Michiel van Groesen
Position
- Lecturer (UD) in Early Modern History
- NWO VENI-Research Fellow, 2008-2012
Fields of Interest
The Atlantic World - News and Public Opinion - History of the Book - Early Modern Iconography - Travel Literature
My current project is a book-length study provisionally titled The Making of Dutch Brazil, ca. 1560-1760. It focuses on the way events from across the Atlantic were perceived in the Old World, and uses awide variety of sources including prints, maps, pamphlets, poetry, and objects. Dutch Brazil is often hailed as a unique chapter in Atlantic history, and rightly so. As a geographical entity, the colony existed only between 1624 and 1654, but repercussions of the Dutch infiltration in Habsburg America on international policies and representations were of enormous significance. This project aims to demonstrate that Dutch Brazil is an integral part of Atlantic history, making an impact beyond traditional national and colonial narratives.
The Representations of the Overseas World in the De Bry Collection of Voyages, 1590-1634 (Leiden & Boston, 2008)
The De Bry collection of voyages is one of the most monumental publications of early modern Europe. It comprises 27 folio-volumes, published simultaneously in Latin and German, and contains nearly 600 large-scale copper engravings of European voyages to America, Africa, and Asia.
In my book I argue that the De Bry family manipulated some of Europe's best known travel accounts for their collection in order to reach different readerships: The Latin version was aimed at Catholic readers and humanists, the German edition at Protestant readers in Northern Europe. The book dismisses the notion that the De Bry collection was intended as Calvinist propaganda. This argument is supported by the biography of the De Brys and their publishing firm, the changes they made to the texts and images of original travel accounts, an analysis of the collection's entry on the Index Librorum Expurgatorum in Spain and Portugal, and an identification of Protestants and Catholics who purchased the collection. The final chapter traces the impact the volumes had in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
A paperback edition (2012) has appeared in Brill's Paperback Collection.
Education
- PhD History, University of Amsterdam, 2007 (cum laude)
- MA History and Culture of the Dutch Golden Age, University College London, 2000 (with honours)
- MA (doctoraal) History, University of Groningen, 1999
- MA (doctoraal) Dutch Literature, University of Groningen, 1999
Previous positions and fellowships
- Honorary Research Fellow, Birkbeck, University of London, 2011
- Dr. Ernst Crone Research Fellow, National Maritime Museum Amsterdam, 2007-2008
- Lecturer, American Studies, University of Amsterdam, 2006-2008
- Lecturer, Dutch Renaissance Literature, University College London, 2002 & 2005
- Guest Researcher, Herzog August Bibliothek Wolfenbüttel, 2004
- Research Fellow, The Royal Netherlands Institute in Rome, 1999 & 2001
* * *