Outputs

Academic Publications

G. Robilliard, ‘Virtuous Drugs: Coffee and Tea in Medical Theory and Practice in Halle Pietism, 1698–1720’, Social History of Medicine (2025).
J. Brown & G. Robilliard, ‘’Let every man drinke in his own cup, and let none trust the breath of his brother’: Encountering Plague in Early Modern Port Cities’, in W. Sowa & T. Whyton (eds), Encountering the Plague: Humanities Takes on the Pandemic (Bristol, 2024), pp. 107–24.
S. Snelders, ‘Drank en drugs in de achttiende eeuw’, in idem (ed.), ‘Drank & Drugs’, special issue of De Achttiende Eeuw 56 (2024): 45–56.
G. Robilliard, ‘Drinking Alone: Coffee and Tea Consumption as a Solitary Pursuit in Early Modern Europe, c. 1680–1800’, in S. Fabian, M. Heying, & T. Winnerling (eds), Gefährlicher Genuss? Getränke und Trinkpraktiken seit der frühen Neuzeit (Frankfurt & New York, 2024), pp. 57–90.
G. Robilliard, ‘Novel, Popular, Fashionable, and Partisan: Making Coffeehouses ‘Burgherly’ Spaces in Early Modern Hamburg’, Urban History 51 (2024): 146–70.
J. Brown, ‘Coffeehouses’, in W. Tullett & A. McQueen (eds), Encyclopedia of Smell History and Heritage (2023).
H. Hodacs & S. Falk, ‘The Stockholm Smoking Bans: Intoxicating Spaces in Early Modern Europe’, in M. Germes, L. Klaus, & S. Höhne (eds), Narcotic Cities: Counter-Cartographies of Drugs and Spaces (Berlin, 2023), pp. 122–33.
S. Snelders, ‘Normalisation and Ambivalence: Tobacco in the Seventeenth-Century Dutch Republic’, Cultural and Social History 20 (2023): 11–26.
A. Knutsson & H. Hodacs, ‘When Coffee was Banned: Strategies of Labour and Leisure Among Stockholm’s Poor Women, 1794–1796 and 1799–1802’, Scandinavian Economic History Review 71 (2023): 176–98.
P. Withington, ‘Remaking the Drunkard in Early Modern England’, English Language Notes 60 (2022): 16–38.
P. Withington, ‘Addiction, Intoxicants, and the Humoral Body’, The Historical Journal 65 (2022): 68–90.
L. Müller, ‘Swedish East India Trade in a Value-Added Analysis, c.1730–1800’, Scandinavian Economic History Review 70 (2022): 1–18.
K. James & P. Withington, ‘Introduction to Intoxicants and Early Modern European Globalization’, in idem (eds), ‘Intoxicants and Early Modern European Globalization’, special issue of The Historical Journal 65 (2021): 1–11.
U. Torrell, ‘När stockholmarna bjöds ut på kafé: Det moderna kaférummets etablering 1800-1840’, in K. Carlsson & R. Lennartsson (eds), Bakom stadens kulisser: Genus och gränser i Stockholm 1800–2000 (Stockholm, 2021), pp. 56–115.
D. Freist, ‘Expansion, Space, and People’, in C. Scott Dixon & Beat Kümin (eds), Interpreting Early Modern Europe (London & New York, 2020), pp. 268–96.
P. Withington, ‘Pre-Modern Citizenship: An Ancient Concept for the Modern World’, The Low Countries Journal of Social and Economic History 17 (2020): 79–89.
S. Snelders, ‘Drugsgebruik, exces en criminaliteit: Een historisch perspectief’, Tijdschrift over Cultuur & Criminaliteit 1 (2020).
P. Withington, ‘Journal of a Plague Year’, The Lancet 395 (2020): 1754–5.
P. Withington, ‘Where Was the Coffee in Early Modern England?’, The Journal of Modern History 92 (2020): 40–75.
P. Withington, ‘Intoxicants and the Invention of ‘Consumption”, The Economic History Review 73 (2020): 384–408.
H. Hodacs, ‘Coffee and Coffee Surrogates in Sweden: A Local, Global, and Material History’, in H. Weiss (ed.), Locating the Global: Spaces, Networks, and Interactions from the Seventeenth to the Twentieth Century (Oldenburg, 2020), pp. 73–94.
H. Hodacs, ‘Keeping It in the Family: The Swedish East India Company and the Irvine Family, 1731–1770’, Journal of World History 31 (2020): 567–95.
L. Müller, ‘Svenska ostindiska kompaniet och den europeiska marknaden för te’, Sverige och svenskarna i den ostindiska handeln 2: Strategier, sammanhang och situationer (Stockholm, 2019), pp. 237–61.

