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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renskehoff.bsky.social
This is fascinating!! I said something about Bible highlighters in my talk on Bible journaling :)
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
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
renskehoff.bsky.social
Maar... Waarom?! Sterkte!
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
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?
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
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
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?
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.]
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.
renskehoff.bsky.social
Still have a free spot? I'd love to be on it :)
renskehoff.bsky.social
Ohh, I love this! Thanks for your notes, Marie, so sorry to have missed it! @henninghansen.bsky.social, can we have an online coffee sometime and talk about this? I want to hear more! :)
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.
renskehoff.bsky.social
There is a better space, but in another terminal and only accessible for people on intercontinental flights. I'm extra dissapointed, because I checked with the @schiphol.bsky.social customer service and they said these baby care rooms would offer a 'calm place to feed the baby or pump'...
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
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
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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
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
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
renskehoff.bsky.social
Deze week kun je me ook volgen op het wisselaccount @historicivertellen.bsky.social!
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