معرفی
Brigitte Meijns is a full professor at KU Leuven's Faculty of Arts, where she leads research in medieval history with a focus on the 9th-13th centuries. She is affiliated with the Medieval Research Group in Leuven and is a member of LECTIO – KU Leuven Institute for the Study of the Transmission of Texts, Ideas and Images in Antiquity, the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Additionally, she serves on the Faculty Council of Arts, POC History, and the Research Council.
Professor Meijns specializes in religious history of the High Middle Ages, particularly church reform movements, secular canons, and the relationship between religious institutions and societal structures in the Low Countries. Her research examines how religious communities interacted with political powers, how religious reforms transformed social structures, and how women exercised power within medieval religious contexts. She has developed expertise in analyzing both diplomatic and narrative sources to reconstruct medieval religious life.
Recent scholarly output reveals a consistent focus on the religious and institutional history of medieval Flanders and the broader Low Countries region. Her publications demonstrate expertise in analyzing textual sources, paleography, and the relationship between religious reform movements and societal transformation. Meijns frequently examines how religious institutions adapted to changing political landscapes and how they influenced urban development and territorial formation.
Professor Meijns currently leads multiple significant research projects including 'Too worldly? The secular canons of Liège and Metz in interaction with their environment (11th-13th century)', 'Women in the domain of rituals: a comparative analysis of early medieval Irish, Lombardic and Frankish legal texts', and 'Templars in the County of Flanders. Formation, implantation and the impact of the patrimony on the landscape (1127-1370)'. These projects receive funding through KU Leuven's Special Research Fund.
She teaches courses in medieval history, Church and Religion in the Middle Ages, paleography, and historical methodology at both undergraduate and graduate levels. Her teaching emphasizes critical analysis of historical sources and understanding the complex relationship between religious institutions and medieval society.
