Jacob van Marlant ( Dutch: Jacob van Maerlant , c. 1230–1240 - c. 1288–1300) is a 13th-century Flemish poet, one of the most prominent representatives of medieval Dutch literature .
| Jacob van Marlant | |
|---|---|
| Jacob van Maerlant | |
 | |
| Date of Birth | ≈ 1230-1240 |
| Place of Birth | Damme , Flanders |
| Date of death | ≈ 1288—1300 |
| Place of death | Damme , Flanders |
| Occupation | poet |
| Language of Works | mid-dutch |
Content
Biography
There is little reliable information about the biography of Jacob van Marlant. The exact date and year of his birth is unknown, various sources mention dates in the range from 1225 to 1240. Studies of the language of his works by the Dutch linguists A. Berthelot and E. van den Berg suggest that van Marlant was most likely born in Damme , near Bruges . The origin of his surname is explained as follows: Marlant ( Maerlant , from Mare-land, literally “land on the sea”) was the name of the bay in the community of Ostworn , part of the county of Holland (in the XIV century, the harbor of Maerlant disappeared from geographical maps, becoming part of the city of Brille ) Around 1261, the future poet served as a clerk in the church of Saint-Martin, located near the Gulf of Marlant, and took a middle name for the name of the gulf. Since about 1266, Van Marlant lived in Damme, where, according to some reports, he served as an official in the city government. The exact date and place of his death is also unknown. Allegedly, he died in Damme between 1288 and 1300; the most probable date of death is 1288.
Van Marlant began his literary work in the 1260s with the processing of popular chivalric novels at that time; he wrote his works in Old French as well as Middle Dutch , greatly contributing to its formation as a literary language. So, Van Marlant wrote three works of the Arthurian cycle : Torec - a novel about Lancelot, and two novels based on the plots of the works of Robert de Boron - Historie van den Grale and Boec van Merline , which are dedicated to Joseph of Arimathea and Merlin, respectively. The first significant work of van Marlant was Historie van Troyen (1264) - a translation from the French "Romance of Troy" by Benoit de Saint-Moore in the amount of approximately 40 thousand lines of poetry.
Since the second half of the 1260s, Van Marlant pays great attention to writing historical and natural science works, as well as enlightening the Flemish and Dutch nobility. His work Heimelicheit der Heimelicheden (1266) is a translation of the guidance for the education of princes Secretorum Secreta , whose authorship was attributed to Aristotle during the early Middle Ages, who was the mentor of Alexander the Great . Van Marlant’s treatise, “Flowers of Nature” ( Van der Naturen Bloeme , circa 1262-66), is a free translation of the natural science treatise by Brabant philosopher and theologian Thomas van Cantimpre in 12 volumes. In The Colors of Nature, van Marlant consistently talks about man, four-legged animals, birds, fish and other marine creatures, reptiles, insects, trees, medicinal herbs, springs, precious stones and metals, while the order of the articles in the books is close to alphabetical in according to their names in Latin [1] .
Rijmbijbel is a translation of the work of Historia scholastica by Peter Comestor , in which van Marlant made a large number of omissions and cuts.
Van Marlant is also the author of hagiographic works, among which is The Life of St. Francis ( Leven van St. Franciscus ) translated from the Latin work of Bonaventure . Van Marlant's largest work, The Mirror of History ( Spiegel Historiael ), is dedicated to the Earl of Holland and Zealand Floris V. This book is a chronicle of world history in poetic form and is a translation (with significant denominations) of the “Mirror of the Historical” ( lat. Speculum historiale ) by Vincent of Beauvais . Van Marlant began work on the Mirror of History in 1283, but did not manage to complete the work during his lifetime.
Among the works of van Marlant are also known Die Clausule van der Bible, Der Kerken Clage , imitation of the poem “Complainte” by the French troubet Rutboeuf , and the poetic trilogy about Martin ( Wapene Martijn , Dander Martijn and Derden Martijn ), which address the issues of theology and ethics. Despite the fact that van Marlant was a Catholic by religion, in his works he ridiculed the Catholic clergy for money-lovingness and venality, and, according to some reports, was held accountable by church authorities for translating the Old Testament into Dutch.
