PhD Defence Posthumus alumnus Cécile Bruyet

On 26 June 2026, Posthumus alumnus Cécile Bruyet will defend the PhD thesis ‘A Taste for Land: How Access to Land Shaped Access to Food in Late Medieval Antwerp (1430-1530)’ at the University of Antwerp. Supervisors are Preofessors Tim Soens and Peter Stabel (both University of Antwerp).

This thesis contributes to long-lasting debates on food provisioning, challenging, however, their macro-scale approach through a study of short food chains and access to land. These last have only been considered for smaller towns, yet, to what extent were they part of the foodscape of urban dwellers in larger towns as well? And, most importantly, of which urban dwellers? Antwerp in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries offers a unique case study as the city grew from a medium-sized town to the commercial gateway of the North Sea grain trade, generating rapid processes of urbanisation and demographic growth. The results of this thesis invite to rethink town-countryside relationships and past urban foodprint in light of the unequal access to land, and provide knowledge to historicise present-day solutions on how to feed a growing urban population.

Those who wish to attend the defence in person, should inform Cécile by e-mail ultimately by 19 June 2026. Please note that the defence ceremony will be at the location Kattenstraat 10 in Antwerp.

The N.W. Posthumus Institute staff wishes Cécile a successful defence!.