Taalpatriottisme van Becanus tot Grotius

2021 ◽  
Vol 69 (5 Zeszyt specjalny) ◽  
pp. 25-45
Author(s):  
Camiel Hamans

In this study the linguistic ideas of Goropius Becanus (1519-1573) and his followers Hendrik Laurensz Spieghel (1549-1612), Simon Stevin (1548-1620) and Hugo Grotius (1583-1645) are studied. Goropius Becanus has a poor reputation for his fantastic etymologies, which have been ridiculed by, for example, Leibniz. However, Becanus’ ideas about the position and value of his Dutch mother tongue have been influential for more than a century, as is demonstrated. He was not only held in high esteem in the Low Countries but also in Germany, where a similar linguistic patriotism flourished in the 17th century. Goropius Becanus and his supporters should be appreciated as linguistic patriots who fought for equal rights for their language.

Author(s):  
Henk van Nierop

Amsterdam was the biggest and the most important commercial metropolis of 17th-century Europe. Its wealthy merchants provided a booming market for luxury industries, making Amsterdam a European-wide production center and market for art and other luxury products, as well as books, prints, maps, and atlases. The largest, richest, and most powerful city in the Dutch Republic by far, it often played an independent role in international politics and diplomacy. Promotion of trade interests prompted Amsterdam’s burgomasters to tolerant policies toward Catholics, Jews, Mennonites, and other religious minorities. Originating as a modest settlement near a dam built in the river Amstel (hence its name), Amsterdam soon became the most important port in the Low Countries for trade with the Baltic, importing mainly grain and timber. The Reformation gave rise to fierce controversies. Anabaptist and Reformed risings in 1535 and 1566 provoked brutal repression by the Catholic city government. During the Dutch Revolt, Amsterdam initially remained loyal to church and king but switched allegiance in 1578 and adopted the Protestant Reformation. The capture of Antwerp by the Spanish army in 1585 heralded Amsterdam’s age of greatness. With Antwerp’s harbor closed and the southern provinces wracked by warfare, Amsterdam took over Antwerp’s function as the center of the highly integrated economy of the Low Countries. Amsterdam enlarged its one-sided mercantile economy with new trade routes to Russia, the Mediterranean and the Levant, the Atlantic world, and the Indies. Its newly found wealth led to an unprecedented wave of immigration, increasing its population from about 30,000 in 1578 to over 200,000 by the end of the 17th century. The urban government facilitated trade by the institution of an exchange bank and a commodity exchange, the construction of dockyards, and two bold and ambitious town-planning projects, including Amsterdam’s celebrated ring of canals. This article contains only works specifically dedicated to the history of the city of Amsterdam. Only a few of them are in English. Since Amsterdam was by far the biggest, wealthiest, and most powerful city of the Dutch Republic, much valuable information about Amsterdam is to be found in general works about the Dutch Republic listed in the Oxford Bibliographies articles on The Netherlands (Dutch Revolt / Dutch Republic) and Reformations and Revolt in the Netherlands, 1500–1621. For studies on artists working in Amsterdam and the Amsterdam art market, see the Oxford Bibliographies article on 17th-Century Dutch Art.


Author(s):  
Carla Lois

During the period of European expansion and consolidation (1500–1700) Mapping the world during the European expansion and consolidation (1500–1700) was a challenging intellectual activity which included the development of new ways of making knowledge, the invention of new instruments, the creation of unprecedented scientific-political institutions, a wider circulation of knowledge thanks to the improvements in printing, and the emergence of radical questions about the nature of the world. In order to record the information provided by travelers, new cartographic genres and languages began to be created in Spanish institutions. On the one hand, they made use of and readapted well-established traditions, like Mediterranean portolans; on the other, they introduced more and more systematic methodological protocols, that would become solid cartographical traditions by the end of the 17th century, specifically sea charts, world maps, and atlases, among others. This new accuracy and updated geographical information elevated the ideal of scientific mapping and cartographical activities. The expansion of the book market and particularly, within that market, the rapidly expanding demand for atlases in the Low Countries in the 17th century, contributed to the dissemination of cartographical images of a changing world (constantly being modified as a result of ongoing expeditions and explorations) to the educated public. The buyers of these images were not only scientists but also wealthy and curious people who could afford the high prices charged for the luxurious atlases produced by some of the most renowned publishers. From this time onward, maps were no longer exclusively scientific instruments but also commodities that helped “common people” to imagine how the world looked; in effect, they helped to create a shared modern geographical imagination.


