'The proof of the pudding is in the eating': een pleidooi voor HGIS als digitale werkplaats voor integraal en comparatief historisch onderzoek

In recent years, the use of HGIS in historical research has grown enormously. More and more research infrastructure is being realized, more and more spatial data sets are becoming available and more and more historical map material is being digitized and georeferenced. Digital historical (city) laboratories are popping up like mushrooms. In this contribution we argue for a more systematic, more integral use of HGIS in historical research so that on a much larger scale, where applicable, one can benefit not only from the extra explanatory power of spatial perspective and research methods, but also from the stimulating effect that it provides for the entire research process. In this way we hope that the many investments will be capitalized even more than now in both scientific publications and public history, and that comparative research, benefiting from the local embedding of much HGIS reconstructions, will also be stimulated. For demonstration and inspiration, we present three early modern and late medieval cases.