Draft:Walter Prevenier

Walter Prevenier (Zelzate, 25 september 1934) is a Belgian historian, specialised in the history of the Middle Ages, paleography en diplomatics. He was, untill 1999, full professor at the University of Ghent, were he taught the course of historical criticism. He has been a visiting professor at several foreign universities. Prevenier is a foreign member of the Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen [Royal Netherlandish Academy of Sciences] (section of Humanities) in Amsterdam, and of the Medieval Academy of America, Cambridge (Mass., USA)

Academic career
Walter Prevenier got a licentiate at the University of Ghent in 1956 with a thesis at professor Hans Van Werveke on ''Flanders under Philip the Bold. The Estates representation. The acting of Philip the Bold in front of the county, and of the different groups of the population''. He achieved at the same time at the University of Ghent the diploma of aggregated teacher upper secundary education in history.

In 1959 he passed the exam of a candidate archivist-paleographer in the General Archives at Brussel s. In 1962 he obtained his doctorate at professor Egied Strubbe, in the history department, on ''The charter creature of the counts of Flanders (1191-1206). A diplomatic and paleographical study, with a critical text edition''.

Prevenier became an expert in the history of the Middle Ages. In January 1957 started his career at the University of Ghent, as an assistent at the professors Strubbe and Van Werveke. In 1962 he became a permanent assistant, and in July 1967 a part time professor for Latin paleography in the licence years  of history and classical philology. At the end of 1967 he became a full time teacher for the courses Diplomatics, Paleography, and Introduction to historical criticism. In October 1971 followed his appointment as a full professor for the chair of Auxiliary Sciences and Methodology of History. In October 1999 he retired at the University of Ghent. He has also been appointed as a part time professor at the Free University of Brussels in November 1966 for the course Diplomatics of the Middle Ages. From 1971 to October 1996, he has been extraordinary professor at the Free University of Brussels for the courses on Paleography in de licences History and Germanic philology.

Walter Prevenierwas known at the University of Ghent as a particularly appreciated teacher, and as a cheerful and sympathetic personality. His auditoria were always packed.

Prevenier held a number of additional positions:


 * At the University of Ghent, he has been dean of the Faculty Letters and Philosophy for the academic years 1984-1985 and 1985-1986.
 * He was chairman of the department Public Relations of the University of Ghent from 1989 to 1992.
 * He was a member of the Board of Directors of the Ghent University for the academic years 1989-90, 1990-91 and 1991-92.
 * He was chairman of the Tribute Committee for the Liber Amicorum prof. dr. Adriaan Verhulst.
 * In January 2003 he became a member of the Advisory committee of the University of Ghent, in charge of editing a declaration of antidiscrimination.
 * In 2005-2006 he became a member of the Advisory committee of the University of Ghent in charge of editing a Code for the users of sites, premisses and infrastructure.

International appearance
In the spring semester of 1968, Prevenier gave guest lectures at the University of Utrecht. He was a visiting professor at a whole series of American universities: Berkeley (1983 and 2004), Rutgers (New Jersey) (1987 and 1989), Penn University, Philadelphia (1989), Columbia University, New York City (1993, 2000, 2001, 2011), College of William and Mary, Williamsburg (Virginia) (1999, 2000), Princeton University (2000), University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), where, in 2008, he  was conducting an undergraduate seminar on  Golden Ages in the Low Countries (15th and 17th centuries) and a graduate seminar on The Social Position of Women in Medieval Low Countries. His visiting professorship at UCLA was the start of the Anthony van Dyck Chair, that the Flemish government had established there in 2007, in analogy with the Rubens Chair at the University of California in Berkeley. His last visiting professorship went on at Columbia University, New York, from January to May 2011; as holder of the Queen Wilhelmina Chair, he gave there a course on the theme People before the Court: popular culture in the late medieval Low Countries. As a member of the School of Historical Studies of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, Prevenier resided there for study purposes from September to December 1996 and from January to March 1999.