Theses

A. Douwes, ‘Visiting Pharmacies: An Exploratory Study of Apothecary Shops as Public Spaces in Amsterdam, c.1600–1850’, MSc thesis (Utrecht University, 24 January 2020).
R. de Koning, ‘Het koffiehuis als bakermat van de beschaving? Een sociaal- en literatuur-historisch onderzoek naar het achttiende-eeuwse koffiehuis als verburgerlijkingsplaats’, MLs thesis (Utrecht University, 9 July 2020).

Exhibitions

Intoxicating Spaces Virtual Exhibition. Our flagship online output, conceived as a digital scrapbook, brings together over 1,500 exhibits – or ‘scraps’ – from archives, libraries, and museums (online).
In the Footsteps of the Poppy, Nationaal Farmaceutisch Museum (online).
Worlds of Opiates (3 December 2021–29 March 2022, Amsterdam Central Station).
Kakao, Kaffee, Tabak: Rauschmittel Früher. A digital resource created by school pupils from Cäcilienschule and Altes Gymnasium in Oldenburg (online).

Multimedia

19–29 September 2024: J. Heywood & P. Withington, Holy Herbs and the Psychoactive Revolution, Futurecade, Festival of the Mind (University of Sheffield).

Love and Intoxication in a Renaissance Pleasure Palace (19 January 2023). A short film documenting our theatrical collaboration with Dr Crosby Stevens around Ben Jonson’s The New Inn and its connections with Bolsover Castle in Derbyshire.

Intoxicants: Tobacco, Coffee, Chocolate, Tea (5 February 2021). In a musical medley commissioned for our international schools conference, eleven ballads about new intoxicants are brought back to life by talented early music ensemble Passamezzo.

Intoxicating Spaces in the Time of Plague (8 July 2020). Project leader Phil Withington reflects on the historical relationship between pandemics, intoxicants, and public spaces, and discusses how we responded as a research group to the challenges of COVID-19.

Introducing Intoxicating Spaces (5 September 2019). Project Leader Phil Withington provides a video introduction to the project.

See also over 50 recordings of talks from our various international events on our YouTube channel.

