Renske Hoff
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renskehoff.bsky.social
Renske Hoff
@renskehoff.bsky.social
1.5K followers 960 following 110 posts
Assistant Professor of Middle Dutch Literature, Utrecht University. History of books, religion, Bibles. 15th/16th century. Feminist. She/her. Dr. https://www.uu.nl/medewerkers/RAHoff
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Reposted by Renske Hoff
prayticipate.bsky.social
Our new website is live!! Hurrah! 🎉 we will share all upcoming COST action events, calls for papers for relevant events, and news about available grants and opportunities. Do share widely with any Prayer Studies scholars/ Historians of Religion who might be interested! prayticipate.eu
PRAYTICIPATE – COST Action CA23143 – Participation through Prayer in the Late Medieval and Early Modern World
Know More Image Caption Half of a Prayer Bead with the Prayer of the Rosary, early 16th century, Netherlandish; Boxwood, silver; 3 × 0.6 cm, Sculpture-Miniature
prayticipate.eu
September 19, 2025 at 6:43 PM
Reposted by Renske Hoff
alexharvv.bsky.social
arxiv.org/abs/2506.08872

A 200+ page research paper from the University of Warwick, led by Nataliya Kosmyna (et al)

This was published a couple months ago but I've only just had the chance to read it. I highly encourage others to do the same but I wanted to condense some observations in a short 🧵
Your Brain on ChatGPT: Accumulation of Cognitive Debt when Using an AI Assistant for Essay Writing Task
This study explores the neural and behavioral consequences of LLM-assisted essay writing. Participants were divided into three groups: LLM, Search Engine, and Brain-only (no tools). Each completed thr...
arxiv.org
September 13, 2025 at 11:46 AM
Reposted by Renske Hoff
book-historia.bsky.social
I love finding little legible remnants in pulp paper boards :’) The persistence of typography
The pulp paper board of an old book, the letter a barely visible on a fragment
August 19, 2025 at 2:08 AM
Reposted by Renske Hoff
anotheraspirin.bsky.social
Hey #MedievalSky Hivemind! Hive me your minds!

I'm looking for medieval people/manuscripts referring to compilations as a bouquet of flowers or the stars in the sky or w/e (like the Liber Floridus was compiled "so faithful honeybees may suck the sweetness of the celestial juice").

Any thoughts?
August 17, 2025 at 11:44 AM
Reposted by Renske Hoff
elckerlieke.bsky.social
The text says 'to the left foot' but the image depicts a right foot. Infinitely annoying.
Medieval manuscript with the rubric 'Nu spreect totten lufteren voet', followed by an inital O with the wounded right foot of Christ
August 12, 2025 at 10:45 AM
Reposted by Renske Hoff
remcosleiderink.bsky.social
Join us in June 2026 in Dublin! Keynotes by @renskehoff.bsky.social ; @wynkenhimself.bsky.social and Aditi Nafde
#REBPAF #MSCA #ResearchImpactEU
August 8, 2025 at 9:12 AM
Reposted by Renske Hoff
srsrensoc.bsky.social
CFP: @rebpaf.bsky.social’s “Re-mediating the Early Book: Pasts and Futures” With keynote speakers @wynkenhimself.bsky.social @renskehoff.bsky.social and Aditi Nafde

Royal Irish Academy, Dublin, 23-25 June 2026
Deadline: 15 December 2025

All info: www.rensoc.org.uk/event/re-med...
Re-mediating the Early Book: Pasts and Futures (REBPAF) is a Marie Curie Doctoral Training Network coordinated by the University of Galway, which focuses on the ways in which 15th- and 16th-century book producers (scribes, printers, entrepreneurs) negotiated the dynamic relations between the manuscript and the printed book and adapted to the evolving challenges of the market. It also explores the continuing relevance of these cultural and economic negotiations to the modern world. The network will be hosting an international conference at the Royal Irish Academy, Dublin from 23-25 June 2026. We invite papers or posters on late medieval and early modern book culture, broadly conceived. Selection. What shapes a book producer’s choices in form or language? How do physical features reflect meaning or ideology? How do design and content choices reveal cultural values—and how are these reimagined in modern editions? Value. What determines the cultural or monetary value of certain texts over others? How do producers, sellers, and collectors influence these shifting values? How can citation, adaptation, or performance reshape a book’s worth? What is the role of canonicity, and how has it changed? Why and how do we reevaluate texts over time? Accessibility. How does changing a text’s medium—manuscript, print, or digital—affect its reading? How do material or linguistic changes interact with content? How does greater access reshape how readers interpret texts? What are the ethical issues around accessibility and cultural ownership? Can re-mediation serve as critique or recovery? How can we open historical texts to new audiences? Survival. Why do some texts survive while others do not? How do past choices shape their transmission today? What meanings are tied to survival, loss, or rediscovery? How do texts respond to fragility? What roles do preservation or adaptation play in ensuring their future?
August 6, 2025 at 8:11 AM
Reposted by Renske Hoff
rebpaf.bsky.social
‼️Next year, the REBPAF Final Conference will be held in Dublin.‼️
We invite submissions of papers & posters; the deadline is 15 Dec 2025. We look forward to your contributions and to welcoming you to Ireland!📚
#REBPAF #MSCA #REBPAFConference #CfP #BookHistory
[See images for details & how to apply.]
July 26, 2025 at 3:04 PM
Reposted by Renske Hoff
sarahebull.bsky.social
I don't know, maybe it needs more alliteration?

