Jan Machielsen

Balliol College, Oxford OX1 3BJ, United Kingdom
j o h a n n e s . m a c h i e l s e n [at] h i s t o r y . o x . a c . u k

I successfully defended my DPhil on the life and writings of the Flemish-Spanish Jesuit Martin Delrio (1551-1608) in January 2011. From January to December 2011, I was a Departmental Lecturer in Early Modern European History at Balliol College, Oxford. I started a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship on 1 January 2012.

Research

My doctorate explored the life and works of the Jesuit Martin Delrio (17 May 1551 - 19 October 1608). Martin Delrio is best-known for his Disquisitiones Magicae (1599-1600), an influential book on demonology and superstition which was reprinted as late as 1755. Delrio's life story has never been written. My dissertation is based on research conducted in 10 different countries. Using previously unknown letters and documents and drawing on Martin Delrio's many different writings I show that the Disquisitiones and its author have been misunderstood. Martin Delrio was an editor of classical texts and an active member of the Republic of Letters. The Disquisitiones was the work of a humanist who never even met, let alone prosecuted, a witch. I show that Martin Delrio wrote his book to carve out a scholarly reputation for himself. The Disquisitiones bears witness to the social and scientific status witchcraft theory attained at the turn of the seventeenth century.

My British Academy postdoctoral project studies the role witchcraft played within the early modern university curriculum.

Teaching

At Oxford I have taught undergraduate courses on witchcraft history, early modern science, and the Conquest of the Americas, as well as a number of methodological and historiographical subjects. I have also given undergraduate lectures on many aspects of the history of witchcraft, the discovery of the New World, and early modern education.

Employment

2012 - 2014	British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship Balliol College, Oxford
2011	Departmental Lecturer in Early Modern European History Balliol College, Oxford
2010	Graduate Teaching Assistant in Early Modern History Oriel College, Oxford

Publications

• Edited Volumes
  • with Clare Copeland, Angels of Light? Sanctity and the Discernment of Spirits in the Early Modern Period (Leiden: Brill, 2013) [release date: December 2012]
• Articles
  • ‘The Lion, the Witch, and the King: Thomas Stapleton’s Apologia pro Rege Catholico Philippo II (1592)‘, English Historical Review (accepted)
  • ‘Friendship and Religion in the Republic of Letters; The Return of Justus Lipsius to Catholicism (1591)’, Renaissance Studies [pre-published on-line: 28 September 2011]
  • ‘Thinking with Montaigne; Evidence, scepticism and meaning in early modern demonology’, French History 2011 (25/4), 427-452.
  • ‘How (not) to get published; The Plantin Press in the 1590s’, Dutch Crossing 2010 (34/2), 99-114.
  • with Jeanine De Landtsheer, ‘Recommending Lipsius; A letter from Martinus Antonius Delrio to Leonardus Lessius’, Lias 2008 (34/2), 271-282.
• Biographical Entries
  • Entry on Martin Delrio (1551-1608) on Leiden University’s Dutch Revolt website (in Dutch).
  • ‘Pierre De Lancre (1556-1631)’, in L. Foisneau (ed.), Dictionnaire des philosophes français du 17e siècle (Paris, forthcoming).
• Reviews
  • Review of Thomas McCoog, "The Society of Jesus in Ireland, Scotland, and England, 1589-1597: Building the Faith of Saint Peter upon the King of Spain's Monarchy," The Innes Review 2012 (62/1), 270-72.
  • Review (in English) of Vera Hoorens, "Een ketterse arts voor de heksen: Jan Wier (1515-1588)," Dutch Crossing 2012 (36/3), 279-81.
  • Review (in English) of Renilde Vervoort, "'Vrouwen op den besem en derghelijck ghespoock’: Pieter Bruegel en de traditie van hekserijvoorstellingen in de Nederlanden tussen 1450 en 1700"; and Guido Marnef (ed.), "Tovenaars, heksen en een miraculeus beeld. De omgang met het bovennatuurlijke in het hertogdom Brabant (16de-17de eeuw)," The Low Countries Historical Review.
  • Review of Judith Pollmann, ‘Catholic Identity and the Revolt of the Netherlands, 1520–1635’, The English Historical Review 2012 (CXXVII/524), 168-69.
  • Review of Oscar Gelderblom (ed.), ‘The Political Economy of the Dutch Republic’, The Sixteenth Century Journal 2010 (41/4), 1136-37.
  • Review of Hiro Hirai (ed.), ‘Cornelius Gemma: Cosmology, Medicine and Natural Philosophy in Renaissance Louvain’, The Sixteenth Century Journal 2010 (41/3), 933-34.
  • Review of John Newton and Jo Bath (eds), ‘Witchcraft and the Act of 1604’, The Sixteenth Century Journal 2010 (41/1), 190-91.
  • Review of Chris Mackay (transl.), ‘The Malleus Maleficarum’ & Gerhild Scholz Williams (transl.), ‘On the Inconstancy of Witches’, Journal of the Oxford University History Society 2009 (6).

