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PhD position ‘Societies and Guilds in the Language Industry’ (Leiden University) – deadline 15 February 2026
The Faculty of Humanities of Leiden University is offering a PhD position within the project LangPro: Professional Opportunities in the Early Modern Language Sector (1550-1650) on the topic ‘Societies and Guilds in the Language Industry’.
The LangPro project examines the notion of the language sector in early modern North-West Europe: that part of early modern societies and economies which relied primarily on language skills. LangPro’s central research question is: What professional, financial, and social opportunities did the early modern language sector offer to men and women in the Low Countries, France, the German lands, and England, between 1550 and 1650? Laying the groundwork for a new research domain on the history of the language sector, the project team will develop a prosopographical database that makes it possible to gain insight into the characteristics of professionals in the past whose core business was language and the nature of the sector that employed them.
The PhD researching the topic of ‘Societies and Guilds in the Language Industry’ will examine how language professionals supported each other by uniting in guilds, societies, and associations in early modern North-West Europe. To this end, the PhD candidate will study early modern archives of guilds and associations related to the language industry in the Low Countries, France, Germany, and England, between 1550 and 1650. This PhD project will yield new insights into the differences between various regions in North-West Europe regarding the forms of institutional support that was available to language professionals, the professions to which these organisations catered (e.g. language teachers, secretaries, etc.), and their functioning.
Applications should be submitted ultimately 15 February 2026.
