Johannes de Beke (also Johannes de Beka or Jan Beke) was a 14th-century Dutch priest and historian. He was probably a monk of

Egmond Abbey Egmond Abbey or St. Adalbert's Abbey (, ''Sint-Adelbertabdij'') is a Rule of St. Benedict, Benedictine monastery of the Congregation of the Annunciation, situated in Egmond-Binnen, in the municipality of Bergen, North Holland, Bergen, in the Neth ...

. In 1346, he wrote a

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

''Chronographia'' of the

County of Holland The County of Holland was a Imperial State, state of the Holy Roman Empire from its inception until 1433. From 1433 onward it was part of the Burgundian Netherlands, from 1482 part of the Habsburg Netherlands and from 1581 onward the leading pro ...

and Diocese of Utrecht from the time of the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

down to his time. He dedicated it to Bishop

Jan van Arkel John of Arkel or Jan van Arkel (died 1 July 1378, Liège) served as Prince and Bishop of Liège from 1364 until his death in 1378. He had previously served as Bishop of Utrecht from 1342 to 1364. Biography John was the son of John III, lord ...

and Count

William I William I may refer to: Kings * William the Conqueror (–1087), also known as William I, King of England * William I of Sicily (died 1166) * William I of Scotland (died 1214), known as William the Lion * William I of the Netherlands and Luxembour ...

. His stated aim was to preserve the peace between counts and bishops by demonstrating the common origin and shared history of their territories. Johannes's sources include earlier annals and the ''Rhyming Chronicle'' of Melis Stoke. Continuations were added to his ''Chronographia'' to bring it down to 1393. In 1395, a

Middle Dutch 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 sta ...

translation was made, to which continuations were added down to 1430. The continuations are an important contemporary source for Dutch history.The Johannes de Beke Chronicle up until 1430
Resources Huygens ING. Retrieved 29 July 2021.

References

{{Authority control 14th-century historians from the Holy Roman Empire 14th-century writers in Latin Middle Dutch writers People from the County of Holland