Activities in historical organisations

 * Prevenier has been active in the OSGG (the association of the history alumni of the University of Ghent), as its treasurer (1959-1961) and its editor (1965-1973).

He played a role in many prestigious historical organizations:


 * He became a member of the Commission Internationale de Diplomatique in 1973, in 1983 member of the Board, in August 1990 secretary, in 1999 president.
 * On Juni 20, 1981, he became a member and on February 27, 1982 untill 1999, secretary-treasurer of the Royal Historical Commission (Koninklijke Commissie voor Geschiedenis), Brussels.
 * In 1985 he was appointed a Corresponding Member, in 1989 Full Member of the Koninklijke Academie voor Wetenschappen, Letteren en Schone Kunsten van België (Klasse der Letteren).
 * On January 3, 1989, he became a member of the Academia Europaea, Cambridge (England).
 * On Februari 4, 1992, he became a Corresponding Fellow of the Medieval Academy of America, Cambridge (Mass., USA).
 * In 1995 he became a member, and from 1996 to 1999 president of the Board of Directors of the Academia Belgica, Rome - Brussels.
 * In May 1996 he became a Corresponding Fellow of the Royal Historical Society at London.
 * In 1996 he became a Foreign Member of the Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen (in the section Geesteswetenschappen) in Amsterdam.

Activities outside of history

 * Prevenier was from 1965 to 1979 secretary-general of the Willemsfonds, a socio-cultural liberal organization, promoting the Dutch language and Flemish culture.
 * He was a founding member and vice-president of the Unie van Vrijzinnige Verenigingen (1971-1979), promoting the constitutional recognition of liberal humanism in Belgium.
 * From 1973 to 1979 he was a member of the Board of the Overlegcentrum van Vlaamse Verenigingen.
 * From 1974 on he was a member, and from 1990 to 2020 president  of the Foundation Het Laatste Nieuws, reponsible for maintaining the newspaper's liberal thrust, in imitation of The Guardian Foundation.

Awards
Walter Prevenier achieved a series of awards during his career. Here is a selection:


 * In 1956 he became laureate of the annual prize André Schaepdrijverprijs for the beste licentiate thesis in history at the University of Ghent, awarded by OSGG, the alumni association of historians at the   Ghent University).
 * In 1958 he got the History Prize of the province East-Flanders.
 * On januari 8, 1988, he became a Commander in de Belgian Order of the Crown, and on april 8, 1976, an Officer in de Belgian Order of King Leopold.
 * He received a Civilian Medal first class on August 18, 1982, and the Civil Cross first class on april 6, 1993.
 * In May 1990 he received the Prize Herman Vanderpoorten for ideological and ethical integrity.
 * In 2003 he was made an hononorary citizen of the municipality of Zelzate, his native village.
 * On mei 9, 2005, he received the prize Anton Bergmann 2000-2004, awarded by the Académie Royale des Sciences, des Lettres et des Beaux-arts de Belgique, as coordinator-author of the Geschiedenis van Deinze (History of Deinze).
 * He received the Phyllis Goodhart Gordan Book Prize of the Renaissance Society of America, Cambridge (Mass., USA) for his book of 2015: Honor, Vengeance, and Social Trouble: Pardon Letters in the Burgundian Low Countries.

