Books by Nadine Akkerman
This publication by Nadine Akkerman will appear on the occasion of an exhibition of the same name... more This publication by Nadine Akkerman will appear on the occasion of an exhibition of the same name at the Historical Museum in The Hague ('Het Haags Historisch Museum') to be held between24 October 2014 and 15 March 2015.
The Battle at White Mountain was more than just a military disaster for Frederick V, as in its shadow he was declared outlaw, stripped of both lands and dignity. Mocked as Winter King and Queen for their single season's rule in Bohemia, Frederick and his wife, Stuart Princess Elizabeth, fled in the face of the Catholic armies, finding refuge in the Dutch Republic.
Elizabeth was followed into exile by over 220 servants, including her penniless lady-in-waiting Amalia von Solms, who had served her in the grand castles of Heidelberg and Prague. Within four years Amalia, a renowned beauty, had married and tamed the Dutch womaniser Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange, escaping the life of impoverishment that befell her peers.
In The Hague, Elizabeth Stuart refused to relinquish her title of Queen, and fashioned herself accordingly, shocking the Dutch taxpayers with her extravagance. Amalia's sudden change in status from lady-in-waiting to princess, however, led to an intense rivalry which spilled into mimicry as each vied to outdo the other. Portraits were commissioned, tournaments, ballets and masques staged, jewelry bought, the latest fashions avidly taken up, and increasingly exotic riches sought for their cabinets of curiosities.
Their behaviour, however, was far from frivolous as this assertion of courtly identity strengthened their political status, the conspicuous display of riches all the more important when that same identity was under threat. Their rivalry was not merely personal, but dynastic, as they sought to secure the best marriage candidates for their sons and daughters, especially important when both became widowed: power was only to be acquired through projection.
- The Correspondence of Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia - is the first edition, in three volu... more - The Correspondence of Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia - is the first edition, in three volumes, of Elizabeth Stuart's complete letters ever published. Elizabeth Stuart (1596-1662), also known as Electress Palatine of the Rhine or Queen of Bohemia, was the daughter of King James VI & I and Anna of Denmark, and a key religious, political, and cultural figure in early modern Europe. Volume II, tracing the years between 1632 and 1642, covers Elizabeth's life as a widow controlling the regency during her eldest son's minority and imprisonment. It opens with her husband Frederick V's departure from their court-in-exile in The Hague to the battlefield in Germany, and his unexpected death from the plague in Mainz a few days before Elizabeth and he would have regained the Palatinate. Elizabeth is forced to take Palatine affairs firmly into her own hands as the restitution slips away from her. Her brother King Charles I tries to lure her back to the British Isles, apparently in order to pacify her, but Elizabeth chooses a life of voluntary exile to expedite the restitution.
In this most political period of her life, Elizabeth devises, often unsuccessfully, ploys to gain financial, moral, and military support for the Palatine cause, frequently in direct opposition to her brother's wishes and demands. Her letters were the principal means by which she could exert her power on statesmen and military leaders, such as Archbishop Laud, Charles I, Christian IV of Denmark, the Swedish chancellor Axel Oxenstierna, Cardinal Richelieu of France, and Wladislaw IV of Poland. Elizabeth's eldest son Charles Louis, set free by the French in April 1641, ultimately took over the regency of the Palatine government in November 1642. Elizabeth at this point jadedly relinquished her role as stateswoman.
Papers by Nadine Akkerman
The Eighteenth Century, 2019
Nature Communications, 2021
Computational flattening algorithms have been successfully applied to X-ray microtomography scans... more Computational flattening algorithms have been successfully applied to X-ray microtomography scans of damaged historical documents, but have so far been limited to scrolls, books, and documents with one or two folds. The challenge tackled here is to reconstruct the intricate folds, tucks, and slits of unopened letters secured shut with “letterlocking,” a practice—systematized in this paper—which underpinned global communications security for centuries before modern envelopes. We present a fully automatic computational approach for reconstructing and virtually unfolding volumetric scans of a locked letter with complex internal folding, producing legible images of the letter’s contents and crease pattern while preserving letterlocking evidence. We demonstrate our method on four letterpackets from Renaissance Europe, reading the contents of one unopened letter for the first time. Using the results of virtual unfolding, we situate our findings within a novel letterlocking categorization ...
