About

Straatvaart.com is a new project in the field of History and Computing.

This site is a personal challenge as well as the ground of an on-going scientific experiment that involves history and historians.

My name is Iñaki Lopez Martin. I am an specialist in Early Modern Hispano-Dutch relations. My personal and scientific interests concentrate fundamentally on the fields of history and computers, maritime history, and the use of Geographic Information Systems in advanced historical research.

As far as I can tell these pages will be mostly divided into two main sections: Early Modern Spain [EMS] and Straatvaart. The former is the follow-up of my WWW activities since 1995, primarily at the Lopez Martin Collection in Carrie (the Electronic Library of the University of Kansas) and the VL Central History Catalogue (now hosted at the European University Institute). The latter will deal basically with Hispano-Dutch relations during the period of Phillip II and Phillip III, but I do not exclude other periods or issues.

The original idea is to publish a large collection of XVIth-XVIIth century Spanish historical resources and archival material I have been collecting, classifying and transcribing over the last years. Obviously not all of them will be freely available, it has been a long-term investment in money, time and skills. But I cannot give more details about “when” or “how” all those materials will be ready and fully available.

I am also considering to open this space and project to eventual collaborators and other people interested in topics such as history and computers, early modern maritime history, economic warfare, and trade. Anybody with good ideas and without a burdensome academic background is more than welcome.

The Skipper [straatvaart@gmail.com]
About the author (.pdf CV)