Vendula Hoppe

I am a postgraduate researcher interested in early modern material cultures, textile studies, socio-economic and cultural history. Currently, I am undertaking a PhD in History with a project titled "Velvets in Renaissance Europe: Making Consumerist Cultures, ca 1400-1700", which is supervised by Dr Stefan Hanß and Prof Sasha Handley. In this ESRC funded project I explore the material, societal, and economic significance of velvets in cities and courts of Renaissance Italy, France, and the Czech lands of the Holy Roman Empire. 

I began my studies here in Manchester, completing an undergraduate degree in History with French with First Class Honours in 2019. I then moved to the University of Warwick for my Master's degree at the Centre for the Study of Renaissance. As part of my studies at Warwick I spent a whole term in Venice, exploring many aspects of Venetian history. Captivated by the city I decided to return to Venice in the summer to focus on my thesis research which was partially funded by the Dr Greg Wells Award. My thesis titled "The World in a Shop: Foreigners Shopping in Venice, ca.1400-1620" received the Sir John Hale Prize for Best MA Dissertation and I graduated from Warwick in 2020 with a distinction. I returned to Manchester in 2020 to begin my PhD at the History Department.