Leiden was part of the relatively new Dutch landscape that emerged in the central Middle Ages. It was strategically located along the river Rhine, where an early court of the Count of Holland was located. The region commercialised and urbanised rapidly from the fourteenth century onwards. Leiden’s growth and the rise of its textile industry were exemplary of these developments. After the Spanish Siege of 1573-1574, the industrial town grew fast to become one of the leading cities in the Dutch Republic. Notwithstanding these dynamics and the foundation of the first university in the Northern Low Countries, Leiden experienced demographic and socio-economic decline during the eighteenth century.

Leiden’s premodern history can be uncovered due to its rich archaeological and historical sources, but unfortunately it is not very accessible to a non-Dutch readership. Hence, together with my colleagues Ariadne Schmidt and Roos van Oosten, I am currently editing a volume on Leiden’s premodern history, which will appear in 2024 with Brill in its Companions to European History series. This volume will be the first study in English on a Dutch city of its kind. Besides informing readers about key moments and developments in Leiden’s premodern history, the contributions written by specialists engage in current debates in urban history.