Publications

 * Handelingen van de Leden en van de Staten van Vlaanderen (1384-1405). Excerpten uit de rekeningen der steden, kasselrijen en vorstelijke ambtenaren, Brussel: Koninklijke Commissie voor Geschiedenis, in 4º reeks, 1959, XXXVI+488 p.
 * De Leden en de Staten van Vlaanderen (1384-1405), Brussel: Verhandelingen van de Koninklijke Vlaamse Academie voor Wetenschappen, Letteren en Schone Kunsten van België, Klasse der Letteren, Verhandeling nr. 43, 1961, XXXIV+420 p.
 * De oorkonden der graven van Vlaanderen (1191-aanvang 1206). I. Diplomatisch paleografische inleiding, Brussel: Koninklijke Commissie voor Geschiedenis, Verzameling van de Akten der Belgische Vorsten, in 4º reeks, 1966, XXIV+630 p.
 * De oorkonden der graven van Vlaanderen (1191-aanvang 1206). II. Uitgave, Brussel: Koninklijke Commissie voor Geschiedenis, Verzameling van de Akten der Belgische Vorsten, in 4º reeks, 1964, 654 p.
 * Liber Memorialis. 50 jaar afgestudeerden in de geschiedenis aan de Rijksuniversiteit Gent (1920-1969), Gent: Uitgave O.S.G.G. nr. 20, 1970, 88 p.
 * De oorkonden der Graven van Vlaanderen (1191-aanvang 1206). III. Documentatie en indices, Brussel: Koninklijke Commissie voor Geschiedenis, Verzameling van de Akten der Belgische Vorsten, in 4º reeks, 1971, 309 p.
 * Chronologie, Brugge - Assebroek: Westvlaams Verbond van Kringen voor Heemkunde, s. d. [1976] (course for local historians)
 * Algemene inleiding tot de historische kritiek, Gent: Uitg. Verbond van de Kringen voor Heemkunde in Oost-Vlaanderen, 1977, 21 p.
 * Facetten van de vrijzinnigheid in Vlaanderen anno 1978, Gent, 1978, 64 p.
 * (in collaboration with Wim Blockmans), De Bourgondische Nederlanden, (with an introduction by R. Vaughan, University Groningen), Antwerpen: Mercatorfonds, 1983, 406 p. - Translated: Les Pays Bas Bourguignons, Paris: Ed. Albin Michel, 1983, 408 p. - Translated: The Burgundian Netherlands, Cambridge University Press, 1985, 405 p. - Translated: Die Burgundische Niederlände, Weinheim: Verlag Chemie, Acta Humaniora, 1986, 405 p.
 * Diplomatica et Sigillographica. Travaux préliminaires de la Commission Internationale de Diplomatique et de la Commission Internationale de Sigillographie pour une normalisation des éditions internationales des éditions de documents et un Vocabulaire international de la Diplomatique et de la Sigillographie, Zaragoza, 1984, 221 p.
 * (in collaboration with J. G. Smit), Bronnen voor de geschiedenis der dagvaarten van de Staten en Steden van Holland voor 1544. Deel I.2 [Teksten] 1276-1433, 's Gravenhage: Rijks Geschiedkundige Publicatiën, Grote Serie 202, 1987, 797 p.
 * (in collaboration with Wim Blockmans), In de ban van Bourgondië, Houten: Fibula-Unieboek, Geschiedenis en cultuur paperbacks, 1988, 174 p.
 * Nouveau Wauters. I. Introduction, bibliographie, microfiches; II. Index topographique [2 vol.]; III. Index onomastique, Bruxelles - Louvain-la-Neuve: [coédition] Commission Royale d'Histoire - Cetedoc, 1989 (in collaboration with Paul Tombeur and Philippe Demonty)
 * (in collaboration with J.G. Smit), Bronnen voor de geschiedenis der dagvaarten van de Staten en steden van Holland voor 1544, deel I.1 [Inleiding, lijsten en indices] 1276-1433, 's Gravenhage: Rijks Geschiedkundige Publicatiën, Grote Serie 201, 1991, XXVI+286 p.
 * Uit goede bron. Introductie tot de historische kritiek, Leuven-Apeldoorn: uitg. Garant, 1992, 224 p. - 2nd unchanged impression, 1993 - 3rd unchanged impression, 1994 - 4th changed impression, 1985 - 5th unchanged impression, 1996 - 6th changed impression, 1998 - 7th changed impression, 2000 - 10th impression, 2008
