My research focuses on religious controversy and confessional identity in early modern Europe, with particular attention to the complex interactions between religious minorities and majorities. I study how public religious debates shaped identities, influenced social and political developments, and contributed to broader processes of cultural change.
Together with Jesse Spohnholz, I recently completed an NWO-funded research project on religious migration, examining the experiences and networks of mobile religious communities in the early modern period. I currently co-lead, with Willem van Deursen, an NWO-funded project on early modern religious debates. This project investigates the coherence of these debates across different confessional traditions, their role in the formation of confessional identities, and their contribution to the emergence of a pre-Habermasian public sphere.
A second major focus of my work is religious heritage. Together with August den Hollander, I coordinate the Amsterdam Centre for the History and Heritage of Protestantism. The centre promotes interdisciplinary research on Protestant history and heritage while collaborating with heritage institutions across Amsterdam to enhance the visibility, accessibility, and public engagement of the city's rich religious heritage.
In addition, together with Hanna Melse, I coordinate the Doopsgezind Erfgoedcentrum. This centre advises Anabaptist congregations on heritage and conservation, while fostering research into Anabaptist history and heritage in the broadest sense.
