Lodewijk Makeblijde (1565–1630) was a Flemish Jesuit and a Renaissance poet and hymn writer.
Life
Makeblijde was born to a patrician family in Poperinge,
County of Flanders
The County of Flanders was a historic territory in the Low Countries.
From 862 onwards, the counts of Flanders were among the original twelve peers of the Kingdom of France. For centuries, their estates around the cities of Ghent, Bruges and Y ...
, on 24 March 1565.S. S. Hoogerhuis "Makeblijde, Lodewijk" ''De Nederlandse en Vlaamse auteurs van middeleeuwen tot heden met inbegrip van de Friese auteurs'', edited by G.J. van Bork & P.J. Verkruijsse (Weesp, 1985), 368–69. His father, Lodewijk senior, was to be mayor of the town from 1571 to 1600.L. Loosen, S.J., (ed.), ''Lodewijk Makeblijde (1565–1630). Hymnen en gezangen'' (Zwolle, 1964), pp. 3–44
Education
Lodewijk junior studied at the Jesuit college in St Omer (1579–1584), going on to study philosophy at the Jesuit house of studies (" Anchin College") in
Douai
Douai (, , ,; pcd, Doï; nl, Dowaai; formerly spelled Douay or Doway in English) is a city in the Nord département in northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department. Located on the river Scarpe some from Lille and from Arras, Do ...
(1584–1586), without matriculating at the university. In 1586 he applied to
Francis Coster
Francis Coster (or Frans de Costere, la, Franciscus Costerus) (Mechelen, 16 June 1532 (1531) - Brussels, 16 December 1619) was a Flemish Jesuit, theologian and author.
Life
Frans de Costere was received into the Society of Jesus by St. Ignatiu ...
to be admitted to the
Society of Jesus
, image = Ihs-logo.svg
, image_size = 175px
, caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits
, abbreviation = SJ
, nickname = Jesuits
, formation =
, founders ...
, and he started the novitiate at
Tournai
Tournai or Tournay ( ; ; nl, Doornik ; pcd, Tornai; wa, Tornè ; la, Tornacum) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. It lies southwest of Brussels on the river Scheldt. Tournai is part of Eu ...
on 4 October 1586.
During his novitiate, under novice master Jan van den Berg (Latinized "Bargius"), Makeblijde would have been expected to go through the ''
Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola
The ''Spiritual Exercises'' ( la, Exercitia spiritualia), composed 1522–1524, are a set of Christian meditations, contemplations, and prayers written by Ignatius of Loyola, a 16th-century Spanish priest, theologian, and founder of the Societ ...
'' thoroughly, to meditate for one hour each day, and to experience practical work in the hospitals, infirmaries, catechism classes and kitchens attached to Jesuit houses. In 1587 Makeblijde suffered a hernia that was not cured until 1593.
On 5 October 1588 he made his vows as a member of the order, and in 1589 he began teaching at the Jesuit college in Bruges, being transferred to Ypres the following year. He taught at Ypres from 1590 to 1595, receiving the lower orders from
Petrus Simons
Pierre Simons (1538—1605) was a theologian and the second bishop of Ypres.
Life
Simons was born at Tielt in 1538, to a farming couple, Etienne Simoens and Marie van Slambrouck.A. C. De Schrevel, "Simons, Pierre", ''Biographie Nationale de Belgiq ...
,
bishop of Ypres
The former Roman Catholic Diocese of Ypres, in present-day Belgium, existed from 1559 to 1801.atholic-Hierarchy]">Ypres (Ieper) (Diocese) [Catholic-Hierarchy]/ref> Its seat was Saint Martin's Cathedral in Ypres. In 1969 it was reconstitut ...
, in 1593. In 1595 he was sent to the Jesuit house of studies in Leuven to study theology, again without matriculating at the university. He was taught dogmatic theology by Leonard Lessius and exegesis by Martin Del Rio and Cornelius a Lapide. Fellow students in Leuven were Heribert Rosweyde and Jan van Gouda. His ordinations as subdeacon (May 1597), deacon (September 1597) and priest (December 1597) were by
Mathias Hovius
Mathias Hovius (1542–1620), born Matthijs Van Hove, was the third Archbishop of Mechelen from 1596 to 1620. As Archbishop, Hovius presided over implementing the Catholic Reformation in the Spanish Netherlands.
Early career
Hovius was born in Me ...
,
Archbishop of Mechelen
In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdio ...
.
Teacher and catechist
In 1597 his first work was published in Leuven by
Jan Maes
Jan, JaN or JAN may refer to:
Acronyms
* Jackson, Mississippi (Amtrak station), US, Amtrak station code JAN
* Jackson-Evers International Airport, Mississippi, US, IATA code
* Jabhat al-Nusra (JaN), a Syrian militant group
* Japanese Article Numb ...
: ''Cort onderwijs van acht oeffeninghen'' (Short instruction of eight exercises), a collection of prayers and teachings for the young. He preached in Poperinge at Christmas 1599 and again in 1609, and dedicated his ''Berch'' (1618) to the magistrates of the town.
In 1600 he was sent to
Bergues
Bergues (; nl, Sint-Winoksbergen; vls, Bergn) is a Communes of France, commune in the Nord (French department), Nord Departments of France, department in northern France.
It is situated to the south of Dunkirk and from the Belgium, Belgian bo ...
