Since 2012, members of the Research Group Early Modern History at KU Leuven prioritize the study of borders and bordercrossings in the sixteenth and seventeenth century. In this joint venture, they argue that the method of ‘transregional history’ serves as a valuable tool for analyzing the complexity of early modern borders, boundaries and borderlands.

We seek to find answers to four exciting research questions. Our first research question deals with ‘transregional territories‘: it explores how dynastic and religious war led to changing borders and border management in the early modern era. The second research goal examines ‘transregional reformations‘: it analyzes how the Protestant and Catholic Reformations reconfigured border crossings for religious and intellectual reasons. A third and related project charts how a ‘transregional print culture‘ functioned in buttressing and transcending new confessional frontiers. The fourth and final question asks how ‘transregional elites‘ interacted in all of the aforementioned border dynamics.

Interested to find out what the concept and methodology of transregional history look like in practice? Check out our projects and publications. Want to know more about who is doing this research? Find out more about our team. And if you want a better grasp of the whole idea? Read our methodological article in the Journal of Early Modern History.