Mediating Medieval Mystical Literature in Interwar Belgium: The Histoire Croisée of Hadewijch’s ‘First Vision’ in the Periodical Hermès (1933–39)

In a context in which various artistic groups resorted to periodicals to stage their public appearance, the editors of the Brussels-based magazine Hermès: Revue trimestrielle d'études mystiques et poétiques (1933–39) mobilized Middle Dutch mystical literature to carve out a space for themselves in the cultural scene of interwar Belgium. Drawing on methods and concepts of transfer studies and research into ethos construction, this article analyses the transfer strategies underpinning the publication of the French translation of the ‘First Vision’ of the Middle Dutch mystic Hadewijch (c. 1240), with which Hermès programmatically opened its inaugural volume. The analysis uncovers a complex histoire croisée which involved confrontations, both collaborative and conflictual, between Hermès and two very different groups of cultural actors: the circle of Brussels Surrealists, with whom the editors of Hermès shared a history, and the Catholic philologists of the Ruusbroecgenootschap [Ruusbroec Society], who equally sought to disseminate Middle Dutch mystical texts to a wider public, albeit with very different goals.

Reconstructing a Middle Dutch Alexander Compilation

This article provides a first description, edition and analysis of Antwerp, University Library, Special Collections, MAG-P 64.19. This fragment is the sole known remnant of a Middle Dutch compilation of stories about Alexander the Great copied by the well-known Ferguut scribe (ca.1350). Our research shows that this compilation comprised Dutch versions of the Voeux du paon and the twelfth-century Fuerre de Gadres, which was previously unknown to have been translated into Dutch. We advance the possibility that the Stuttgart and Brussels fragments of Alexanders geesten and Roman van Cassamus, which were also copied by the Ferguut scribe, belonged to a second copy of this compilation, providing a continuous narrative about the life of Alexander. In this respect, the Dutch compilation resembles contemporary manuscripts of the Roman d'Alexandre in which Alexandre de Paris' vulgate compilation was complemented with various amplifications. The combination of pre-existing Dutch stories into one (semi)coherent narrative is also similar to the famous Lancelot compilation, a collection of Arthurian narratives created in Brabant in approximately the same period. The fragment thus sharpens our understanding of the role of compilations in the dissemination of Middle Dutch chivalric romance.

Op reis met “Elckerlijc” en Stefan Mrożewski

This article deals with modern illustrations accompanying medieval text, with special attention to one publication – the modern edition of Middle Dutch Elckerlijc and the woodcuts made by Stefan Mrożewski. The article introduces the circumstances in which the book was published and in which the Polish artist prepared his prints. The main analysis discusses the choices made by Mrożewski and the many different ways in which he refers to the historic past in his work. In order to show a broader framework of the subject, the article also briefly sketches the Polish literary reception of the medieval morality play.

Op weg naar een geschreven eenheidstaal

Towards a uniform written Dutch: The elimination of dialect features by Gheraert Leeu, printer in Gouda and Antwerp This study discusses the influence of the printing press on the gradual rise of standard Dutch on the basis of the language used in a selection of incunables, printed by Gheraert Leeu, one of the pioneers of early printing. Leeu was active in Gouda (Holland) from 1477 until 1484, but moved in 1484 to the city of Antwerp (Brabant), where he continued his printing activity until his sudden death in 1492. In three books from Gouda and five books originating from Antwerp, we determined the degree of dialecticity, classified the dialect variants according to their origin, interpreted the variation found between regional and non-regional variants and discussed their diachronic evolution. We found that both the Hollandic and the Brabantish dialect features were increasingly replaced by their non-regional equivalents. By rapidly diminishing the amount of dialect variants in his printed language, Gheraert Leeu contributed to the transition from dialectal Late Middle Dutch to more supraregional Early New Dutch, which was reflected in Hollandic and Antwerp printed books around 1500. So the traditional view that the standard Dutch is based on the Hollandic dialect of the 17th century, should be revised: a tendency towards more uniformity in written Dutch was already noticeable at the end of the 15th century among printers in Antwerp and Holland, who were striving for a more uniform language in order to enlarge the sales market for their printed books. The case of the famous printer Gheraert Leeu shows that the prosperous city of Antwerp played a leading role in the development of a uniform written language.

Tatian's Diatessaron

In the late-second century, Tatian the Assyrian constructed a new Gospel by intricately harmonizing Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Tatian’s work became known as the Diatessaron, since it was derived “out of the four” eventually canonical Gospels. Although it circulated widely for centuries, the Diatessaron disappeared in antiquity. Nevertheless, numerous ancient and medieval Gospel harmonies survive in various languages. Some texts are altogether independent of the Diatessaron, while others are definitely related. Yet even Tatian’s known descendants differ in large and small ways, so attempts at reconstruction have proven confounding. This book forges a new path in Diatessaron studies. Covering the widest array of manuscript evidence to date, it reconstructs the ancient compositional practices and redactional tendencies by which Tatian wrote his Gospel. Then, by sorting every extant witness according to its narrative sequence, the macrostructure of Tatian’s Gospel becomes clear. Despite many shared agreements, there remain significant divergences between eastern and western witnesses. This book argues that the eastern ones preserve Tatian’s order, whereas the western texts descend from a fourth-century recension of the Diatessaron. Victor of Capua and his scribe used the recension to produce the Latin Codex Fuldensis in the sixth century. More controversially, the book offers new evidence that late medieval texts such as the Middle Dutch Stuttgart harmony independently preserve traces of the western recension. This study uncovers the composition, transmission, and reception history behind one of early Christianity’s most elusive texts.

The devil in the human form and related matters: A handful of remarks

The aim of the article is to present the book by Małgorzata Dowlaszewicz Diabeł w legendzie. Wyobrażenie diabła antropomorficznego w średniowiecznej literaturze niderlandzkiej, published in 2020. The researcher analyzed the anthropomorphic devil figure on the basis of two collections of exemplars and legends Gulden legende and Der Byen Boeck, translated into Middle Dutch from Latin. The research results were presented in the broad context of medieval Dutch literature.

Ahd. slecko m. ‚Schnecke‘

Under the forms listed for the lemma Old High German snecko m. ‚snail‘ also a variant ‹ slecco › is mentioned. The ‑l‑ must then be the result either of a scribal error, a dissimilation or an assimilation. However, there is in Dutch a word for snail that also shows ‑l‑, Middle Dutch slecke (f.). It is argued here that Old High German slecko is a separate lemma that corresponds to Middle Dutch slecke.