Few figures in Dutch history have captured the imagination as much as Count Floris v. In 1296 he was violently murdered by noblemen from his immediate environment. New research into the protagonists backgrounds and motives reveals that both personal revenge and political motives played a role in the
A special piece of history can be seen in the EYE film museum. Or actually composed history. The Hungarian artist Péter Forgács mixed pre-war private films from the Dutch East Indies with letters from the same period to create the film installation Slumbering Fire. Péter Forgács had nothing to do w
The ancient world is laced with myths and legends. The further back in time you go, the harder it is sometimes to separate myth and history. Many stories have taken on a life of their own over the centuries. Some developments from antiquity are too easily extended to modern times. Others cant be rig
It was one of the great mysteries of the climate history of the last millennium:Which volcano caused the catastrophic cold spell in the years after 1257? The Samalas volcano in Indonesia, researchers now write in PNAS. In the year 1258 there was no summer. It was especially cold in the northern hem
In Classic. History of the Greco-Roman World by Anton van Hooff, myths and history sometimes intertwine. But if you take that into account, the book is a beautiful and complete story about classical antiquity. “Ancient” is a concept that actually has no fixed meaning. Usually historians mean by thi
More than 200 years ago, on June 5, 1806, the Kingdom of Holland was proclaimed. For the first time since Philip II, the Netherlands again had a hereditary head of state:Lodewijk Napoleon, younger brother of the French emperor. In the four years of his reign, Lodewijk developed numerous administrati
Why did the very first civilizations arise in areas such as Mesopotamia, Egypt and northern China? It sounds a bit contradictory, but many historians see war as an important catalyst for civilisation. In the journal PNAS, American scientists substantiated this idea with a mathematical model. Can hum
The first pets appeared in the Stone Age. The fact that people started using wild animals and their descendants for their own way of life has profoundly influenced society. For example, if the people of Eurasia hadnt bred the horse from the wild horses that roamed there some five thousand years ago,
This week is Photo Week. Time for Kennislink to take a look at the scientific kitchen of photography. Is it actually there? Maartje van den Heuvel, curator of photography at Leiden University, explains what is and isnt scientific about photos and why. To get straight to the point:there is nothing
Violence has escalated rapidly since the Syrian population rose up against President Assads regime in early 2011. Who is fighting whom and why exactly is getting more and more complicated. The best way to understand it is to delve into the countrys history, as the conflict has ancient roots. With t
How did the mostly Jewish prisoners experience their time in Westerbork transit camp? Often very different from how they remembered it later. This is apparent from a large study of camp letters and reports by historian Eva Moraal. She will receive her PhD at the University of Amsterdam on 20 Septemb
It is well known that the Dutch were already known as a generous people in the Golden Age. But where did that generosity come from? Recent research shows that pressure from both the city council and the pastor played an important role in this. So not just out of the goodness of the Dutch hearts… Hi
For three years now, the book Sapiens has been at number one on the bestseller list in Israel. It is a sharp, critical and engaged book about the history of our species from 70,000 years ago, when the Homo sapiens a species still insignificant to ecology. This “Little History of Mankind” is written
Corinne Hofman (1959) is one of this years winners of the Spinoza Prize. Hofman is professor of Archeology of the Caribbean at Leiden University. She combines archeology with other disciplines to rewrite Caribbean Indian history. Alpha, gamma and beta sciences; methods and techniques from all corne
Every year in June the tension rises to great heights in academic Netherlands. It is time again for the presentation of the Spinoza Prize, the highest scientific award in the Netherlands. The four winners of 2014 are physicist Dirk Bouwmeester, archaeologist Corinne Hofman, environmental biotechnolo
Russia did not conquer Crimea for the first time this year. In 1783 Catherine the Great preceded Putin. After a war with the Ottoman Empire, it annexed the peninsula, which was very popular because of its ports. She didnt do this alone. For this she had the help of a Dutch naval officer in Russian s
The editors of Kennislink regularly receive questions from readers. For example, Arthur Jansen wondered whether humanity could live as long as the dinosaurs lived. They lasted for 165 million years. Although this cannot of course be stated with certainty, it is possible to state with a degree of ce
At the beginning of this summer, science financier NWO awarded 12 million euros to the CLARIAH project, which will allow Dutch humanities scientists to build a digital infrastructure. What is it for and what is the benefit? Henk Wals, director of the International Institute of Social History (IISH)
The Russian media is buzzing with theories that it was not pro-Russian rebels who shot down flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine, but that it was a plot by the Ukrainian army together with the American intelligence service CIA. The Russians have no evidence for it. But it is obvious that Western intelli
A piece of human jaw, found in 2009 in Hoek van Holland, turns out to be about 9,500 years old. The jaw thus dates from the Middle Stone Age. Human remains from that period are quite rare in our country – only once before was a jaw from this era found in the Netherlands. It was a bit disappointing,
For years scientists have been amazed by the sculpture known as the idol Szygirski. They estimate that it may even be over 11,000 years old! What was she? And how was it even created? There are many mysteries of antiquity. But the secrets of even earlier times are incomparably more. For years scie
Does Germany owe us hundreds of billions of euros or not a penny? Does Poland have grounds to demand compensation for losses suffered in World War II? Is it just a media and political topic? We check documents and listen to experts. The Institute will be looking for legal ways of pursuing court cl
The city of Berlin underwent rapid expansion during the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century. The new neighborhoods on the outskirts therefore had to be equipped with all kinds of public services to meet the needs of the growing population. In the Mariendorf district, to the south
Name of legend, Arthur was immortalized in the Middle Ages thanks to the famous knights of the round table of Chrétien de Troyes. Its origin would be Celtic and it would mean bear. Common in the Middle Ages, it disappeared during the Renaissance, to become a great classic since the 1980s. Festival o