Tudor England. -- Petticoats and politics: Elisabeth Parr and female agency at the early Elizabet... more Tudor England. -- Petticoats and politics: Elisabeth Parr and female agency at the early Elizabethan court / Helen Graham-Matheson -- Jane Dormer's recipe for politics: a refuge household in Spain for Mary Tudor's ladies-in-waiting / Hannah Leah Crumme -- Habsburgs. -- The imperial court in Vienna. -- Ladies-in-waiting at the imperial court of Vienna from 1550 to 1700: structures, responsibilities and career patterns / Katrin Keller -- "In service to my lady, the empress, as I have done every other day of my life": Margarita of Cardona, Baroness of Dietrichstein and lady-in-waiting of Maria of Austria / Vanessa de Cruz Medina -- The court in the Spanish Netherlands. -- Women and the politics of access at the court of Brussels: The infanta Isabella's camareras mayores (1598-1633) / Birgit Houben and Dries Raeymaekers -- Dwarfs-and a loca-as ladies' maids at the Spanish Habsburg courts / Janet Ravenscroft -- France. -- 'A stable of whores'? the 'f...
Tijdschrift voor Geschiedenis, 2010
Women in the History of Philosophy and Sciences
The Politics of Female Households, 2013
The Politics of Female Households, 2013
Tijdschrift voor Geschiedenis, 2011
Dutch introduction to my book -Courtly Rivals-
Diplomacy and Early Modern Culture, 2011
The Chamber of the Thurn and Taxis post in Brussels ran by Alexandrine (1589–1666), Countess of T... more The Chamber of the Thurn and Taxis post in Brussels ran by Alexandrine (1589–1666), Countess of Taxis during the Thirty Years' War may well have been the first Black Chamber in Europe. Black Chambers were the hidden offices of secret intelligence units, staffed by ...
Early Modern Literary Studies
Whereas the quality of her literary texts is now widely acknowledged, her philosophical and scien... more Whereas the quality of her literary texts is now widely acknowledged, her philosophical and scientific writings are still looked upon suspiciously. Virginia Woolf has been most influential in criticising Cavendish and her work, disgorging a vision of a "crazy Duchess" who "shut herself up at ...
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Books by Nadine Akkerman
The Battle at White Mountain was more than just a military disaster for Frederick V, as in its shadow he was declared outlaw, stripped of both lands and dignity. Mocked as Winter King and Queen for their single season's rule in Bohemia, Frederick and his wife, Stuart Princess Elizabeth, fled in the face of the Catholic armies, finding refuge in the Dutch Republic.
Elizabeth was followed into exile by over 220 servants, including her penniless lady-in-waiting Amalia von Solms, who had served her in the grand castles of Heidelberg and Prague. Within four years Amalia, a renowned beauty, had married and tamed the Dutch womaniser Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange, escaping the life of impoverishment that befell her peers.
In The Hague, Elizabeth Stuart refused to relinquish her title of Queen, and fashioned herself accordingly, shocking the Dutch taxpayers with her extravagance. Amalia's sudden change in status from lady-in-waiting to princess, however, led to an intense rivalry which spilled into mimicry as each vied to outdo the other. Portraits were commissioned, tournaments, ballets and masques staged, jewelry bought, the latest fashions avidly taken up, and increasingly exotic riches sought for their cabinets of curiosities.
Their behaviour, however, was far from frivolous as this assertion of courtly identity strengthened their political status, the conspicuous display of riches all the more important when that same identity was under threat. Their rivalry was not merely personal, but dynastic, as they sought to secure the best marriage candidates for their sons and daughters, especially important when both became widowed: power was only to be acquired through projection.
In this most political period of her life, Elizabeth devises, often unsuccessfully, ploys to gain financial, moral, and military support for the Palatine cause, frequently in direct opposition to her brother's wishes and demands. Her letters were the principal means by which she could exert her power on statesmen and military leaders, such as Archbishop Laud, Charles I, Christian IV of Denmark, the Swedish chancellor Axel Oxenstierna, Cardinal Richelieu of France, and Wladislaw IV of Poland. Elizabeth's eldest son Charles Louis, set free by the French in April 1641, ultimately took over the regency of the Palatine government in November 1642. Elizabeth at this point jadedly relinquished her role as stateswoman.
Papers by Nadine Akkerman
The Battle at White Mountain was more than just a military disaster for Frederick V, as in its shadow he was declared outlaw, stripped of both lands and dignity. Mocked as Winter King and Queen for their single season's rule in Bohemia, Frederick and his wife, Stuart Princess Elizabeth, fled in the face of the Catholic armies, finding refuge in the Dutch Republic.
