Egelantier

Last updated November 11, 2019

De Eglantier (Sweet Briar or Eglantine Rose) (spelling variations: Egelantier and Eglentier) was a chamber of rhetoric in Amsterdam that arose in 1517 or 1518, possibly as a continuation of older chambers of rhetoric. It is one of the most famous chambers of rhetoric. Its insignia consisted of a thriving Eglantine Rose ("Wild Rose", a symbol of love) in the form of a cross from which a Christ Figure was hanging. The corresponding slogan was "In Love, Flourishing". The name derives from a romantic reference to the poem Beatrijs, where the lovers met by the wild rose.^[1] One of the most important leaders of the chamber was Hendrik Laurenszoon Spiegel. Other prominent members were Laurens Reael, Roemer Visscher and Dirck Volckertszoon Coornhert.

Chambers of rhetoric were dramatic societies in the Low Countries. Their members were called Rederijkers, from the French word 'rhétoricien', and during the 15th and 16th centuries were mainly interested in dramas and lyrics. These societies were closely connected with local civic leaders and their public plays were a form of early public relations for the city.

Amsterdam is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with a population of 866,737 within the city proper, 1,380,872 in the urban area, and 2,410,960 in the metropolitan area. Amsterdam is in the province of North Holland. Amsterdam is colloquially referred to as the "Venice of the North" due to its large number of canals which are a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Rosa rubiginosa is a species of rose native to Europe and western Asia.

History

Much of what is known today about this society comes from the city and guild archives, where it is first mentioned in the 1490s. In 1518 it was mentioned as the "old" social drama society of the city, when it received an annual grant from the city.^[2] In the 1520s they participated in several city festivities and produced a play on the story of Pyramus and Thisbe.^[2]

Pyramus and Thisbē are a pair of ill-fated lovers whose story forms part of Ovid's Metamorphoses. The story has since been retold by many authors.

The society was popular throughout the latter half of the 16th century and many noted artists were members, though it received little patronage from the city, not even during the joyous entry of Charles V in 1549.^[2] Scholars have put this down to the reformist nature of the plays and poems produced during this period, which made political patronage dangerous.^[2]

Charles V was Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria from 1519, King of Spain from 1516, and Lord of the Netherlands as titular Duke of Burgundy from 1506. Head of the rising House of Habsburg during the first half of the 16th century, his dominions in Europe included the Holy Roman Empire extending from Germany to northern Italy with direct rule over the Austrian hereditary lands and the burgundian Low Countries, and a unified Spain with its southern Italian kingdoms of Naples, Sicily, and Sardinia. Furthermore, his reign encompassed both the long-lasting Spanish and short-lived German colonizations of the Americas. The personal union of the European and American territories of Charles V was the first collection of realms labelled "the empire on which the sun never sets".

The Reformation was a movement within Western Christianity in the sixteenth-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Roman Catholic Church and papal authority in particular. Although the Reformation is usually considered to have started with the publication of the Ninety-five Theses by Martin Luther in 1517, there was no schism between the Catholic Church and the nascent Luther until the 1521 Edict of Worms. The edict condemned Luther and officially banned citizens of the Holy Roman Empire from defending or propagating his ideas. The end of the Reformation era is disputed: it could be considered to end with the enactment of the confessions of faith which began the Age of Orthodoxy. Other suggested ending years relate to the Counter-Reformation, the Peace of Westphalia, or that it never ended since there are still Protestants today.