Public History, Interviews, and Press

November 2024: J. Brown, ‘Feiticaria liquida’, serrote 44 (November 2024): 98–115.
25 September 2024: J. Heywood, P. Withington, & C. Osborne, ‘Holy Herbs and the Psychoactive Revolution’, Spiegeltent, Festival of the Mind (University of Sheffield).
4 January 2024: G. Robilliard, Interview, ‘Tabakrauchen. Blauer Dunst und schwarze Lunge’, Deutschlandfunk (DLF).
13 September 2023: J. Brown, ‘Liquid Bewitchment: Gin Drinking in England, 1700–1850’, Public Domain Review.
18 May 2023: J. Brown, ‘Outside Issues: Tea Gardens in Early Modern London’, The Recipes Project.
16 November 2022: J. Brown, H. Hodacs, L. Müller, G. Robilliard, S. Snelders, & P. Withington, ‘Intoxicating Spaces Virtual Exhibition Launch’ (online).
16 November 2022: G. Robilliard, Interview, ”Der Konsum veränderte das soziale Leben’. Eine digitale Ausstellung in Oldenburg widmet sich der Geschichte der Rauschmittel’, das wird.
6 October 2022: J. Schulz, ‘Trinkkulturen. Wie Kaffee, Wein und Bier die soziale Ordnung herstellen’, Deutschlandfunk.
30 November 2022: H. Hodacs & A. Knutsson, ‘Det illegala kaffet’ (Stockholm City Archive).
9 November 2022: H. Hodacs, ‘Kaffe, te och choklad – nya varor och smaker på 1700-talet’ (Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences).
24 September 2022: C. Stevens & P. Withington, ‘Love and Intoxication in a Renaissance Pleasure Palace’, Spiegeltent, Festival of the Mind (University of Sheffield).
13 May 2022: P. Withington, Panel Chair, ‘Food: Ethics, Politics, History’ (University of Sheffield).
28 April 2022: A. Moore, ‘How the Psychoactive Revolution Shaped Society’, University of Sheffield.
16 March 2022: H. Hodacs, ‘Tea Trade: The History of an Everyday Intoxicant’, Flora and Friends: Your Botanical Cup of Tea podcast.
5 January 2022: J. Brown & P. Withington, ‘Project of the Month: Intoxicating Spaces’, HERA website.
15 December 2021: L. Müller & U. Torrell, Discussants, ‘Socker, tobak, opium och den globala ekonomin’, Öppna föreläsningar (Stockholm University).
8 December 2021: S. Snelders, ‘Atlas’, NTR.
30 November 2021: P. Withington, ‘Journal of a Plague Year’, Faculti.
16 November 2021: K. Sennefelt, ‘Smoke Signals: Tobacco, Visions, and Disaster in Late Seventeenth-Century Stockholm’, Past & Present blog.
11 November 2021: H. Hodacs & K. Sennefelt, Discussants, ‘När kaffet var det mest förbjudna. Om förbuden, staden och moralen’, Öppna föreläsningar (Stockholm University).
22 June 2021: J. Brown, Interview, ‘The Focus’, Radio Adelaide.
21 June 2021: G. Robilliard, ‘Zucker, Tabak, Kaffee, Tee und… Pest: ‚Rauschmittel‘ und der öffentliche Raum in Hamburg’, kulturland oldenburg 188 (2.2021).
13 May 2021: J. Brown, ‘How the Bubonic Plague Changed Drinking Habits’, The Conversation.
22 April 2021: K. Frieling, ‘Von Zucker bis Opium’, Eppendorfer 2 (2021): 3.
16 April 2021: ‘Rauschmittel in Hafenstädten – neue Ausstellung in Bremerhaven’, Radio Bremen.
13 February 2021: S. Schubert, ‘Intoxicating Spaces: Auf den Spuren historischer Rauschmittel’, Nordwest Zeitung.
31 December 2020: I. Sorge-Röder, ‘Vom Siegeszug des Kaffees’, University of Oldenburg.
18 November 2020: J. Brown, Interview, ‘The Global Exchange of Medicine and Disease’, Sick to Death: A History of Medicine in 10 Objects.
10 November 2020: J. Brown, ‘Tweeting Renaissance Research’, Society for Renaissance Studies: Public Engagement Toolbox.
13 August 2020: P. Withington, ‘The History of Drinking, Intoxication, and Social Spaces’, A Bit Lit.
9 & 10 July 2020: J. Brown, Interview, ‘Local World’, Abbey 104 & Keep 106.
26 June 2020: J. Brown, ‘Coronavirus is Taking English Pubs Back in Time’, The Conversation.
4 June 2020: M. Bridge, ‘Coffee House Patrons of Old Preferred Stronger Stuff’, and leading article, ‘Grounds for Debate’, The Times.
29 May 2020: P. Withington, ‘Public and Private Pleasures’, History Today.
30 November 2019: T. Hysky, ‘Projekt ‘Intoxicating Spaces’. Als Kaffee und Zucker noch Rauschmittel waren’, Nordwest-Zeitung Online.
17 October 2019: D. R. Urbaschek, ‘Hoe veranderde Nederland door de komst van koffie?’, DUB.
25 September 2019: P. Withington, Discussant, ‘Addicted’, BBC Radio 4.
28 July 2019: S. Snelders, ‘Hoe kijken we over honderd jaar naar de strijd tegen drugs?’, Het Parool.
7 July 2019: S. Snelders, Discussant, ‘Drugs’, Radio Swammerdam.
See also the team’s posts on our Blog.