Education

2007 – 2010	DPhil in History University of Oxford; Lady Margaret Hall (2007-2010) / Oriel College (2010-11) Thesis Title : Demons and Letters; Aspects of the life and works of Martin Delrio, 1551-1608 Supervisor : Mr Robin Briggs Submitted: 05 November 2010
May 2010 / June 2009	Summer School Institut d’histoire de la Réformation, University of Geneva Course (2010) : ‘Guerres de religion, la religion face à la guerre’ Course (2009) : ‘La médiation du sacré au XVIe siècle’
Jan. – April 2009	Visiting Student Research Collaborator (VSRC) Princeton University Supervisor : Prof. Anthony Grafton
2006 – 2007	MSt in Historical Research (Distinction) University of Oxford; Lady Margaret Hall Supervisor : Mr Robin Briggs Examiner : Prof. Howard Hotson
2005 – 2006	MA in European History and Civilisation (With Merit) Leiden University (joint MA with the University of Oxford and the Université de Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne) Supervisor : Prof. Judith Pollmann
Jan. – March 2006	Visiting Student Université de Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne
2002 – 2005	BA in Humanities and Social Sciences (Cum Laude) Maastricht University (liberal arts degree with a focus on history and political science)
July – Nov. 2004	Visiting Student University of Queensland

Awards, Fellowships,& Scholarships

2010 – 2011	Royal Historical Society Marshall Fellowship (six months) Royal Historical Society / Institute for Historical Research
2006 – 2010	Scatcherd European Scholarship International Office, University of Oxford
2007 – 2010	Doctoral Award (EU/fees-only) Arts & Humanities Research Council
2009 – 2010	Vice-Chancellors’ Fund University of Oxford
2008 – 2009	Fulbright Scholarship Netherlands-American Fulbright Commission
2007 – 2008	Jex-Blake Scholarship Lady Margaret Hall

Travel & Conference Grants

May 2011	The John Fell Fund (grant for the organisation of a two-day symposium) University of Oxford
May 2010	Isaiah Berlin Fund for Italian Studies (for archival research in Rome) University of Oxford
March-April 2010	Abraham & Henrietta Brettschneider Cornell Award Fund Cornell University
2009-2010	SRS Study Fellowship (for archival research in Munich and Graz) Society for Renaissance Studies
August 2009	Scaliger Fellowship Leiden University Library
July 2009	Conference Bursary (to attend a conference on Jean Bodin) Society for the Study of French History
May 2009 / March 2008	Visiting Scholar Royal Netherlands Institute, Rome (KNIR)

Conference Organization

20-21 May 2011	‘Angels of Light? Sanctity and Discernment of Spirit in the Early Modern Period’ / Balliol College, Oxford two-day symposium, organised with Dr Clare Copeland.
27 June 2008	‘On the Fringes of Science? Natural knowledge and its practitioners in Early Modern Europe, 1450-1650’ / All Souls College, Oxford one-day graduate symposium, organised with Ms Valentina Pugliano.

Conference & Seminar Papers

[February 2012]	Scientific and Other Mentalities in Early Modern Europe / All Souls College, Oxford Paper : 'Demonology as textual scholarship; the success and failure of Martin Delrio’s Disquisitiones Magicae (1599-1600)'
January 2011	Neuere Forschungen zur Kulturgeschichte Kolloquium / University of Saarbrücken Paper : 'Truth and Lies; (re-)constructing the worldview of Martin Delrio (1551-1608)'
November 2010	Director's Seminar / Institute for Historical Research, London Paper : 'Classical texts and humanist self-fashioning; Martin Delrio's Adversaria (1576)'
October 2010	Early Modern European History Seminar / History Faculty, Oxford Paper : 'How to talk about family; Martin Delrio’s memoirs on the Dutch Revolt (1576-8)'
May 2010	Crossing Frontiers – Belief in Magic and Witch-Hunting as Culture Transfer / German Historical Institute, Paris Paper : '"Marvellously consistent throughout Europe and across all ages"; The nature of evidence in Martin Delrio's Disquisitiones Magicae (1599-1600)'
May 2010	Conference in honour of Robin Briggs / New College, Oxford Paper : 'A tale of two cousins; Martin Delrio and Michel de Montaigne'
April 2010	History Seminar / Cornell University Paper : 'Elizabeth Regina; A witch in Flemish eyes?'
October 2009	Low Countries Seminar / Institute for Historical Research, London Paper : 'Justifying the Indefensible? Defending the rule of Don Juan of Austria (1576-1578)'
May 2009	Sixteenth Century Society Conference / Geneva Paper : 'Between a Rock and a Hard Place; Justus Lipsius and his Relationship with Martin Delrio and Joseph Scaliger'
March 2009	Renaissance Society of America Conference / UCLA, Getty Museum Paper : 'War Continued by Other Means: Learned Polemics and the Dutch Revolt'
March 2009	Princeton University Center for the History of the Book and Media Paper : 'How (not) to Get Published: The Plantin Press in the 1590s'
January 2009	Princeton-Harvard Graduate Conference / Princeton University Paper : '"Between the Jaws of Barking Dogs and the Bellowing of Lions"; Martin Delrio and Justus Lipsius’s return to Catholicism'
November 2008	Early Modern Philosophy and the Scientific Imagination Seminar (EMPHASIS) / Senate House, University of London Paper : 'Demonology 101? Magic and the University of Leuven'
April 2008	Reformation Studies Colloquium / University of York Paper : 'Demonology and the Dutch Revolt'

© Jan Machielsen; Last Updated: 28 February 2013.