Quaerendo ◽  
1987 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ton Croiset Van Uchelen

AbstractIn the first half of the 17th century penmanship in the Dutch Republic flourished as never before or since. Responsible for this flowering were a number of schoolmasters from Brabant and Flanders who in the 1570s and 80s had fled to the North and had settled there as writing-masters. To what level they had raised calligraphy may be seen from a large number of manuscript and printed writing-books that have been preserved. Just as they inspired their followers in years to come they had themselves found a source of inspiration in the two copy-books of Clemens Perret, brought out in 1569 and 1571. The earlier of these, the Exercitatio alphabetica, was not only the first ever to be reproduced entirely by copper engraving, but also the first with examples in seven languages, all of them written in the appropriate hands. Moreover in this book, the first to be produced in the Low Countries in such a large, oblong size, all plates had lavishly executed borders, designed on an architectural framework on which a variety of objects, human figures, grotesques, animals and so on were depicted. The book was obviously designed for collectors, wealthy connoisseurs and fellow writing-masters. The later book, the Eximiae peritiae alphabetum, although containing an equal number of plates, likewise in seven languages and in various hands, lacks the beautiful borders and is of slightly smaller size. It is altogether a more modestly conceived book, surely intended for use at school. Little is known about Perret's life. The title-pages of his books tell us that he was born in Brussels in 1551. A poem in a writing-book by Jacobus Houthusius, published in 1591, refers to his death. A contemporary manuscript note in a pamphlet of 1583 states that the writer Etienne Perret was his father. In the Plantin archives it is recorded that he had a brother, named Paul, and a sister. In a pamphlet of 1599 the writing-master Jan van den Velde states that Perret went to England to serve Queen Elizabeth's Chancellor as writing-master and teach the Queen the Italian hand. This seems unlikely as the Queen is known to have learned italic handwriting from Roger Ascham, while still a girl. The author has examined 26 copies of the Exercitatio in public collections and distinguishes two different editions. The first was probably brought out by Perret himself. Nearly all its plates contain errors in spelling, punctuation and word division. When Plantin took the distribution of the book in hand these mistakes were corrected and another plate added, containing within an engraved border a privilege with the text in letterpress: the 2nd edition. A variant of this edition is identical but for the privilege which is now engraved. The 2nd edition, corrected


2015 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
pp. 241-252
Author(s):  
Ina Arapi