(from Chelmsford Chronicle, 1858)
Text from an ad from Chelmsford Chronicle - Friday 27 August 1858, page 4: INTIMATION. In a short interval will intensely interest its innumerable inspectors, in inviting bidding, at an inexpensive investment, INFANT-INFLICTING or, the Innate-inundating— Infirmity-inducting— Inheritance-invading— Indigence-involving— Insolvency-increasing— Injudicious—intemperate—incumbering—infringing—ingulphing—infectious—intoxicating—and intolerable INFATUATION! An intelligible, invigorating, and inimitable Inspiration, In lucrative Verse, Innocently and inoffensively intended, indeed decidedly and inconceivably, to inculcate instruction and invaluable information as to its Intrusiveness—indesirablenss—inconsiderateness—inconveniences—inducements—insignificancy—insipidity—inferiority—indefensibility—inconsistency—incaution—inaptitude—incorrectness—inelegance—indecorum—indelicacy—indecency—incompatability—insincerity—inefficacy—injuriousness—injustice—inhumanity—and, indeed, its INSINUATING, INSIDIOUS, and INIQUITOUS INSANITY!!! Indited, in extenso, by that inexhaustible, intellectual, industrious, and inquisitive inquirer, inspector, and inveterate interposer MALTHUS MERRYFELLOW. Editor of 'Mirth and Mocking on Sinner-Stocking,' &c. &c. To give birth to those Who can but suffer many years, and die, Methinks is merely propagating death, And multiplying murder!—BYRON.
July 11, 2025 at 8:30 PM
renskehoff.bsky.social
Reviewing lactation rooms: currently at @univie.ac.at. 7/10. 'Family room' with comfortable sofa. Door can be locked from the inside. No tap or fridge, but otherwise a nice space. #ParentInAcademia #Breastfeeding
Sofa and small table, on the side a cupboard with toys and decoration of a tree on the wall.
July 9, 2025 at 10:22 AM
renskehoff.bsky.social
Pumping on my way to Vienna: reviewing 'lactation room' at @schiphol.bsky.social. Was directed to this 'baby care room'. Well. There's a changing table, but that doesn't really help with the pumping, does it... No chair. 0/10 #breastfeeding
July 8, 2025 at 2:29 PM
renskehoff.bsky.social
dub.uu.nl/nl/opinie/st...
Stoppen Skills Lab raakt studenten die hulp nodig hebben bij studie
Het Skills Lab is een van de onderdelen die getroffen wordt door de aangekondigde bezuinigingen. Coördinator Joy de Jong vindt dat een onverstandig besluit. Zij vraagt zich af waar de studenten die hu...
dub.uu.nl
July 2, 2025 at 5:58 PM
Reposted by Renske Hoff
trude-dijkstra.bsky.social
Fellow (book)historians, a question! I am working on a late 17th century French manuscript, but it seems to have a plate edge surrounding the image. How would that work? All 200+ images seem to have one? #bookhistory
white page with image of a green plant with written description in red and black below zoom in on plate edge
June 25, 2025 at 9:49 AM
Reposted by Renske Hoff
anotheraspirin.bsky.social
Found the cutest little Holy Family in Utrecht Hs. 1 M 5, fol. 26r (15c)

