Crime is men’s business, isn’t it? Women are responsible for 10 percent of crime in Europe. Yet, if we look at the Dutch Republic in the early modern period, we find that in the towns of Holland women played a much larger role in crime.

The central aim is examining gender differences in recorded crime, particularly in relation to interpersonal violence, in early modern Bologna.

The central aim is to systematically study differences in crime patterns and social control between migrants and non-migrants in early modern Frankfurt am Main.

The central aim is to systematically study differences in gendered crime patterns in the records of different types of courts in various English and Dutch cities in the early modern period.

The central aim is to systematically study differences in gendered crime patterns in the records of different types of courts in various Dutch cities in the early modern period.

My current research focuses on criminality and gender interactions in nineteenth-century Europe. This project uses a comparative methodology to explain gender constructions in a criminal and in a court setting.

To what extent did the street patterns in urban districts influence crime patterns?

In his lecture, Professor Platt discussed some of the main arguments from his latest book entitled “Beyond these Walls: Rethinking Crime and Punishment in the United States”

This project contests the assumption of criminologists that gender differences in recorded crime are static over time and that women are in general less likely to commit a crime than men.

Detecting and combatting crime is becoming increasingly complex. Security is high on the national and international agenda. The master’s programme Crime and Criminal Justice in Leiden provides the skills to face these challenges.

For many people, five o’clock signals the end of their working day. But not for the motivated students of the Honours College Law. With some drinks and snacks, they keep going well into the evening. This time, they met for the festive conclusion of a course which brought the history of Dutch crime to…

On 1 February 2018 Nathalie-Sharon Koster defended her doctoral thesis ‘Crime victims and the police’. The doctoral research was supervised by Professor J.P. van der Leun and M.J.J. Kunst.

On 20 January 2022, Marco Stam defended the thesis 'Essays on Welfare Benefits, Employment, and Crime'. The doctoral research was supervised by Prof. M.G. Knoef.

Recent welfare reforms in the Netherlands show a trend of reducing welfare accessibility and increasing obligations. Although the effects thereof on directly-targeted economic outcomes, such as welfare dependency and labor participation, are often assessed, potential spillovers to other economic and…

In this project, we use social network analysis to analyze the behavior of users in online forums and associated marketplaces over time.

How can you learn about women’s history if they are under-represented in historical sources? Look at news coverage of crime, says Clare Wilkinson, PhD candidate in gender and history. ‘Historical crime reporting offers a glimpse into forgotten groups.’ The doctoral defence will take place on 23 Apri…

This project addresses the occurrence of political and ideological biased crimes in light of the recent migration influx in European countries.

This PhD dissertation examines international responsibility for the crime of aggression from a public international law perspective. Under customary international law, as well as the amendments to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court adopted in the Review Conference in Kampala in 2010,…

The nineteenth century truly was an age of transformation. Throughout Europe processes of industrialization and urbanization, nationalization and centralization, changed the structures of society. It was an age in which the number of people living in urban communities grew substantially.

Tom Buitelaar is an Assistant Professor in the War, Peace & Justice programme of the Institute of Security and Global Affairs. This paper discusses four important challenges to the involvement of UN peace operations in international criminal justice: its effects on host state relations, peace and justice…

The nineteenth century truly was an age of transformation. Throughout Europe processes of industrialization and urbanization, nationalization and centralization, changed the structures of society. It was an age in which the number of people living in urban communities grew substantially.

Marion Pluskota is the new post-doc on Manon van der Heijden's 'Crime and Gender' project.

This course provides an insider perspective into the work of international criminal courts and tribunals. You will learn about the investigation and prosecution of international crimes in The Hague.

Miriam Cohen defended her PhD dissertation entitled “Reparations for International Crimes and the development of a Civil Dimension of International Criminal Justice” on 28 June 2017. She wrote her thesis under the supervision of Professor L.J. van den Herik and Professor C. Stahn.