Albania by the end of the 17th century and relations with neighbouring nations according to archbishop Pjetër Bogdani´s work "The band of the prophets" (1685)The old Albanian literature (mid-16th – mid-17th century), which includes the philosophical–theological treaty Cuneus prophetarum by  Pjetër Bogdani (Padua, 1685), was born and developed as a literature mainly of religious content for the needs of the Catholic religion.  Regardless of the topic, this literature was created in a certain historical, cultural and social environment, namely that of northern Albania and the Albanian population that lived there. Hence, the data provided in this book constitutes an invaluable source through which we have the possibility of learning more about the way of life and the functioning of this part of Albanian society of that time.  Interesting data on the situation of the Albanian language of that time is to be found in the preface of this work. The author urges Albanians not to let their language and science degenerate, but just as other nations do, they should make efforts concerning its evolution and development. But the alarm for destructing the mother tongue is linked with author and his contemporaries’ high conscious more than with the reality. In fact, Bogdani´s work itself proves that Albanian at that time had expressive possibilities equal to those of the Italian language. Not only the expressive and lexical richness, but the syntactic structure of phrases shows a high degree of development and elaboration in the Albanian language of that time.Examining the foreword of the book, we can learn that efforts were being made to unify the language and to develop one literary variant based on the dialect of the town of Shkodra. Bogdani also tried to adjust the language of his work according to this town’s dialect.Relations with Italian and Croatian intellectuals are clearly demonstrated in dithyrambic poetry and in the dedications at the beginning of the book. In this work, we also find data on Albanian mythology. Cuneus prophetarum occupies a special place in Albanian literature, because it is the first original work of prose, unlike previous writings, which were mainly translations. Albania u zmierzchu XVII wieku i jej stosunki z państwami sąsiedzkimi według "Oddziału proroków" arcybiskupa Pjetra Bogdaniego (1685)Utwór Pietra Bogdaniego Cuneus prophetarum (Padwa 1685) jest jednym z najważniejszych tekstów starej literatury albańskiej (XVI-XVII wieku), która rozwijała się na potrzeby Kościoła katolickiego i zawierała głównie treści religijne. Znaczna część tego utworu to traktat filozoficzno-teologiczny. Tekst, mimo że ma zasadniczo charakter religijny, odsyła także do kontekstu historycznego, kulturowego i społecznego północnej Albanii, stanowiąc tym samym bezcenne źródło informacji o sposobie życia i funkcjonowania części społeczeństwa albańskiego w tym czasie.Już we wstępie znajdują się ciekawe informacje na temat sytuacji języka albańskiego. Między innymi autor wzywa Albańczyków, by nie dopuścili do degeneracji języka i nauki, wzywa także inne narody, by dbały o rozwój języka. Ta troska o język ojczysty i obawa przed jego zepsuciem wiąże się z pozycją autora, który był świadom sytuacji bardziej niż ktokolwiek inny. W istocie sama praca Bogdaniego udowadnia, że w tym czasie język albański dysponował nie mniejszymi środkami ekspresji niż język włoski. Nie tylko bogactwo form i leksyki, lecz także struktury składniowe wskazują na ówczesny wysoki stopień jego rozwoju i na wysoki stopień świadomości językowej.Jednakże, jak można dostrzec we wstępie, nie podejmowano wysiłków w celu ujednolicenia języka. Rozwijał się głównie wariant literacki, oparty na dialekcie miasta Shkodra. Bogdani próbował również dostosować swój język do tego dialektu.Świadectwem związków autora z włoskimi i chorwackimi intelektualistami są poetyckie dytyramby zamieszczone w dedykacji. W utworze znajdujemy również informacje na temat mitologii albańskiej.Cuneus prophetarum zajmuje szczególne miejsce w literaturze albańskiej, ponieważ jest pierwszym oryginalnym, albańskim utworem prozatorskim.


2011 ◽  
Vol 38 (120) ◽  
pp. 5
Author(s):  
Marcelo Araújo

O objetivo deste texto é contribuir para uma compreensão da história do debate entre jusnaturalismo e positivismo legal. Esse debate teve sua origem no século XVII, mais especificamente no contexto do ceticismo moderno acerca dos fundamentos da legitimidade do exercício da autoridade política. As respostas de Hugo Grotius e René Descartes ao problema do ceticismo, como se pretende mostrar, contribuíram para a emergência do debate entre jusnaturalismo e positivismo legal.Abstract: This paper aims to develop a historical understanding of the debate between natural law theory and legal positivism. This debate has its roots in the 17th century, particularly in the context of the modern skepticism about the justification for the exercise of political authority. I intend to show that the answer given by both Hugo Grotius and René Descartes against the skeptical attack contributed to the emergence of the debate between natural law theory and legal positivism.


Grotiana ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-52
Author(s):  
Wouter Druwé

Abstract In his ‘Inleidinge tot de Hollantsche Rechtsgeleertheyt’, Hugo Grotius introduced the concept of wrong-by-construction-of-law (‘misdaed door wetsduidinge’), the idea that civil law could assign liability to someone who had not committed any fault, i.e. merely because of his or her ‘capacity’ or ‘quality’ as a parent, as an owner of an animal, as an inhabitant of a building, or as an employer or shipowner. This contribution situates Grotius’s views on qualitative liability within the wider Netherlandish learned juridical context of his time, and especially studies the role of fault (‘culpa’) and presumptions of fault in the learned theories on qualitative liability. Apart from printed treatises and volumes of consilia, this contribution also takes into account hitherto unstudied handwritten lecture notes of the late medieval and early modern university of Leuven.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document