During the Dutch Revolt, the chambers of rhetoric were closed altogether by the Spanish Governor of the Netherlands, the Duke of Alba, but in 1578 the Eglantier was re-established as a result of the Alteration of Amsterdam, in which the Catholic city government was overthrown. After the Fall of Antwerp in 1585 the influx of many gifted poets from the south caused the Eglantier to grow in numbers, which also caused the creation of competing chambers of rhetoric, such as Het Wit Lavendel in 1598 (where, amongst others Joost van den Vondel was active), after which the Eglantier became known as the 'Old Chamber'. After 1610, there were internal difficulties in the Eglantier, and in 1617 Samuel Coster and a group of members broke away and founded the chamber of rhetoric Duytsche Academie . After this departure, the Eglantier appointed Theodore Rodenburgh chairman. But in 1630 Het Wit Lavendel and the Duytsche Academie merged and only two years later, on July 7, 1632, the burgomasters of Amsterdam merged this chamber of rhetoric with the Eglantier into a new chamber of rhetoric, named the Amsterdamsche Kamer, but in sources it also appears under the names De Vergulden Byekorf, Bloeyende Eglantier and Academie, with the motto "Through fervor in love, flourishing". Not every rhetorician agreed with the merger, and Jan Harmensz. Krul founded the Musijckkamer in 1634, which however went bankrupt a year later, in 1635. The Amsterdamsche Kamer was led in its early years by Willem Dircksz. Hooft, Steven Vennecool, Heereman Dircksz. Coorenkind, Johan Meurs and Meyndert Voskuyl. In 1637, the first theater in Amsterdam, the Schouwburg of Van Campen, was founded through the chamber of rhetoric. Not much is known on further events of the chamber of rhetoric. A list of leaders of the chamber is known from 1664 (one year before the construction of the 'New Theatre'), including Cornelis Withenoon, Jan Vos, Tobias van Domselaer, Jacob van der Poel and Cornelis de Vries.

The Dutch Revolt (1568–1648) was the revolt of the northern, largely Protestant Seven Provinces of the Low Countries against the rule of the Roman Catholic Habsburg King Philip II of Spain, hereditary ruler of the provinces. The northern provinces (Netherlands) eventually separated from the southern provinces, which continued under Habsburg Spain until 1714.

The Alteratie is the name given to the change of power in Amsterdam on May 26, 1578, when the Catholic city government was deposed in favor of a Protestant one. The coup should be seen in the context of the greater Dutch Revolt that was breaking out in this time. Trade interests played an important role, because Amsterdam was becoming isolated as surrounding cities and towns joined the revolt, and other cities were threatening to take over its trade. No one was injured or killed during the coup. On May 29, a new city council was formed, consisting of 30 Calvinists and 10 Catholics. Already after a few months, plans were presented to expand the city and the harbor on the eastern side (Lastage), and to construct new defensive fortifications.

The Fall of Antwerp on 17 August 1585 took place during the Eighty Years' War, after a siege lasting over a year from July 1584 until August 1585. The city of Antwerp was the capital of the new Protestant-dominated Dutch Revolt, but was forced to surrender to the Spanish forces. Under the terms agreed all Protestants were given four years to settle their affairs and leave the city. Many migrated north, especially to Amsterdam, which became the capital of the Dutch Republic. Apart from losing a high proportion of its mercantile population, Antwerp's trade suffered for two centuries as Dutch forts blockaded the River Scheldt up to 1795.

Publications

In 1602 the songbook Den Nieuwen Lusthof^[3]
In 1610 Den Bloemhof^[3]
In 1615 Apollo^[3]

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References

↑ "Onder enen eglentier" in Beatrijs
1 2 3 4 Gary Waite, Reformers on Stage: Popular drama and religious propaganda in the Low Countries (University of Toronto Press, 2000)
1 2 3 "In Liefde Bloeiende", Letterkundig woordenboek voor Noord en Zuid, K. ter Laan, 1952, in the DBNL

External links

"In Liefde Bloeiende", Letterkundig woordenboek voor Noord en Zuid (1952; 2e dr. - on dbnl)
Profile of De Vergulden Byekorf / Bloeyende Eglantier / Amsterdamsche Kamer / Academie at the dbnl (from 1632)

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[1] "Onder enen eglentier" in Beatrijs

[Waite-2] 1 2 3 4 Gary Waite, Reformers on Stage: Popular drama and religious propaganda in the Low Countries (University of Toronto Press, 2000)

[DBNL-3] 1 2 3 "In Liefde Bloeiende", Letterkundig woordenboek voor Noord en Zuid, K. ter Laan, 1952, in the DBNL