Daily Bread takes on two fundamental historical questions: 1) how did ordinary people shaped politics in the period before democracy and 2) how did power shaped archives, determining whose histories have been written, and whose have been silenced?

The project explores how food protests – often led by women – between 1500 and 1800 played a far more political role than traditionally assumed. By comparing uprisings in Dutch, Italian and Ottoman cities, Daily Bread shows how climate change, urban contexts and archival practices shaped whose voices were recorded or ignored. Combining insights from social, cultural, urban and environmental history, the project redefines the political impact of ordinary people in the premodern world and offers new perspectives for today’s debates on food systems and protest.

Daily Bread is a Vici-project, funded by NWO (Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research) and will take place between 2025-2029.