Dirck Volckertszoon Coornhert
(152229 October 1590), also known as Theodore Cornhert, was a Dutch writer, philosopher, translator, politician,
theologian
Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...
and
artist
An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse refers to a practitioner in the visual arts only. However, th ...
. Coornhert is often considered the Father of Dutch Renaissance scholarship.
Biography
Coornhert was the youngest son of Volckert Coornhert, an
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...
cloth merchant. As a child he spent some years in
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, ...
and
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of th ...
. Returning home, he was
disinherited by his father's
will
Will may refer to:
Common meanings
* Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death
* Will (philosophy), or willpower
* Will (sociology)
* Will, volition (psychology)
* Will, a modal verb - see Shall and wi ...
in 1539, for his marriage with Cornelia (Neeltje) Simons, a portionless gentlewoman
from
Haarlem
Haarlem (; predecessor of ''Harlem'' in English) is a city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of North Holland. Haarlem is situated at the northern edge of the Randstad, one of the most populated metropoli ...
, whose sister was Anna Simonsdr, the mistress of
Reginald (Reinoud), count of
Brederode (they were the parents of Lucretia van Brederode). He was only seventeen and she was twelve years older. Through his sister-in-law, he became
major-domo
A majordomo is a person who speaks, makes arrangements, or takes charge for another. Typically, this is the highest (''major'') person of a household (''domūs'' or ''domicile'') staff, a head servant who acts on behalf of the owner of a large ...
to Reginald at his castle in
Vianen for a short time. Soon after that, in 1541, he bought a house in his wife's home town of Haarlem on the St. Janssteeg from Anna and her husband Jan. Though he started off working for Reginald, he lived near the school where the St. Jan
commanderij taught classic works and commissioned art.
Maarten van Heemskerck
Maarten van Heemskerck or ''Marten Jacobsz Heemskerk van Veen'' (1 June 1498 - 1 October 1574) was a Dutch portrait and religious painter, who spent most of his career in Haarlem. He was a pupil of Jan van Scorel, and adopted his teacher's Itali ...
had just returned from Italy and impressed Coornhert with his work. Coornhert became an
engraver on
copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pink ...
, and produced works in collaboration with Heemskerck which became popular.
[Biography of Coornhert]
by Ilja M. Veldman, Zutphen, 1989, in the DBNL (with prints)
After learning
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...
in 1552, Coornhert published Dutch translations from
Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the esta ...
,
Seneca and
Boethius
Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius, commonly known as Boethius (; Latin: ''Boetius''; 480 – 524 AD), was a Roman senator, consul, ''magister officiorum'', historian, and philosopher of the Early Middle Ages. He was a central figure in the t ...
.
His 1562 translation of the first twelve books of Homer's ''Odyssey'' is one of the first major works of Dutch Renaissance poetry. He was appointed secretary to the city of
Haarlem
Haarlem (; predecessor of ''Harlem'' in English) is a city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of North Holland. Haarlem is situated at the northern edge of the Randstad, one of the most populated metropoli ...
(1562) and secretary to the
burgomaster
Burgomaster (alternatively spelled burgermeister, literally "master of the town, master of the borough, master of the fortress, master of the citizens") is the English form of various terms in or derived from Germanic languages for the chie ...
s (1564). Throwing himself into the
struggle against Spanish rule, he drew up the manifesto of
William the Silent
William the Silent (24 April 153310 July 1584), also known as William the Taciturn (translated from nl, Willem de Zwijger), or, more commonly in the Netherlands, William of Orange ( nl, Willem van Oranje), was the main leader of the Dutch Re ...
,
Prince of Orange
Prince of Orange (or Princess of Orange if the holder is female) is a title originally associated with the sovereign Principality of Orange, in what is now southern France and subsequently held by sovereigns in the Netherlands.
The titl ...
(1566).
Imprisoned at
the Hague
The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...
in 1568, he escaped to
Cleves
Kleve (; traditional en, Cleves ; nl, Kleef; french: Clèves; es, Cléveris; la, Clivia; Low Rhenish: ''Kleff'') is a town in the Lower Rhine region of northwestern Germany near the Dutch border and the River Rhine. From the 11th century ...
, where he maintained himself by his art. Recalled in 1572, he was for a short time
secretary of state in the
Dutch Republic
The United Provinces of the Netherlands, also known as the (Seven) United Provinces, officially as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands ( Dutch: ''Republiek der Zeven Verenigde Nederlanden''), and commonly referred to in historiograph ...
; his aversion to military violence led him to return to Cleves, where William continued to employ his services and his pen.
Possibly inspired by his time in jail, he wrote a book "Boeventucht" on the causes of crime with ideas for more humane methods of punishment and correction.
