Sebastian Hackbarth
- FACULTE DES HUMANITES
- DEPARTEMENT HISTOIRE
- DEPARTEMENT HISTOIRE
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The Present in the City. Comparison of Temporal Markers in the Cities of the Former Low Countries and the Alemannic Region
My phd is part of the SNSF-Sinergia project “Capturing the Present in Northwestern Europe (1348–1648): A Cultural History of the Present before the Age of Presentism”, led by the University of Neuchâtel. This project aims to understand how “the present” was perceived and experienced in Northwestern Europe between the mid-14th and mid-17th centuries. It is an interdisciplinary and international project in collaboration with researchers from the University of Neuchâtel, the University of Lausanne, and the University of Lille.
Within this project, my research at the University of Lille is titled “The Present in the City: Comparison of Temporal Markers in the Cities of the Former Low Countries and the Alemannic Region”, under the supervision of Élodie Lecuppre-Desjardin (IRHiS, U-Lille) and Olivier Richard-Trauffer (University of Fribourg, Switzerland). The goal is to understand the urban spaces that structured daily life in 14th- and 15th-century society, as well as to grasp how these spaces were activated during extraordinary events such as princely entries and catastrophies. To this end, I compare cities of Mons from the former Low Countries —with the Alemannic city of Bern, located in present-day Switzerland.
My research is based on various types of sources that help me identify temporal rhythms, such as urban chronicles, normative and practical legal sources, and Council Registers. The thesis contributes to research on urban spaces within the Holy Roman Empire, gender history, and medieval and early modern temporalities.
Latest activities
Co-organisation of the conference The Present in the City: Urban temporalities and rhythms in Northwestern Europe (14th-17th centuries) with Élodie Lecuppre-Desjardin (University of Lille) and Anne-Frédérique Provou (University of Lille), to be held from October 1 to 3, 2025, at the University of Lille, Pont-de-Bois Campus, programm: https://capt.hypotheses.org/9613.
Publication: Sebastian Hackbarth (15 july 2025). Pépite : “umb das blut zu richten” – Les marqueurs temporels de la justice bernoise au XVe siècle. Capturing the Present in Northwestern Europe (1348–1648). https://capt.hypotheses.org/8776.
16 Mai 2025 : Presentation within Research Field 2 – Events as Milestones in the Conception of Time – at the opening conference of the SNSF Sinergia project Capturing the Present in Northwestern Europe (1348–1648). A Cultural History of the Present before the Age of Presentism, organised by Jan Blanc (University of Lausanne), Thalia Brero (University of Neuchâtel), Estelle Doudet (University of Lausanne), Élodie Lecuppre-Desjardin (University of Lille), and Marije Osnabrugge (University of Lausanne), held at the University of Lausanne (Switzerland). Blog post on Hypothèses by Laurie Boissenin (19 April 2025). Opening conference: 15–17 May 2025. Capturing the Present in Northwestern Europe (1348–1648). https://capt.hypotheses.org/6096.