Papers, Presentations, and Talks

24–6 May 2023: G. Robilliard, ‘The Great Leap Outwards: Intoxicant Consumption Practices, Space, and the Expansion of Urbanness in Eighteenth-Century Hamburg’, Conference Paper, Zwischen Ancien Régime und Moderne. Transformationen der Stadt im langen 18. Jahrhundert (Czech Academy of Sciences/University of Jan Evangelista in Ústí nad Labem/Technical University Dresden).
17 February 2023: J. Brown & G. Robilliard, ‘History Goes Data: Perspectives on Databases from the Intoxicating Spaces Project’, Love Data Week 2023 (online).
29 September 2022: H. Hodacs, ‘Eighteenth-Century Tea Surrogates: Swedish Naturalists Interpreting Taste and Substituting Global Goods with Local’, Conference Paper, Pratiques de l’histoire transnationale (École Nationale des Chartes).
29 September 2022: G. Robilliard, ‘Drinking Alone: Coffee, Tea, and Chocolate Consumption as a Solitary Pursuit in Eighteenth-Century Europe’, Conference Paper, Gefährlicher Genuss? Getränke und Trinkpraktiken seit der Frühen Neuzeit (University of Hagen, Germany).
9 September 2022: G. Robilliard, ‘Food Heritage and Memory-Making: Insights from the Intoxicating Spaces Project’, Conference Paper, HERA JRP Conference: Crisis in Humanities/Humanities in Crisis (Wrocław, Poland).
9 August 2022: H. Hodacs, ‘Globala smaker och lokala varor – att imitera smak, lukt och utseende i 1700-talets Sverige’, Conference Paper, 30th Congress of Nordic Historians (University of Gothenburg).
25 July 2022: P. Withington, Discussant, ‘Pre-Modern Moral Economies’, XIX World Economic History Congress (Paris).
17 June 2022: P. Withington, Discussant, ‘The Global Turn in the History of Drugs and Alcohol: Roundtable’, Alcohol and Drugs History Society Biennial Conference (Mexico City).
17 June 2022: S. Snelders, ‘A Very Private Affair: Opium in Amsterdam, c. 1600–c. 1940’, Conference Paper, Alcohol and Drugs History Society Biennial Conference (Mexico City).
15 June 2022: G. Robilliard, ‘Material Culture by Mail: The Circulation of Coffee and Tea in Pietist Networks in the Early Eighteenth Century’, Seminar Paper, Colloquium of the Liselotte Kirchner Scholarship Programme (Franckesche Stiftungen, Halle an der Saale).
10 June 2022: P. Withington, ‘The Politicization of Intoxicants in Early Modern England’, Conference Paper, Politicization: Socio-Historical Approaches (University of Oxford).
6 May 2022: P. Withington, ‘The Economy of Intoxicants in Early Modern England’, Seminar Paper, Economic and Social History Research Seminar (University of Vienna).
19 April 2022: H. Hodacs, ‘Substituting Tea and Coffee: Negotiating Sensual Impressions, Health, and Fashion in Early Eighteenth-Century Sweden’, Seminar Paper, Department of Economic History Seminar (Uppsala University).
26 January 2022: D. Friest, ‘Historische Praxeologie: Theorie and Empirie im Kontext frühneuzeitlicher Globalgeschichte’, Conference Paper, SFB 1288 Praktiken des Vergleichens (Bielefeld University).
21 January 2022: P. Withington, ‘Intoxicants, Renaissance, and Early Modern Slavery’, Seminar Paper (Washington University in St Louis).
17 November 2021: H. Hodacs, Linné, ‘Linné kaffe och te – globala perspektiv’, Seminar Paper, Swedish Linnean Society.
13 November 2021: J. Brown, ‘Drinking Places Research, 2010–21: Early Modern Period (1600–1850)’, Drinking Studies Network Conference 2021: Where Are We Now? The DSN at Ten (online).
11 November 2021: J. Brown, ‘Tea Gardens and New Intoxicants in Early Modern London’, IHR Food History Seminar (online).
