Kevin Dekoster

Kevin Dekoster is one of the contributors to the blog. He has an MA in history from Ghent University, where he is currently a PhD candidate. His master’s research examined the diplomatic relations between France and the Habsburg Netherlands during the final phase of the Twelve Year’s Truce, more specifically the period from 1616 to 1621. His current research project focuses on the impact of medical expertise on the administration of criminal justice in early modern Flanders. His main research interests are legal history and the history of criminality. Other interests include art history and the history of religion. He can be reached at: kevin.dekoster@ugent.be.

Thomas Donald Jacobs

Thomas Donald Jacobs (he/him, they/them) is the blog editor, and one of its contributors. He has a BA and MA in history from Ghent University. He is employed there as a teaching assistant, giving classes in Early Modern European discourses about the Americas, the analysis of English historical texts, and – as of 2017- – Early Modern English diplomatic culture. His current doctoral research centres on English diplomacy during the Interregnum. His master’s research examined the policies of Charles V towards the Portuguese New Christians of Antwerp in an international context. His other academic interests include Native American history, discourses on transgenderism, and contemporary U.S. politics. He also make educational vlogs about being transgender and transitioning for the ‘Paperboy Collab channel’ on YouTube. He can be reached at: thomasdonald.jacobs@ugent.be.

Fien Lauwaerts

Fien Lauwaerts is one of the contributors to the blog. She has a BA and MA in history from Ghent University. She is currently applying for a doctoral research project on English informal diplomacy in the Spanish Netherlands during the reigns of the later Stuarts. She is also currently enrolled in the Academic Teacher Education in History program at Ghent University. Her specialization is the Spanish Netherlands and English politics during the seventeenth century, especially during the reign of Charles II. Her master’s research investigated the role of the Spanish Netherlands in English policy between 1665-1668. Her academic interests also encompass art history and sixteenth-century politics. She can be contacted at: fien.lauwaerts@ugent.be.