HOST is a research group from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel that conducts innovative research in the field of urban history. As one of the spearhead research teams within the university, it aims to contribute to insights into contemporary societal challenges. HOST’s research mission is to study the interactions between social inequality, migration and social relations in a long-term and comparative perspective. Our team draws on expertise in the social and economic history of urban Brabant and Flanders from the late Middle Ages to the long 19th century.