Elizabeth was followed into exile by over 220 servants, including her penniless lady-in-waiting Amalia von Solms, who had served her in the grand castles of Heidelberg and Prague. Within four years Amalia, a renowned beauty, had married and tamed the Dutch womaniser Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange, escaping the life of impoverishment that befell her peers.
In The Hague, Elizabeth Stuart refused to relinquish her title of Queen, and fashioned herself accordingly, shocking the Dutch taxpayers with her extravagance. Amalia's sudden change in status from lady-in-waiting to princess, however, led to an intense rivalry which spilled into mimicry as each vied to outdo the other. Portraits were commissioned, tournaments, ballets and masques staged, jewelry bought, the latest fashions avidly taken up, and increasingly exotic riches sought for their cabinets of curiosities.
Their behaviour, however, was far from frivolous as this assertion of courtly identity strengthened their political status, the conspicuous display of riches all the more important when that same identity was under threat. Their rivalry was not merely personal, but dynastic, as they sought to secure the best marriage candidates for their sons and daughters, especially important when both became widowed: power was only to be acquired through projection.
In this most political period of her life, Elizabeth devises, often unsuccessfully, ploys to gain financial, moral, and military support for the Palatine cause, frequently in direct opposition to her brother's wishes and demands. Her letters were the principal means by which she could exert her power on statesmen and military leaders, such as Archbishop Laud, Charles I, Christian IV of Denmark, the Swedish chancellor Axel Oxenstierna, Cardinal Richelieu of France, and Wladislaw IV of Poland. Elizabeth's eldest son Charles Louis, set free by the French in April 1641, ultimately took over the regency of the Palatine government in November 1642. Elizabeth at this point jadedly relinquished her role as stateswoman.
Two postdocs will conduct archival research in the UK and the Netherlands, establishing a historical context as well as basic facts regarding the owners of both goods and ship. Subsequent co-operation with researchers of materiality will further our understanding of how the history of Anglo-Dutch mobility and displacement of exile affected material culture, and how individual and group identities were shaped through that culture on both sides of the Channel. A pilot study for a transdisciplinary European project, this project seeks to build a bridge between maritime archeologists and cultural historians, in association with experts from the Conservation, Heritage and Museum sectors. Research outcomes will be widely disseminated through international media and exhibitions. The first Postdoc will begin on 1 May 2017.
The Postdoc will study the Texel find in the context of royalist travel in the mid-seventeenth century by researching British correspondences and the objects themselves. She/he will write one peer-reviewed scholarly article in a major journal and contribute to an exhibition catalogue. We encourage UK residents to apply for this post.
Functie-eisen
A PhD in cultural history or a related field (candidates near completion of the degree will be considered);
A research and publication record commensurate with career stage;
Specialist knowledge of mid-seventeenth-century British history;
Research experience with early modern correspondences, paleography, and archival research;
An interest in maritime history and/or archeology and material culture.
Arbeidsvoorwaarden
We offer a part-time, for 19 hours per week, fixed-term position from 1 May 2017 until 1 May 2018. Salary range, depending on education and work experience, from € 2,552.- to € 4,028.-(pay scale 10 in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities) gross per month, based on a full-time appointment.
Leiden University offers an attractive benefits package with additional holiday (8%) and end-of-year bonuses(8.3%), and training and career development. Our individual choices model gives you some freedom to assemble your own set of terms and conditions. Candidates from outside the Netherlands may be eligible for a substantial tax break. www.workingat.leiden.edu/.
Diversity
Leiden University is strongly committed to diversity within its community and especially welcomes applications from members of underrepresented groups.
Dienstverband: Temporary, one year
Werkgever
Universiteit Leiden
Leiden is a typical university city, hosting the oldest university in the Netherlands (1575). The University permeates the local surroundings; University premises are scattered throughout the city, and the students who live and study in Leiden give the city its relaxed yet vibrant atmosphere.
Leiden University is one of Europe's foremost research universities. This prominent position gives our graduates a leading edge in applying for academic posts and for functions outside academia.
Afdeling
Faculty of Humanities
The Faculty of Humanities is rich in expertise in fields as philosophy, religious studies, history, art history, literature, linguistics and regional studies covering nearly every region of the world. Our faculty is home to more than 5400 students and 800 staff members.
Additionele informatie
Enquiries can be made to dr Nadine Akkerman via email [email protected].