Cover Page
The following handle holds various files of this Leiden University dissertation: http://hdl.handle.net/1887/68326
Author: Smithuis, J.
Urban politics and the role of guilds in the
city of Utrecht (1250-1450)
Proefschrift
ter verkrijging van
de graad van Doctor aan de Universiteit Leiden,
op gezag van Rector Magnificus prof.mr. C.J.J.M. Stolker,
volgens besluit van het College voor Promoties
te verdedigen op woensdag 6 februari 2019
klokke 15.00 uur
door
Justine Smithuis
Promotor:
Prof. Dr. P.C.M. Hoppenbrouwers (Universiteit Leiden)
Copromotor:
Dr. A.J. van den Hoven van Genderen (Universiteit Utrecht)
Promotiecommissie:
Em. Prof. Dr. W.P. Blockmans (Universiteit Leiden) Prof. Dr. J. Haemers (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven) Prof. Dr. M. Prak (Universiteit Utrecht)
Contents
Acknowledgements vii
Introduction 1
Chapter 1. Guild representation or oligarchy? 23
Chapter 2. Wi ghemene oudermanne van den ghemenen ghilden 61
Chapter 3. Urban historiography and politics 83
Chapter 4. Popular movements and elite leadership 115
Chapter 5. Urban politics and violence 137
Conclusion and discussion 159
Samenvatting 175
Sources and bibliography 189
vii
Acknowledgements
This thesis started as a research project on the backgrounds of political and social conflict in the late medieval city of Utrecht. I had grown a particular interest in the recurring instances of faction and party strife in this city as a corollary of my previous research into the Utrecht schism (1423-1449). The subject of conflict was also the overarching theme of the research project ‘Twilight Zone’ in which I took part from 2009 to 2012 as a PhD candidate. This project was financed by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO).
I never could have ended this project successfully without the guidance provided by my supervisors Peter Hoppenbrouwers and Bram van den Hoven van Genderen, and the support and inspiration I experienced from fellow researchers, colleagues and friends. In particular, I would like to thank the members of the project team, Matthijs Gerritsen, Aart Noordzij and Hans Mol, and other (former) colleagues at the Institute for History at Leiden University for the many motivating conversations and meetings we had. I would also like to thank the organisers and participants of workshops in Santander (2010), Leeds (2012) and Leiden (2013) for their instructive feedback and inspiring discussions. A special thanks should go to Justine Firnhaber-Baker, who invited me to a series of three workshops on medieval revolts in St. Andrews (2013-2015). These workshops offered me the rare chance to discuss the case of Utrecht with leading researchers from other
countries and historical contexts, which proved to be invaluable for the development of my ideas.
Without mentioning them all by name here, my friends and family were of vital importance to me during the prolonged period that I researched and wrote on this thesis. In the last stages, Petra Suripatty at Wageningen University & Research Library was of great help with my many Interlibrary Loan requests. Thank you!
