Ward Leloup (1991) studied history at the KU Leuven where he graduated in 2013 with a MA dissertation on the foundation and the spatial development of the late medieval port town of Sluis. His research focusses on the social, economic and spatial history of Flemish and Brabantine towns during the late medieval and early modern period, in particular Bruges, Mechelen and the Zwin towns. As of January 2014, he is appointed as a research fellow at Ghent University. Since October 2015, he works as a teaching assistant and doctoral researcher at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, affiliated to the Centre for Historical Research into Urban Transformation Processes (HOST). As of 2016 he prepares a PhD on the leather industry in late medieval Bruges and Mechlelen, focussing on the socio-economic relations between the craftsmen and how these relations influenced locational patterns of the industry in urban space. Previously he has investigated the spatial and historical evolutions of Bruges’ outports along the medieval Zwin within the context of an interdisciplinary research project at Ghent University.