Theology
Coornhert was also famous as a theologian. At 30 years of age, having become interested in theology, and being desirous of consulting
St. Augustine
Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Afr ...
, he commenced the study of
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...
. He entered into controversy alike with
Catholics
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
and
Reformers, with both of whom he refused to take Communion. Reformers, he said, were sadly wanted, but those who called themselves such were not the kind that the church required; what was needed was apostles directly inspired from heaven. Until such were sent, he advised all churches to join together in an undogmatic communion. Coornhert wrote and strove in favor of tolerance, opposing
capital punishment
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that ...
for
heretics
Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, in particular the accepted beliefs of a church or religious organization. The term is usually used in reference to violations of important religi ...
. He had no party views; he criticized the
Heidelberg Catechism
The Heidelberg Catechism (1563), one of the Three Forms of Unity, is a Protestant confessional document taking the form of a series of questions and answers, for use in teaching Calvinist Christian doctrine. It was published in 1563 in Heidelberg ...
, which was authoritative in the Dutch Republic.
Jacobus Arminius
Jacobus Arminius (10 October 1560 – 19 October 1609), the Latinized name of Jakob Hermanszoon, was a Dutch theologian during the Protestant Reformation period whose views became the basis of Arminianism and the Dutch Remonstrant movement. H ...
, employed to refute him, was won over by his arguments.
Pupils
According to the
Netherlands Institute for Art History
The Netherlands Institute for Art History or RKD (Dutch: RKD-Nederlands Instituut voor Kunstgeschiedenis), previously Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie (RKD), is located in The Hague and is home to the largest art history center i ...
(RKD), his pupils were
Hendrick Goltzius,
Philip Galle, and
Cornelis Cort
Cornelis Cort (c. 1533 – c. 17 March 1578) was a Dutch engraver and draughtsman. He spent the last 12 years of his life in Italy, where he was known as ''Cornelio Fiammingo''.
Biography
Born in Hoorn or Edam, Cort may have been a pupil of ...
.
Works
In addition to the 1566 manifesto, Coornhert wrote a treatise against the
capital punishment
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that ...
of
heretic
Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, in particular the accepted beliefs of a church or religious organization. The term is usually used in reference to violations of important relig ...
s, a pamphlet defending the rebellion of the
United Provinces, a preface to the
Dutch grammar published by the Society of Rhetoricians of Amsterdam, and a number of poems, including, according to some, the popular song, ''
Wilhelmus van Nassouwe
"Wilhelmus van Nassouwe", usually known just as "Wilhelmus" ( nl, Het Wilhelmus, italic=no; ; English translation: "The William"), is the national anthem of both the Netherlands and the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It dates back to at least 1572 ...
''.
Others, however, attributed it to
Philip van Marnix. In 1586 he produced his original masterpiece, the ''Zedekunst'' ("Art of Ethics").
By the time he died in 1590, his Dutch translation of the
New Testament
The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Chris ...
(following the Latin version of
Erasmus
Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus (; ; English: Erasmus of Rotterdam or Erasmus;''Erasmus'' was his baptismal name, given after St. Erasmus of Formiae. ''Desiderius'' was an adopted additional name, which he used from 1496. The ''Roterodamus'' w ...
) was left unfinished. His collected works, in prose and verse, were published in 1630 in 3 volumes.
Isaac D'Israeli
Isaac D'Israeli (11 May 1766 – 19 January 1848) was a British writer, scholar and the father of British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli. He is best known for his essays and his associations with other men of letters.
Life and career
Isaac ...
called him "one of the fathers of
Dutch literature
Dutch language literature () comprises all writings of literary merit written through the ages in the Dutch language, a language which currently has around 23 million native speakers. Dutch-language literature is the product of the Netherlands, Be ...
, and even of their arts."
Quotes
*"Each wants to dictate another's creed ... This is done by those who formerly taught that such things do not become the Christian"
*"Rest Elsewhere" (his motto).
*"...a voluntary crowbar to the murderous prison of conscience" (on himself).
[''Frans Hal Museum Haarlem – Dutch Painting'' – Baard, Henricus Petrus, trans. J.J.Kliphuis – Knorr & Hirth Verlag GMBH, 1967]
References
Citations
Bibliography
* .
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Coornhert, Dirck Volckertszoon
1522 births
1590 deaths
Dutch Christian theologians
Dutch Renaissance humanists
Dutch engravers
Dutch translators
Dutch male poets
Dutch politicians
Writers from Amsterdam
Renaissance engravers
National anthem writers
Dutch people of the Eighty Years' War (United Provinces)
Dutch male dramatists and playwrights
Latin–Dutch translators
16th-century Dutch philosophers