Marlies Couch studied History at the University of Amsterdam and the University of Kent in Canterbury, UK. She specialised in social-medical gender history, focusing on the role of women and women’s bodies as instruments of power in early modern Europe, with a particular emphasis on England.
Master’s Thesis on Sexual Violence and Medical Care in London
For her master’s thesis, she explored social networks and medical care practices for survivors of sexual violence in 17th- and 18th-century London. She analysed Old Bailey court records using the verb- or task-oriented method. This method looks beyond formal work titles and focuses on specific activities described in the sources. Its perspective highlights the often overlooked work done by women and people from lower social sorts. In 2025, her research was awarded both the Zuster Vernède Thesis Prize and the UvA Faculty of Humanities Thesis Prize.
PhD Research on Social Mobility and Migration in the VOC Era
As a PhD researcher at the Huygens Institute and Radboud University, Couch examines social mobility and migration in the 18th-century Dutch Republic. Her research focuses on the careers and personal histories of migrants working for the Dutch East India Company (VOC), as well as the lives of those who stayed behind, such as the wives of seafarers.
Her work navigates the tension between large-scale datasets, like the VOC archives, and the intention to illuminate the lived experiences of ‘ordinary’ people on a microlevel. This project will generate fresh insights into migration and social dynamics in the early modern maritime world.
