Relax, this one will not hurt you a bit!

Please meet Jacob van Maerlant, a famous Flemish poet born in Bruges around the year 1230. He is known for being the first Flemish/Dutch poet who translated a lot of work from Latin to Flemish. Many church officials were not very happy about this because it meant regular people could get access to the bible… Jacob also wrote more than 230.000 short (mini) poems in Flemish and he is therefore the most prolific author in the Middle Dutch period.

In the year 1271, he started translating the “Historia Scholastica” by Petrus Comestor from Latin into Dutch. He did not just translate the work but created a book entirely written in rhyme.

It is clear the written work in rhyme is by Jacob van Maerlant himself, though the artwork, calligraphy and illumination is done by other artists. The earliest is from the year 1332 and is signed by Michiel van der Borch. I should add that Van Maerlant himself wasn’t alive anymore in those years, as he probably died around 1291 in Damme, modern day Belgium.

The book contains not only the Bible in rhyme, followed by the history of the Jewish revolt against the Romans, many years after the times of Jesus. The manuscript is elaborately illuminated with no less than 159 miniatures. Because of the author and the exquisite artwork it is truly a master piece of those times.

You can get an E-book at €25,99 of this wonderful book here.