PhD-project (2019)
In 2019, I started my to Ambrose of Milan and his attitude towards Judaism and the Jewish community in Milan. In my research, I focus on three subtopics:
- In what ways does Ambrose make use of the Jewish exegete Philo?
- How does Ambrose’s rhetoric towards the Jews and reality relate to each other?
- What is the significance of the direct speeches addressed to the Jews in which Ambrose calls on them to believe in Christ?
By answering these three sub-questions, I hope to gain a better understanding of how Ambrose related to the Jews.

An epitaph with a menorah. This tombstone is from the cemetery next to the church in Milan in which Ambrose’s bones are kept.
Sport and Play in Milan (2021)
At the Ambrose Congress in Apeldoorn (2021), I gave a talk on ‘Sport and Play in the Milan of Ambrose’. (Click here to watch my contribution in Dutch). In my contribution, I talked about the theatre, amphitheatre, the circus and the baths in Milan and how Ambrose related to them. My contribution was also published in: Marius A. van Willigen, Anthony Dupont (red.), Ambrosiana Neerlandica, Leuven, Paris, Bristol (CT): Peeters, 83-107. The English summary can be read on Academia (click here). The full contribution is available on request.