Acknowledgements
This book is based on my doctoral research within the project ‘Crime and gender 1600-1900: A comparative perspective’, funded by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO). I am immensely grateful to my supervisor, Manon van der Heijden, for inviting me into the project, for her incessant trust and support, and for always pushing me further. I am also especially grateful to my co-supervisor Ariadne Schmidt, whose guidance and encouragement was and continues to be of immeasurable value.
I have benefitted enormously from the discussions with the members of the Crime and Gender team, the expert committee, and the participants of the various conferences we have organised and attended as part of our project. Many thanks in this regard go out to Marion Pluskota, Jeannette Kamp, Nicholas Terpstra, Jaco Zuijderduijn, and Griet Vermeesch – not only for their constructive criticism on many papers, but also for the inspirations I draw from their own research. I also thank the members of my dissertation’s reading and defence committee, Marlou Schrover, Judith Pollmann, Guy Geltner, Elizabeth Cohen, Peter Hoppenbrouwers, and Margo De Koster, for the time they have taken to read my work and their insightful feedback.
There are many others who have contributed to this book coming into fruition in one way or another. I am grateful to my Leiden colleagues Eli, Julie, Bram, Kaarle, Joris, Edgar, Aniek, and Kate, who have made this journey so much brighter. I am forever undebted to my mother and Nico for always being there and cheering me on, and to my partner Alvaro, for being kinder to me than I am to myself, and for believing in me always. Last, but certainly not least, I want to express my gratitude towards Norah, whose endless support, sincere interest, and helping hand with proofreading the manuscript have been of inestimable value – though all errors in this book of course remain my own.