Introduction

Around 1316, the Antwerp city clerk Jan van Boendale (c. 1280-1351) began his Brabantsche Yeesten, a chronicle on the dukes of Brabant. In many thousands of verses, he tells the history of the dynasty and the duchy from the time of the migration of the people. In his lifetime, Boendale wrote not only chronicles but also many other Middle Dutch works. The Brabantsche Yeesten, however, would remain his most influential work. In the 15th and 16th centuries, many scholars used it.

At the very end of his chronicle, Boendale abandons the formal lines of descent and politics, and goes into things he had observed for himself. In this extract, he raises the harrowing situation in Antwerp, during what is known today as ‘the great famine of 1315-1317’. Here he shows himself to be a socially conscious, but above all a God-fearing man.

Physical Description

Fifteenth-century cursive on paper. Capital letters are highlighted in red. Text is placed to the left of the page mirror to allow notes to be taken. Client for the manuscript was Petrus de Thimo (Peter van der Heijden, see also dossier 12). His hand is visible in the headings - compare dossier 12. The handwriting contains quite a few spelling errors.