Brabantsche Yeesten
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The ''Brabantsche Yeesten'' or Gestes de Brabant () is a rhyming chronicle of some 46,000 verses written in the 14th and 15th centuries in the
Middle Dutch language Middle Dutch is a collective name for a number of closely related West Germanic dialects whose ancestor was Old Dutch. It was spoken and written between 1150 and 1500. Until the advent of Modern Dutch after 1500 or , there was no overarching stan ...
. It provides a history of the
Duchy of Brabant The Duchy of Brabant, a Imperial State, state of the Holy Roman Empire, was established in 1183. It developed from the Landgraviate of Brabant of 1085–1183, and formed the heart of the historic Low Countries. The Duchy comprised part of the Bu ...
, and the original five volumes were written by
Jan van Boendale Jan van Boendale (c.1280 – c.1351), formerly sometimes known as Jan De Klerk ("Jan the Clerk") was a 14th-century secretary of the city of Antwerp and author of narrative and didactic verse.Ph. Blommaert, "Boendale (Jean)", ''Biographie Nationa ...
(c. 1280–c. 1351) of
Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...
; his text was later extended to seven volumes by an anonymous continuator.


Composition and authorship

Van Boendale's text was written between around 1318 and around 1350, commissioned for a member of the Antwerp patriciate. It extends to 16,318 verses. Boendale's main sources were the ''Chronica de origine ducum Brabantiae'' of 1294 and ''Spieghel Historiael'' of
Jacob van Maerlant Jacob van Maerlant (c. 1230–40 – c. 1288–1300) was a Flemings, Flemish poet of the 13th century and one of the most important Middle Dutch authors during the Middle Ages. Biography Jacob van Maerlant was born near Bruge ...
. Much of the text of the first three books are taken from Jacob van Maerlant almost verbatim. The events in book five are from Boendale's own lifetime. Books six and seven, which extend the scope of the chronicled events to 1440, were written by an anonymous continuator. Some scholars attribute these books to Wein van Cotthem; others to Hennen van Merchtenen, amongst other candidates. Book six is dated 1432 and book seven is dated 1440; this latter date is also the approximate age of the oldest extant manuscripts of the text.


Manuscripts and editions

There are seven extant manuscript copies. * Two 15th-century manuscripts are held by the
Royal Library of Belgium The Royal Library of Belgium ( ; ; , abbreviated ''KBR'' and sometimes nicknamed in French or in Dutch) is the national library of Belgium. The library has a history that goes back to the age of the Duke of Burgundy, Dukes of Burgundy. In ...
in Brussels (mss. IV 684 and IV 685). The text was first edited by
Jan Frans Willems Jan Frans Willems (11 March 1793 – 24 June 1846) was a Flemish writer, and the father of the Flemish movement. Willems was born in the Belgian city of Boechout while it was under French occupation. He started his career in the office of a n ...
and Jean Henri Bormans beginning in 1839.


Literature

*
Jan Frans Willems Jan Frans Willems (11 March 1793 – 24 June 1846) was a Flemish writer, and the father of the Flemish movement. Willems was born in the Belgian city of Boechout while it was under French occupation. He started his career in the office of a n ...
: ''De Brabantsche Yeesten'' (3 vols., Brussels 1839, 1843, 1869)
vol. 2 available online
* Katell De Groote: ''Jan Van Boendaele, Brabantse Yeesten, XXIV''. M.A. dissertation at the
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven KU Leuven (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven) is a Catholic research university in the city of Leuven, Belgium. Founded in 1425, it is the oldest university in Belgium and the oldest university in the Low Countries. In addition to its main camp ...
, 2003. *


References


External links

*http://bibliodyssey.blogspot.ch/2011/04/brabant-chronicle.html {{Authority control 14th century in the duchy of Brabant Low Countries chronicles 14th-century books 15th-century books Dutch-language manuscripts