News
Successful Phd Defence Posthumus alumnus Jurriaan Wink
On 22 September 2025, Posthumus alumnus Jurriaan Wink successfully defended the PhD thesis ‘Het thuisfront springt bij: Stad, gewest en vorst op de bres voor kooplieden uit Kampen, Utrecht en Zutphen in den vreemde (ca. 1440-1560)’ [transl. ‘Help from home: Urban, regional, and central authorities of Kampen, Utrecht, and Zutphen supporting merchants abroad (ca. 1440-1560)’]. Supervisors were Professor Bart Lambert (Vrije Universiteit Brussel) and Professor Louis Sicking (VU Amsterdam).
Trade in the late Middle Ages was risky business: travel was slow, information often incomplete, and danger never far away. Yet international trade continued to grow. Why did merchants and skippers keep following their trade routes despite the risks? Previous research has mainly approached trade as a relationship between merchants and the authorities at their destination. This thesis shifts the focus: to the practical, diplomatic and legal support merchants and skippers from Kampen, Utrecht and Zutphen received abroad from their home cities and rulers: their home front. It shows that research demonstrates that international trade was never just a matter between a merchant and their destination and the home front was a key factor in long-distance trade, alongside the efforts of merchants themselves and the provisions offered by foreign authorities.
The N.W. Posthumus Institute congratulates Jurriaan with the successful defence!
