Dealing with Disasters from Early Modern to Modern Times

Hanneke van Asperen is an art historian affiliated with the Centre for Art Historical Documentation (CKD) at the Radboud University in Nijmegen. As postdoctoral researcher, she is part of the NWO-funded project Dealing with Disasters. The Shaping of Local and National Identities in the Netherlands (1421-1890). She has an expertise in visual images of charity and nature-induced disasters in premodern times. Additionally, she has an interest in medieval pilgrimage and religious badges. Her recent book Silver Saints. Prayers and Badges in Late Medieval Books (Brepols 2021) focuses on the practice of adding religious badges to devotional manuscripts. Lotte Jensen is Professor of Dutch Cultural and Literary History at Radboud University, Nijmegen and Principal Investigator of the NWO-funded Vici project Dealing with Disasters. The Shaping of Local and National Identities in the Netherlands (1421-1890), which investigates the impact of natural disasters on Dutch local and national identities from a cultural-historical perspective. She has published books on Napoleon’s legacy in the Netherlands, Dutch literary history and the emergence of Dutch identity. Her most recent book is a cultural history of Dutch floods: Wij en het water. Een Nederlandse geschiedenis (De Bezige Bij 2022).

• List of Illustrations, Introduction: Cultural Responses to Catastrophes from Early Modern to Modern Times, PART 1 - Disaster and Emotions, PART 2 - Disaster and Blame, PART 3 - Disaster and Time, Notes on the Contributors