Expert Talk #2: Serena Ferente

How do our insights into history change when we follow the perspective of women? Professor of Medieval History at the University of Amsterdam, Serena Ferente, together with her students, shares findings from her ongoing research project Female Spaces on the role of women in medieval Amsterdam. Women played a crucial role in shaping both the social life and the physical space of the city, including the Oude Kerk. In the old library, you’ll find a presentation about some of these women, including Lysbeth Brunt, who played a key role in commissioning Dirck Crabeth.

The Oude Kerk was for centuries one of the centres of urban and religious life. People gathered here to pray, to marry, to bid farewell to loved ones, and even to conduct business. The story of the Oude Kerk is therefore not primarily a story of stones but of people. Women were an important part of this history and played an essential role. Their lives, beliefs, and choices often remained invisible but were at times also celebrated.