Franciscus Plante (21 April 1613 (bapt.) – 1690) was a Dutch poet and

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intellige ...

Biography

Plante was born in

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and studied theology at

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

. In October 1636 he travelled as personal chaplain with John Maurice of Nassau to the Dutch colony in Brazil, returning together in 1644. In 1647 became a minister in

Strijen Strijen () is a town and former municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The municipality, covering an area of of which is water, is located on the Hoeksche Waard island along the Hollands Diep estuary. On 1 Janu ...

, in 1653 in

Zevenbergen Zevenbergen is a Dutch city which is a part of the municipality of Moerdijk. Zevenbergen is located in the northwest of the province of North Brabant near Breda. History Zevenbergen (literal translation: Seven Mountains) is presumably named aft ...

and in 1657 in Breda, where he remained until his death. He is thought to have died in

Breda Breda ( , , , ) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the southern part of the Netherlands, located in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Brabant. ...

. In 1647, he finished a twelve-volume Latin epos called ''Mauritias'' (in Portuguese, ''Mauritiados''), which in the first six volumes describes the activities of the

Dutch West Indies Company The Dutch West India Company () was a Dutch chartered company that was founded in 1621 and went defunct in 1792. Among its founders were Reynier Pauw, Willem Usselincx (1567–1647), and Jessé de Forest (1576–1624). On 3 June 1621, it was g ...

from 1624 to 1634 and in the last 6 volumes praises John Maurice's leadership from 1634 to 1641. It was published in

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, and included twenty engravings that had already appeared in a work by Caspar Barlaeus, which had been published in the same year. Four maps (''

Ceará Ceará (, ) is one of the 26 states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, northeastern part of the country, on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. It is the List of Brazilian states by population, eighth-largest Brazilian State by ...

'', ''

Pernambuco Pernambuco ( , , ) is a States of Brazil, state of Brazil located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast region of the country. With an estimated population of 9.5 million people as of 2024, it is the List of Brazilian states by population, ...

'', ''

Paraíba Paraíba ( , ; ) is a states of Brazil, state of Brazil. It is located in the Brazilian Northeast, and it is bordered by Rio Grande do Norte to the north, Ceará to the west, Pernambuco to the south and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Paraíba i ...

'', and ''Pernambuco Borealá'') and a

portrait A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face is always predominant. In arts, a portrait may be represented as half body and even full body. If the subject in full body better r ...

of John Maurice were also incorporated from Barlaeus’ work. Plante later wrote Barlaeus'

obituary An obituary (wikt:obit#Etymology 2, obit for short) is an Article (publishing), article about a recently death, deceased person. Newspapers often publish obituaries as Article (publishing), news articles. Although obituaries tend to focus on p ...

in 1648.

Sources

Obituary of Barlaeus, by Plante

*W.A.P. Smit
''Het Latijnse epos van Franciscus Plante''
pp 238 – 241 of ''Kalliope in de Nederlanden. Het Renaissancistisch-klassicistische epos van 1550 tot 1850.'' Van Gorcum & Comp.,

Assen Assen () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Northeastern Netherlands, and is the capital (politics), capital of the province of Drenthe. It received City rights in ...

1975-1983. (Dutch)

References

1613 births 1690 deaths 17th-century Dutch Calvinist and Reformed ministers Poets from the Spanish Netherlands 17th-century male writers Dutch male poets Clergy from Bruges Writers from Bruges {{Netherlands-writer-stub