 * Het historisch en kunsthistorisch onderzoek aan de Vlaamse universiteiten. Een dwarsdoorsnede, [Commissieverslag maart 1993. Vl.I.R. -project: Evaluatie van wetenschappelijk onderzoek], Brussel: uitg. Vl.I.R., 1993, 149 p. (in collaboration with E. Vanhaute e.a.)
 * Notarial Instruments in Flanders between 1280 and 1452, Brussel: Koninklijke Commissie voor Geschiedenis, groot in-octavo reeks, 1995, XXVIII+350 p. (in collaboration with James M. Murray and Michel Oosterbosch)
 * (in collaboration with Wim Blockmans), De Bourgondiërs. De Nederlanden op weg naar eenheid. 1384-1530, Amsterdam - Leuven: Meulenhoff Monografieën over Europese cultuur, 1997, 288 p. - 2nd impression, 2000, 288 p.
 * Prinsen en poorters. Beelden van de laat-middeleeuwse samenleving in de Bourgondische Nederlanden, 1384-1530, Antwerpen: Mercatorfonds, 1998, 414 p. (in collaboration with Th. de Hemptinne, M. Boone, M.-Th. Caron, W. Blockmans e.a.) - Digital option: https://www.dbnl.org/tekst/prev002prin01_/index.php -Translated: Le prince et le peuple. Images de la société du temps des ducs de Bourgogne, 1384-1530, Anvers: Fonds Mercator, 1998, 414 p.
 * (in collaboration with David Nicholas), Gentse stads- en baljuwsrekeningen (1365-1376), Brussel: Koninklijke Commissie voor Geschiedenis, in 4º reeks, 1999, XXX+540 p.
 * (in collaboration with Wim Blockmans), The Promised Lands. The Low Countries Under Burgundian Rule, 1369-1530, Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1999, XVIII+286 p.
 * From Reliable Sources. An Introduction to Historical Methods, Ithaca - London: Cornell University Press, 2001, 207 p. (in collaboration with Martha Howell)
 * Geschiedenis van Deinze. Deel 1. Deinze en Petegem in de Middeleeuwen en de Nieuwe Tijden, Deinze, Stadsbestuur Deinze en Kring voor Geschiedenis en Kunst van Deinze en de Leiestreek, 2003, X+476 p. (in collaboration with Romain Van Eenoo)
 * Geschiedenis van Deinze. Deel 2. Deinze en Petegem in de 19e en 20e eeuw, Deinze: Stadsbestuur Deinze en Kring voor Geschiedenis en Kunst van Deinze en de Leiestreek, 2005, X+583 p. (in collaboration with Romain Van Eenoo)
 * Geschiedenis van Deinze. Deel 3. Het platteland en de dorpen in Deinze, Deinze: Stadsbestuur Deinze en Kring voor Geschiedenis en Kunst van Deinze en de Leiestreek, 2007, X+732 p. (in collaboration with Romain Van Eenoo and Erik Thoen)
 * Honor, Vengeance, and Social Trouble. Pardon Letters in the Burgundian Low Countries, Ithaca - London: Cornell University Press, 2015, (in collaboration with Peter Arnade)
 * Onze gratie en genade. Misdaad en vergiffenis in de Bourgondische Nederlanden, Antwerpen – Utrecht: ed. Houtekiet – Omniboek, 2015 (in collaboration with Peter Arnade)
 * Diplomata Belgica. Les sources diplomatiques des Pays-Bas méridionaux aux Moyen Âge, Brussel: Koninklijke Commissie voor Geschiedenis, www.diplomata-belgica.be, work in progress since 2015 (in collaboration with Thérèse de Hemptinne, Jeroen Deploige and Jean-Louis Kupper, eds.)
 * Herman De Croo. Visionair liberaal. 50 jaar in het Parlement. Een maatschappelijk bewogen leven, Brussel - Gent: ed. VUBpress and Liberaal Archief/Liberas, 2018, 408 p.

Bio-/bibliography

 * Wim Blockmans, Marc Boone, Thérèse de Hemptinne: Secretum scriptorum. Liber alumnorum Walter Prevenier, Leuven - Apeldoorn: Garant, 1999, 382 p.
 * Wim Blockmans, Marc Boone, Thérèse de Hemptinne: Pectus est quod disertos facit. Walter Prevenier 80, Gent: Academia Press, 133 p.