11 November 2021: D. Friest, ‘Historische Praxeologie als Mikro-Historie’, Seminar Paper (Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg).
4 November 2021: G. Robilliard, ‘Mapping Tea and Coffee-Selling in Late Eighteenth-Century Hamburg’, Conference Paper, The Spatial Eighteenth-Century: Rethinking Urban Networks and Maps, 1650–1850 (University of York).
27 October 2021: H. Hodacs & A. Knutsson ‘Clandestine Coffee and a Female Underground Culture in Late Eighteenth-Century Stockholm’, Seminar Paper, What’s Your Poison? (Intoxicating Spaces).
6 October 2021: P. Withington, Discussant, Global Histories of Drugs: Why, and What Next (British Library/University of Wisconsin-Madison/online).
6 September 2021: S. Snelders, ‘Drugs in achttiende-eeuws Amsterdam. De verspreiding van koffie, tabak en opium’, Seminar Paper, Werkgroep De 18e eeuw.
6 July 2021: P. Withington, ‘The Intoxicating Spaces Knowledge Exchange Programme’, Webinar Paper, Rethinking Knowledge Exchange within the Humanities (HERA).
18 June 2021: P. Withington, ‘Intoxicants, Addiction, and the Humoral Body’, Conference Paper, Experiencing the Material Body in Early Modern Europe (Stockholm University).
3 June 2021: J. Brown, ‘Tea Gardens and New Intoxicants in Early Modern London’, Conference Paper, IEHCA Sixth International Conference on Food History and Food Studies (University of Tours).
25 May 2021: J. Brown, ‘The Intoxicating Spaces Digital Exhibition, or: Scrapbooking in a Time of Plague’, Webinar Paper, Exploring New Digital Worlds: Field Research Challenges in Pandemic Time (HERA).
11 May 2021: H. Hodacs, ‘Surrogate Tea versus Plant Transfer: Negotiating Taste, Nature and Medicine in the 1740s’, Conference Paper, Papers Holding the World Together: The Written Heritage of Carl Linnaeus and the Linnaeans (Hagströmer Library, Karolinska Institutet).
27 April 2021: P. Withington, ‘Intoxicants, Addiction, and Early Modern Medicine’, Seminar Paper, Topics in Early Modern Studies (University of Sheffield).
22 April 2021: S. Snelders, ‘Drug Abuse as a Colonial Disease: How Colonial History Shaped Dutch Knowledge and Policies on Drugs’, Conference Paper, Spores of Empire: Exploring the Colonial Foundations of Dutch Society and Culture (Utrecht University).
15 April 2021: K. Sennefelt, ‘Comfort and Cure: Using Old and New Intoxicants in Seventeenth-Century Plague Epidemics’, Conference Paper, RSA Virtual 2021.
15 April 2021: J. Brown & G. Robilliard, ‘Plague, Intoxicants, and Space in Early Modern Port Cities’, Conference Paper, RSA Virtual 2021.
15 April 2021: S. Snelders, ‘Plague Epidemics and the Economy of Intoxicants in Early Modern Amsterdam, Hamburg, London, and Stockholm’, Conference Paper, RSA Virtual 2021.
15 April 2021: H. Hodacs & A. Knutsson, ‘När kaffe förbjöds – kvinnliga strategier för försäljning, försörjning och konsumtion i Stockholm (1794–96, 1799–1892)’, Seminar Paper, Staden skriver historia (Stockholm University).
18 March 2021: H. Hodacs & A. Knutsson, ‘Peddling, Making, Drinking: Women and Coffee in Stockholm during the Prohibition Periods (1794–96 and 1799–1802)’, Seminar Paper, Gender and Work Seminar (Uppsala University).
27 January 2021: D. Freist, ‘…weiße Leute, die über unsern Zweck lachen, u(und) es Narrens-Possen hiesen’, Conference Paper, Globaler Protestantismus, Sklaverei und Mission auf Jamaika im 18. Jahrhundert (Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg).