Memory
In 1839, the Société d'émulation de Bruges cultural and educational society organized excavations in Damm to find the burial site of van Marlant, but these works were unsuccessful. At the same time, fundraising began for the installation of a monument to the poet, which was supposed to be opened in 1841; in addition, the idea was put forward to name one of the first Belgian locomotives in honor of van Marlant, but she did not find support [2] .
The Van Marlant Monument in Damm was unveiled in 1869, the work of the sculptor from Bruges Hendrik Picker [3] . In 1893, on the south tower of the Cathedral of Our Lady (Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-Hemelvaartkerk), a memorial plaque was erected in honor of van Marlant, also the work of H. Picker [4] .
In 2005, van Marlant took 182nd place in the list of the greatest Belgians .
In Damm, the Marlant Museum operates.
Publications
- Alexanders Geesten (1260)
- Historie van den Grale (1261)
- Boec van Merline (1261)
- Roman van Torec (1262)
- Lapidarys and Sompniarys (1261 and 1264)
- Historie van Troyen (1264)
- Heimelijcheit der Heimelijcheden (1266)
- Der naturen bloeme (1270)
- Historia Scolastica oder Rijmbijbel (1271)
- Sinte Franciscus Leven (1275)
- Spieghel historiael (1285)
Notes
- ↑ Flowers of nature
- ↑ Monument à élever à Maerlant, Messager des sciences historiques de Belgique , 1839, 512-513.
- ↑ “Beeld van Jacob van Maerlant (ID: 78718)”, Inventaris van het onroerend erfgoed, 2011 ( http://inventaris.vioe.be/dibe/relict/78718 , geraadpleegd op 18 februari 2011).
- ↑ “Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-Hemelvaartkerk (ID: 78708)”, Inventaris van het onroerend erfgoed, 2011 ( http://inventaris.vioe.be/dibe/relict/78708 , geraadpleegd op 18 februari 2011).
Literature
- Boldakov I. M. Dutch literature in the Middle Ages, in the book. General History of Literature, ed. V. Korsh and A. Kirpichnikov., Vol. 2, St. Petersburg, 1885, p. 673–702.
- Ramondt M., Maerlant en het vagantisme, 'Neophilologus', 1933, Jg. 18, aflevering 3, p. 215-226.
- Arents A., J. van Maerlant. Proevs van bibliografie, 's-Gr., 1946.
- Mierlo J. van, J. van Maerlant, Turnhout, 1946.
- Evert van den Berg, “Waar kwam Jacob van Maerlant vandaan?”, In Amand Berteloot: Verslagen en mededelingen van de Koninklijke Academie voor Nederlandse taal- en letterkunde 1993, p. 30-77.
- Jos Biesmans, 'Het Gronings-Zutphense Maerlant-handschrift. Over de noodzakelijkheid der handschriftenkunde ', in: Queeste 3 (1996), p. 107-219.
- Frits van Oostrom , Maerlants wereld . Amsterdam 1996.
- Karina van Dalen-Oskam, Studies over Jacob van Maerlants Rijmbijbel . Hilversum 1997.
- Ingrid Biesheuvel, Maerlants werk. Juweeltjes van zijn hand . Amsterdam 1998.
- Willem Kuiper, 'Die Destructie van Jherusalem in handschrift en druk' , in: Voortgang, jaarboek voor de neerlandistiek 25 (2007), p. 67-88.
- Claudine A. Chavannes-Mazel, Maerlants Rijmbijbel in Museum Meermanno. De kracht van woorden, de pracht van beelden. Met vertalingen uit het Middelnederlands van het handschrift 10 B 21 door Karina van Dalen-Oskam en Willem Kuiper. Den Haag 2008.