#MedievalSky

utrechtuniversity.on.worldcat.org/oclc/965428966
Cute pastel-y Holy Family scene in a manuscript.
June 18, 2025 at 4:50 PM
Reposted by Renske Hoff
historicivertellen.bsky.social
Ik vind het belangrijk om ook met kinderen over wetenschap te spreken en te laten zien hoe uiteenlopend wetenschap is. Zo was ik pas betrokken bij het kinderwetenschapsfestival KennisKnetters. Geweldig om daar met kinderen over mijn onderzoek te praten! 1/3 www.tivolivredenburg.nl/agenda/99496...
Een vrouw met een bril, gestreept shirt en een gele sjerp om laat een groot boek zien aan twee kinderen. De kinderen zie je op de rug.
June 12, 2025 at 4:11 PM
Reposted by Renske Hoff
historicivertellen.bsky.social
Ik zou héél graag zo'n account maken, maar dan heb ik wel jullie input nodig! Dus als jullie voorbeelden hebben van teksten in de openbare ruimte die door gebruikers zijn aangepast, stuur ze me vooral! Kan door op deze post te reageren of via de mail ([email protected]).
torkson.bsky.social Olax @torkson.bsky.social · Jun 10
Ik zou een account die ongeveer zoiets zou doen als @nosedits.bsky.social, maar dan voor aangepaste bordjes in de openbare ruimte, onmiddellijk met al mijn accounts volgen en alles van ze liken.
June 10, 2025 at 3:53 PM
Reposted by Renske Hoff
historicivertellen.bsky.social
Ook mijn oma was gespecialiseerd in religie. Ze studeerde al in de jaren '50 theologie en werkte tot haar emiritaat als predikant en docent godsdienst. "Ik geloof verder niet dat het [predikantschap] om specifieke vrouwelijke of mannelijke eigenschappen gaat," stelt ze hier (1979). #vrouwinhetambt
Krantenartikel met de kop: 'Vrouw in het ambt: Beschibkaar zijn voor mensen'. Er zijn twee foto's: een van een vrouw met kort haar achter een bureau, de andere van dezelfde vrouw in toga, met witte bef.
June 10, 2025 at 6:06 PM
Reposted by Renske Hoff
historicivertellen.bsky.social
Dag allen! Deze week neem ik jullie mee in mijn werk! Mijn naam is Renske Hoff, universitair docent Middelnederlandse letterkunde aan de Universiteit Utrecht. Ik doe onderzoek naar religieuze boekgeschiedenis van de vijftiende en zestiende eeuw. 1/3
Heart-shaped hole in the paper of a early 16th-century devotional manuscript
June 9, 2025 at 6:54 AM
Reposted by Renske Hoff
hubertslings.bsky.social
“Behandel vreemdelingen die bij jullie wonen als geboren Israëlieten. Heb hen lief als jezelf, want jullie zijn zelf vreemdelingen geweest in Egypte. Ik ben de HEER, jullie God.“ Leviticus 19:34 👌🏻
annemariethart.bsky.social Anne Marie ‘t Hart @annemariethart.bsky.social · Jun 9
Het COA heeft een terrein gekocht in Bilthoven waar zij een asielzoekerscentrum voor 300 plaatsen wil vestigen tbv de spreidingswet. Het omgevingsproces moet nog starten, er gaat helaas veel desinformatie over rond. Op www.debilt.nl/opvangvluchtelingen vind je steeds betrouwbare info. #azc
June 9, 2025 at 9:33 PM
renskehoff.bsky.social
Deze week kun je me ook volgen op het wisselaccount @historicivertellen.bsky.social!
historicivertellen.bsky.social Historici vertellen @historicivertellen.bsky.social · Jun 9
Dag allen! Deze week neem ik jullie mee in mijn werk! Mijn naam is Renske Hoff, universitair docent Middelnederlandse letterkunde aan de Universiteit Utrecht. Ik doe onderzoek naar religieuze boekgeschiedenis van de vijftiende en zestiende eeuw. 1/3
Heart-shaped hole in the paper of a early 16th-century devotional manuscript
June 9, 2025 at 11:52 AM
renskehoff.bsky.social
Reviewing lactation rooms at @utrechtuniversity.bsky.social, part 8: Vening Meineszgebouw 2. 9/10! Another room in the same building, much better! Tap, fridge, comfortable chair and door can be locked. Hurray! #ParentInAcademia #Breastfeeding
May 22, 2025 at 2:12 PM
renskehoff.bsky.social
Reviewing lactation rooms at @utrechtuniversity.bsky.social, part 7: Vening Meineszgebouw. 6/10. Has a tap, fridge, basic chair. Can't be locked from the inside and also functions as storage room. What should I draw on the white board? #ParentInAcademia #Breastfeeding
May 22, 2025 at 10:29 AM
Reposted by Renske Hoff
dbellingradt.bsky.social
There is a paper story included into this famous German painting of 1830s from Carl Spitzweg. You may know the common interpretation of the Poor Poet (German: Der arme Poet): Attention to the material misery of most artists and their work!

A 🧵 for #skystorians, fans of #paperhistory, and more. 📚
A man (the poor poet) is lying in his bed, being surrounded by old books, and he is working in his bed (likely writing a new poem). The setting of the room, an attic room, is unpretentious. The painting is from Carl Spitzweg, titled Der arme Poet, and was likely made around 1839. You may find the painting in the Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen - Neue Pinakothek München, URL: https://www.sammlung.pinakothek.de/de/artwork/9pL3KbKLeb (Zuletzt aktualisiert am 30.10.2024).
May 19, 2025 at 6:12 AM
renskehoff.bsky.social
My first-year students and I got to spend our morning in the special collections of Utrecht University library! ❤️ #medieval #manuscripts
Two students working with manuscripts Manuscript UL Utrecht, 17 A 22 (Middle Dutch with eleborate penwork)
May 16, 2025 at 10:47 AM
Reposted by Renske Hoff
svanimpe.bsky.social
#Bookhistory Miraeus lecture door Dr. @renskehoff.bsky.social 11/06, 18u30, Antwerpen.

Boeken maken: de personalisatie van vroege drukken

Deze lezing beschouwt de rol van lezers in het personaliseren en aanpassen van vroegmoderne boeken.

Gratis, inschrijven via ttk.recreatex.be/Tickets/Deta...
Recreatex - Detail ticket
ttk.recreatex.be
May 14, 2025 at 7:45 AM