15 December 2020: J. Brown, ‘Intoxicants and the Psychological Impact of Plague in Early Modern London’, Seminar Paper, Department of History Research Seminar (University of Sheffield).
3 November 2020: L. Müller, H. Hodacs, & A. Knutsson, ‘Intoxicating Spaces: The Impact of New Intoxicants on Urban Spaces in Europe, 1600–1850’, Seminar Paper, Centre for Business History Seminar (Uppsala University).
24 September 2020: H. Hodacs, ‘Coffee and Tea Substitutes in Early Modern Sweden’, Seminar Paper, Department of History of Science and Ideas Seminar (Uppsala University).
10 June 2020: P. Withington, ‘Pre-Modern Citizenship: An Ancient Concept for the Modern World?’, Seminar Paper, Department of Urban Studies and Planning Seminar (University of Sheffield).
15 May 2020: G. Robilliard, ‘Und jenseits des Kaffeehauses? Eine Suche nach der ‘anderen’ Räumlichkeit von Kaffee und Tee in Hamburg, 1700–1850′, Seminar Paper, Prize Papers Lunchtime Talk (University of Oldenburg).
11 February 2020: S. Snelders, ‘The Normalisation of Drugs: A Historical Perspective’, Invited Lecture (Royal Academy of Sciences, Amsterdam).
8 February 2020: P. Withington, ‘Tobacco and Playhouses in Renaissance London: New Intoxicants, New Pleasures’, Conference Paper, Cultures of Intoxication: Contextualising Alcohol and Drug Use, Past and Present (University College Dublin).
8 February 2020: S. Snelders, ‘The Introduction of New Intoxicants and the Problem of Excess: Tea and Tobacco in the Seventeenth-Century Dutch Republic’, Conference Paper, Cultures of Intoxication: Contextualising Alcohol and Drug Use, Past and Present (University College Dublin).
6 February 2020: P. Withington, ‘Tobacco and Playhouses in Renaissance London: New Intoxicants, New Pleasures’, Workshop Paper, Pleasurescapes: Transnational Forces of Integration in European Cities (Erasmus University Rotterdam).
19 December 2019: J. Brown, ‘Intoxicating Spaces: The Impact of New Intoxicants on Urban Spaces in Europe, 1600–1850’, Seminar Paper, Sheffield Centre for Early Modern Studies Seminar (University of Sheffield).
9 December 2019: T. Pieters, ‘Morpheus Gatekeepers: The Blessing and Burden of Doctors’ and Pharmacists’ Role as Narcotic Distributors’, Workshop Paper, Beyond the Medicines/Drugs Dichotomy: Historical Perspectives on Good and Evil (University of Johannesburg).
9 December 2019: P. Withington, ‘New Intoxicants and Early Modern Medical Practice’, Workshop Paper, Beyond the Medicines/Drugs Dichotomy: Historical Perspectives on Good and Evil (University of Johannesburg).
21 November 2019: P. Withington, ‘Slavery and Practical Humanism’, Seminar Paper, Medieval and Early Modern Studies Seminar (University of Chicago).
15 November 2019: P. Withington, ‘The Invention of Addiction’, Conference Paper, North American Conference of British Studies (University of Vancouver).
7 November 2019: P. Withington, ‘The Power of Company’, Workshop Paper, The Edge of Politics (University of Lille).
26–27 October 2019: P. Withington, ‘Embodied Fictions’, Conference Paper, Façade Truths in Tokugawa Japan and Beyond (Yale University).
19–21 September 2019: P. Withington, ‘Urban Citizens’, Workshop Paper, Political Personhood in the Early Modern British World Before 1800 (Folger Shakespeare Library).
11 September 2019: G. Robilliard, ‘Intoxicating Spaces: The Impact of New Intoxicants on Urban Spaces in Europe, 1600–1850’, Poster, HERA JRP Uses of the Past & Public Spaces Conference (Gdansk, Poland).
4 July 2019: P. Withington, ‘The Power of Sociability’, Keynote Lecture, Sociability in Early Modern Europe (University of Birmingham).