Call for Papers – International Workshop, War Heritage Institute

THE ARMY OF FLANDERS

CROSSROAD OF PEOPLES, CRUCIBLE OF NATIONS (1567-1706)

15-16 May 2026, War Heritage Institute, Brussels

Since its re-emergence on the modern historiographical scene in the 1970s, the Army of Flanders has become one of the case studies at the heart of (among others) the scholarly debates on the early modern ‘Military Revolution’ and on the rise of the European fiscal-military state. However, the very nature of the Army of Flanders as a multinational expeditionary and occupation force has kept it on the fringes of the national historiographical traditions (Spanish, Flemish and Walloon, Italian, British, Irish, French, etc.) that now speak for the naciones that once constituted it. This has led to the Army of Flanders being studied (if at all) as the sum of its parts, rather than as an organic whole that could be said to have been the first ‘European army’.

The aim of this workshop is to begin the process of reassessing and redefining the place of the Army of Flanders within the framework of modern scholarship by bringing together various experts, gathering scattered documentation, identifying new research sites, methodologies and tools needed to realise its full scientific and public potential.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

• the tactical, operational and strategic evolution of the Army of Flanders
• bureaucracy, finance & law within the Army of Flanders: theory, practice and archival sources
• religion and spiritual policy in the Army of Flanders
• the culture, ‘national’ evolution and sense of identity(-ies) of the Army of Flanders
• the material culture, archaeological heritage and ecological impact of the Army of Flanders
• the military migration to the Habsburg Netherlands and the demographics of the Army of Flanders
• the literary and historiographical lives of the Army of Flanders: from histoire-bataille to gender and diversity-related research
• digital approaches and tools for the future research on the Army of Flanders

Scholars of all disciplines, archivists, archaeologists and museum curators are encouraged to participate in this workshop. Each proposal should contain an abstract of up to 500 words, and a short CV.

The honorary scientific committee consists of Prof. Dr. Geoffrey Parker (Ohio State University), and Prof. Dr. Em. Bruno De Wever (University of Ghent). The scientific committee consists of Dr. Maurizio Arfaioli (Medici Archive Project), Dr. Ilya Berkovich (Austrian Academy of Sciences), Nand Cremers (War Heritage Institute Brussels), Dr. Harald Deceulaer (State Archives of Belgium), Prof. Dr. Ralph Dekoninck (Catholic University of Louvain-la-Neuve), Prof. Dr. Alicia Esteban Estríngana (University of Alcalá de Henares), Prof. Dr. Raymond Fagel (University of Leiden) Prof. Em. Gustaaf Janssens (Catholic University Leuven/State Archives of Belgium), Dr. Natasja Peeters (War Heritage Institute Brussels) and Prof. Dr. C. Storrs (University of St. Andrews).

Deadline for submission: 20 April 2025

Send your proposal to: Natasja Peeters (War Heritage Institute), natasja.peeters@warheritage.be ; Maurizio Arfaioli (Medici Archive Project), m.arfaioli@gmail.com