This book provides an exploration into the historical transformations of women's interactions with state police in the Western world from 1800 to 1950.

Migration is the talk of the town. On the whole, however, the current situation is seen as resulting from unique political upheavals. Such a-historical interpretations ignore the fact that migration is a fundamental phenomenon in human societies from the beginning and plays a crucial role in the cultural,…

Tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians have died as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and the continuing armed conflict. Many forms of critical infrastructure have been destroyed. Much of this devastation has been caused by weapons that utilise forms of artificial intelligence…

In the early modern period women played a prominent role in crime. At times they even made up half of all defendants. Female criminality was a typically urban phenomenon. Why do we find so many women before the Dutch criminal courts?

On 20 October 2021 Michael Ramsden defended the thesis 'The Role of the United Nations General Assembly in Advancing Accountability for Atrocity Crimes: Legal Powers and Effects'. The doctoral research was supervised by Prof. N.M. Blokker.

Starting 1 July 2020, Pieter Tops will hold the special chair Organised and Subversive Crime Studies. The chair will be hosted by the Institute Security and Global Affairs (ISGA) at Leiden University's Faculty Governance and Global Affairs. Pieter Tops is a lector at the Police Academy. He conducts…

Considering the ways in which the ‘global turn’ is changing the theory and practice of historical disciplines, Explorations in History and Globalization engages with the concept and methodology of globalization, challenging traditional divisions of space and time to offer a range of perspectives on…

The combination of global questions and a wide range of local sources characterizes the Leiden University Institute for History.

Due to the fact that the Frisian lands lacked major political centers in the Middle Ages and also because most of its monasteries suffered complete destruction in the second half of the 16th century, relatively few written documents concerning medieval Frisian history have survived. To analyze them…

This seminal volume covers the entire global history of urbanization since the rise of cities in Mesopotamia in the 6th millennium BC. Leiden historians Wim Blockmans, Leonard Blussé, Luuk de Ligt and Leo Lucassen contributed survey and thematic chapters.

The motto of the Institute for History is: ‘Global questions, local sources.’ Its researchers use local sources to find answers to major historical questions. Without historical analysis, it is impossible to understand and explain the issues in society today. Leiden itself has a rich history, with big…

Are you thinking about studying Ancient History? Learn more and watch the introduction video and the programme presentation.

This book rovides an economic history of Portugal over the course of eight centuries, from 1143 through to 2010 and situates Portugal's economic growth within the context of European development. It also responds to fundamental questions about when, how and why the economy expanded, stagnated or co…

Leiden University was the first university to be established in the Netherlands. William of Orange gave Leiden Academia Lugduno Batava in 1575, it is said in recognition of the city’s courageous resistance against the seige by the Spanish invaders.

The Colonial and Global History Research Programme of the Leiden University Institute for History combines a deep curiosity of transcultural processes such as imperialism, (de)colonization, and globalization with critical historical research on regional societies in Africa, Asia, and the Americas.

The Historia Naturalis Brasiliae Reconsidered

Are you thinking about studying Colonial and Global History? Learn more and watch the introduction video and the programme presentation.

As one of the most influential ideas in modern European history, democracy has fundamentally reshaped not only the landscape of governance, but also social and political thought throughout the world.

About the history of ProParte and its predecessors.

The Uses of Justice in Global Perspective, 1600–1900 presents a new perspective on the uses of justice between 1600 and 1900 and confronts prevailing Eurocentric historiography in its examination of how people of this period made use of the law.

The Flentrop Organ is the third organ to have been built for the Great Auditorium in the Academy Building in Leiden.

For thousands of years, societies have fallen under the reign of a single leader, ruling as chief, king, or emperor. In this fascinating global history of medieval and early modern dynastic power, Jeroen Duindam charts the rise and fall of dynasties, the rituals of rulership, and the contested presence…

The Old Observatory has a rich history. On this page you will find a short version of the history that took place in the observatory.