Bram Vannieuwenhuyze

De ‘vertekstlozing’ van de stad : De vergankelijkheid van publieke opschriften in achttiende-eeuws Brussel

This article argues that epigraphic fluctuations took place in late medieval and early modern cities and towns, i.e. periods in which public urban space became increasingly or decreasingly inscribed with texts. The analysis of a collection of some fifty public inscriptions registered in Brussels around 1800 reveals that the anonymous authors reacted to the disappearance of the various kinds of public texts from the urban space. It seems that Brussels witnessed an epigraphic decline at that time, which was probably caused by the blanchissement de la ville imposed by the city authorities. Instead of emphasizing the omnipresence of public inscriptions in late medieval and early modern urban space, as various historians have done, this article calls for more studies of the degree to which public inscriptions appeared and disappeared in earlier and later times and in other cities and towns, and the reasons for these changes.

Bedrieglijke eenvoud : Flandria Borealis tussen kaart en historie, tussen afbeelding en uitbeelding

At the end of the sixteenth century the development of printing technology sparked a knowledge revolution featuring an unprecedented distribution and integration of texts, images, and maps. Thorough research into these texts and maps, generally disregarded as inferior, can reveal surprising and relevant historical knowledge. Using Flandria Borealis, an engraved ‘history map’ depicting the Northern part of Flanders with the sieges of Sluis and Ostend in 1604, this article dismisses the apparent naivety of this kind of document and shows the complex relations between their topographical, narrative, scientific, entertaining, educational, mobilizing, and aesthetical perspectives and messages. It advocates use of a proper tool box and an iterative process of deconstruction which can help overcome the historian’s apprehension when analysing old maps and images and can stimulate further research into these still undervalued sources.

A Tangible Past: History Writing and Property Listing by the Brussels Seven Sorrows Confraternity, c. 1685

Citation for published version (APA): Dewilde, B., & Vannieuwenhuyze, B. (2015). A Tangible Past: History Writing and Property Listing by the Brussels Seven Sorrows Confraternity, c. 1685. In E. S. Thelen (Ed.), The Seven Sorrows Confraternity of Brussels: Drama, Ceremony, and Art Patronage (16th-17th Centuries) (pp. 3-18). (Studies in European Urban History; No. 37). Turnhout: Brepols Publishers. DOI: 10.1484/M.SEUH-EB.5.103795

Reading History Maps: The Siege of Ypres in 1383 mapped by Guillaume du Tielt

Old maps convey messages about early spatial arrangements. In some cases, they also tell a story, and hence can be qualified as ‘history maps’. The interpretation of such maps is not easy, because they are witnesses to a strong dichotomy between the static representation of the landscape and the dynamic sequence of historical events. Digital Thematic Deconstruction allows to break through the iconographic composition and to extract the visual discourse from such an image stuffed with information. In this article, the method is applied to the bird’s-eye view of the siege of Ypres in 1383, engraved by Guillaume du Tielt at the beginning of the seventeenth century, in order to assess the accuracy of the mapped topography and to get at the visual narrative. The results not only help interpret the meaning of such a history map, but also offer perspectives for comparing and juxtaposing history maps and textual records.

Reading History Maps

Old maps convey messages about early spatial arrangements. In some cases, they also tell a story, and hence can be qualified as ‘history maps’. The interpretation of such maps is not easy, because they are witnesses to a strong dichotomy between the static representation of the landscape and the dynamic sequence of historical events. Digital Thematic Deconstruction allows to break through the iconographic composition and to extract the visual discourse from such an image stuffed with information. In this article, the method is applied to the bird’s-eye view of the siege of Ypres in 1383, engraved by Guillaume du Tielt at the beginning of the seventeenth century, in order to assess the accuracy of the mapped topography and to get at the visual narrative. The results not only help interpret the meaning of such a history map, but also offer perspectives for comparing and juxtaposing history maps and textual records.

Reading History Maps: The Siege of Ypres Mapped by Guillaume du Tielt

Old maps convey messages about early spatial arrangements. In some cases, they also tell a story, and hence can be qualified as ‘history maps’. The interpretation of such maps is not easy, because they are witnesses to a strong dichotomy between the static representation of the landscape and the dynamic sequence of historical events. Digital Thematic Deconstruction allows to break through the iconographic composition and to extract the visual discourse from such an image stuffed with information. In this article, the method is applied to the bird’s-eye view of the siege of Ypres in 1383, engraved by Guillaume du Tielt at the beginning of the seventeenth century, in order to assess the accuracy of the mapped topography and to get at the visual narrative. The results not only help interpret the meaning of such a history map, but also offer perspectives for comparing and juxtaposing history maps and textual records.