen.
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Erin Grievances @erinbartram.bsky.social · 07/12/2025
One argument I used to make to my students about why it was important to learn history (and historical thinking) is that someone was always going to be trying to tell you things were natural or had always been this way and that you needed to be able to see that as an exercise of power.
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Bob Pierik @bobpi.bsky.social · 08/12/2025
Daarom ook wel benieuwd naar meer 'best practices' om studenten nog wel 'handmatig' essays te laten schrijven. Schrijven in het klaslokaal? Met track changes en versies die we vergelijken? Of gewoon meer enthousiasmeren ipv controleren?
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Bob Pierik @bobpi.bsky.social · 08/12/2025
Ik denk dat het essay doodverklaren de schrijfvaardigheid van studenten gaat schaden en daarmee ook cognitieve vaardigheden die alleen maar schaarser worden in tijden van AI. Maar daarom des te beter dat het doodverklaarde essay stiekem nog levensvatbaar blijkt icm mondelinge overhoringen ;)
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Environment and History, White Horse Press @eandhwhp.bsky.social · 02/12/2025
In "Energy, Ecology and Gender in the Middle-Class Home of the Eighteenth-Century Low Countries," Wout Saelens examines the impact of fossil fuel usage on housewives and maidservants who bore the burden of new discomforts accompanying this new energy regime 🗃️ #envhist doi.org/10.3828/whpe...
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Bob Pierik @bobpi.bsky.social · 02/12/2025
Geweldig om bij bezoek aan Nederland nog snel even naar het @rijksmuseum.bsky.social te kunnen voor 'Thuis in de 17de eeuw'! Een mooi feest van herkenning én nieuwe verwondering. Zalen gevuld met bijzonder gewone materiële cultuur. Mijn favoriet was op het einde: een dubbele deur op een kier.
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Jeroen Puttevils @jeroenputtevils.bsky.social · 28/11/2025
Wie meer wil lezen over de besparingen waar de Vlaamse universiteiten voor staan én vooral gevolgen daarvan: www.dewereldmorgen.be/artikel/2025...
dewereldmorgen.be
Hoger onderwijs in opstand: besparen op kennis, betalen voor crisis
Universiteiten en hogescholen slaan alarm: jaar na jaar krijgen ze minder geld per student, terwijl de regering opnieuw hard snoeit in onderwijs en onderzoek. De druk op personeel en studenten wordt o...
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Jeroen Puttevils @jeroenputtevils.bsky.social · 28/11/2025
Kennis, onze enige duurzame grondstof. Besparen op onderwijs en onderzoek treft iedereen! Dank aan de collega's voor de slogan, de banner en de foto.
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Bob Pierik @bobpi.bsky.social · 22/11/2025
Ga ik in de gaten houden! Dankje
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Bob Pierik @bobpi.bsky.social · 22/11/2025
Nice! ook al ergens online?
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Historici vertellen @historicivertellen.bsky.social · 20/11/2025
Ik heb afgelopen paar jaar veel verbreding gevonden in onderwijs. Bij @utrechthps.bsky.social kon ik tussen 2022 en 2024 twee jaar werken aan onderwijs over de geschiedenis en filosofie van de Aard- en klimaatwetenschappen, waarmee mijn proefschrift een hele brede context kreeg. 1/
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Holland Historisch Tijdschrift @tijdschriftholl.bsky.social · 17/11/2025
'Amsterdam is gebouwd op palen, tot in het IJ. De palen in het IJ gaven de grens van de stad aan. Daar speelde zich een complex spel van surveillance en smokkel af.' Voor ons themanummer 'Rafelranden van Amsterdam' schreef @bobpi.bsky.social een zeer lezenswaardig artikel. Bestel dit nummer hier:
tijdschriftholland.nl
Rafelranden van Amsterdam (2025-3) - Holland Historisch Tijdschrift
De bijdragen van Ranjith Jayasena, Janna Coomans, Bob Pierik, Janneke Gemmeken, Annemarie de Wildt en Jouke Turpijn nemen ons mee van de vroegste fysieke grenzen van Amsterdam, via het leven van mense...
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