by the Past & Present editorial team

by Dr Victoria Leonard, (Coventry University and Institute of Classical Studies, London) The conference, ‘Orosius Through the Ages’, was a long time coming. Although the vision for a unique event to bring together scholars on Paulus Orosius and his Historiae adversus paganos developed in 2015, months of planning saw the event sadly postponed because of the pandemic. After an extended absence of in-person events, it was wonderful to meet again with colleagues physically at Senate House in London, albeit following measures to try to keep us all safe. We were so pleased to make the event more inclusive and diverse by hosting the conference online for speakers and delegates not in the room, enabling knowledge exchange about Orosius and the reception of his Historiae between participants in countries far beyond the UK. The conference featured 22 speakers over three days, including keynote presentations from Elizabeth M. Tyler, Professor of Medieval History at the University of York, and Peter Van Nuffelen, Professor for the Cultural History of the Ancient World at Ghent University. Prof. Van Nuffelen spoke on ‘Orosius the Historian: Historiographical Traditions and Treading the Line’. Prof. Tyler spoke on ‘Orosius, Universal History and the Making of Imperial England: From […]

by Dr. Genji Yasuhira (University of Utrecht/Japan Society for the Promotion of Science) In my article ‘Transforming the Urban Space: Catholic Survival Through Spatial Practices in Post-Reformation Utrecht’, which recently appeared in Past & Present No. 255, I discuss how Utrecht’s Catholics sought spaces to live as Catholics under Protestant rule. Following an equally unexpected and exciting encounter with early modern Dutch history, I decided on Utrecht’s Catholics as a case study for my dissertation, moving from Kyoto to Utrecht in 2015. From the time I first set foot in the city, I was impressed by the historical materials still existing there, from written documents and artworks to buildings and streets. In adopting the narrative style of a ‘tour guide’ for my article, I sought to reflect on my experiences walking through Utrecht’s narrow streets while imagining what seventeenth-century life would have been like. Here I would like to take my readers on another virtual urban tour to discover the traces of early modern Catholic survival in Utrecht’s urban space today. As luck would have it, my article has been published in an important memorial year for the city. On June 2, 2022, Utrecht began celebrations for its 900-year anniversary. […]