(now in France) as rector of the new Jesuit school that was being established there with the help of the town council, the local Benedictine abbot and the bishop of Ypres. The college formally opened in 1601, with a Jesuit community of six priests, two scholastics and four brothers. During his time as rector at Bergues, Makeblijde regularly travelled to
Dunkirk
Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label= French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.Lille
Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France region, the prefecture of the Nord ...
on 22 September 1605. From 1605 to 1607 he was attached to the Jesuit house in Antwerp, where
Carolus Scribani
Carolus may refer to:
People
* Carolus (name)
* the medieval Latin form of the name Charles
**Charlemagne (742–814)
* King Charles XII of Sweden, who is sometimes referred to as "Carolus Rex"
Scientific
* ''Carolus'' (plant), a genus of flowe ...
was rector, and the theology professors were his Leuven classmates Heribertus Rosweyde and Jan van Gouda. In Antwerp Makeblijde was not involved with the school, but with preaching. He had a reputation for being able to explain things clearly to children, and was involved in the production of the
Mechelen Catechism
Mechelen (; french: Malines ; traditional English name: MechlinMechelen has been known in English as ''Mechlin'', from where the adjective ''Mechlinian'' is derived. This name may still be used, especially in a traditional or historical contex ...
(published in Antwerp by
Joachim Trognaesius
Joachim Trognaesius, sometimes Trognesius or Trogney (died 23 June 1624), was a printer and bookseller in late-16th-century and early-17th-century Antwerp.
Life
Joachim Trognaesius is first mentioned as a bookseller in the accounts of the Planti ...
in 1609).
Missionary
From 1611 to 1630 he worked on the
Holland Mission
The Holland Mission or Dutch Mission ( or ') (1592 – 1853) was the common name of a Catholic Church mission (Christian), missionary district in the Low Countries during and after the Protestant Reformation.
History
Pre-reformation dioces ...
, based in Delft where there was a
clandestine church
A clandestine church ( nl, schuilkerk), defined by historian Benjamin J. Kaplan as a "semi-clandestine church", is a house of worship used by religious minorities whose communal worship is tolerated by those of the majority faith on condition t ...
in the brewery ''De drie Haringhen''. His catechism classes had to be stopped in 1617, and the ''schout'' (sheriff) of Delft raided his secret evening sermons five times that year, but without capturing Makeblijde. In June 1619 he was arrested, but was ransomed for 600 guilders.
In 1621 the head of the Jesuit mission in Holland, Marcus van den Tempel, was captured by the magistrates of Leiden and expelled from the Republic. Makeblijde replaced him as head of the Mission just as the work was made harder by new laws against Jesuit missioners. The States General of the United Provinces passed a law on 26 February 1622, proclaimed in Delft on 13 March, giving Jesuits six days to leave the Republic. Makeblijde went into hiding. The worst period of persecution, by ''schout'' Jan Vockestaert, ran from 1621 to 1629. Makeblijde himself was replaced as head of the Mission in 1629, due to ill health caused by gall stones. He died at
Voorschoten
Voorschoten () is a village and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. It is a smaller town in the Randstad, enclosed by the cities of Leiden, Wassenaar and The Hague. The municipality covers an area of of whi ...
in Holland on 17 August 1630.
Commemoration
From 1955 to 2008 there was a secondary school in
Rijswijk
Rijswijk (), formerly known as Ryswick ( ) in English, is a city and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. Its population was in , and it has an area of , of which is water.
The municipality also includes th ...
named the Lodewijk Makeblijde College (since amalgamated to
St Stanislas College, Delft
, logo = JezuietenStanislashuis.png
, image = Stanislascollege in Delft (Westplantsoen).jpg
, image size = 250px
, caption =
, city = Delft, Pijnacker, and Rijswijk
...
).
Works
* ''Cort onderwijs van acht oeffeninghen'' (Leuven, Jan Maes, 1597)
* ''Den Schat der Christelicker leeringhe'' (Antwerp,
Joachim Trognaesius
Joachim Trognaesius, sometimes Trognesius or Trogney (died 23 June 1624), was a printer and bookseller in late-16th-century and early-17th-century Antwerp.
Life
Joachim Trognaesius is first mentioned as a bookseller in the accounts of the Planti ...
, 1610). Second edition (1620 Available on Google Books * ''Nieuwe ende waerachtighe historie van ses glorieuse martelaers die in Japonien voor het Catholijck gheloove ghedoot zijn'', translated from the French edition (Antwerp,
Hieronymus Verdussen Verdussen was a dynasty of printers in Antwerp, starting with Hieronymus Verdussen I in the late sixteenth century, and ending around 1800. Many other printers in Antwerp were also related to the Verdussens through marriage. They specialized in reli ...
, 1609)
* ''Den Schat der ghebeden'' (1611)
* ''Konste om sekerlick de volmaecktheyt der Deughden te verkrijghen'' (Antwerp, Joachim Trognaesius, 1611)
* ''Den Lusthof der gheestelicke oeffeninghen'' (Antwerp, Hieronymus Verdussen, 1613)
* ''Den berch der geesterlycker vreuchden'' (Antwerp, Hieronymus Verdussen, 1618)
* ''Troost der Siecken, ende der Overleden'' (Antwerp, Hieronymus Verdussen, 1621)
* ''Den hemelschen handel der devote zielen, vol gheestelijcke meditatien, ghetijden, lof-sanghen, ende ghebeden'' (Antwerp,
Joannes Cnobbaert
Jan or Joannes Cnobbaert (1590–1637) was a Flemish printer, publisher and bookseller who was active in Antwerp in the early 17th century.
Life
Cnobbaert was born in Antwerp in 1590. He married Maria de Man.Available on Google Books