Dirck Coornhert

Dirck Volckertszoon Coornhert (Jun 1, 1522 - Oct 29, 1590), also known as Theodore Cornhert, was a Dutch writer, philosopher, translator, politician and theologian Coornhert is often considered the Father of Dutch Renaissance scholarship

Dirck Volkertszoon Coornhert was born in Amsterdam After traveling to Spain and Italy, he settled in Haarlem Her parents disagreed with her choice of marrying Cornelia (Neeltje) Simons and for this reason diseredated her For many years Coornhert gained living as an engraver He made many valuable engravings and the famous Hendrick Goltzius was his pupil He practiced fencing, played the flute and the lute, wrote poetry (some considered him the author of the Dutch national anthem, Het Wilhelmus) He was also a playwright In the late years he learned Latin in order to read the scriptures of the Church Fathers in the language and thus translated the Latin Odyssey (originally written in Greek)

Coornhert was the youngest son of Volckert Coornhert, an Amsterdam cloth merchant As a child he spent some years in Spain and Portugal Returning home, he was disinherited by his father's will in 1539, for his marriage with Cornelia (Neeltje) Simons, a portionless gentlewoman from Haarlem, whose sister was Anna Simonsdr, the mistress of Reginald (Reinoud), count of Brederode (they were the parents of Lucretia van Brederode) He was only seventeen and she was twelve years older Through his sister-in-law, he became major-domo to Reginald at his castle in Vianen for a short time Soon after that, in 1541, he bought a house in his wife's home town of Haarlem on the St Janssteeg from Anna and her husband Jan Though he started off working for Reginald, he lived near the school where the St Jan commanderij taught classic works and commissioned art Maarten van Heemskerck had just returned from Italy and impressed Coornhert with his work Coornhert became an engraver on copper, and produced works in collaboration with Heemskerck which became popular

After learning Latin in 1552, Coornhert published Dutch translations from Cicero, Seneca and Boethius His 1562 translation of the first twelve books of Homer's Odyssey is one of the first major works of Dutch Renaissance poetry He was appointed secretary to the city of Haarlem (1562) and secretary to the burgomasters (1564) Throwing himself into the struggle against Spanish rule, he drew up the manifesto of William the Silent, Prince of Orange (1566)

Later he became a notary and in 1564 he was secretary of the College of Borgomaster of Haarlem He met Prince William of Orange, who led the revolt against Philip II This friendship made him an invisible and suspicious man After the Beeldenstorm ("iconoclastic fury") was tried by the Council of Torture (Special Court instituted by the Duke of Alba to punish the rebels) and imprisoned in the Gevangenpoort jail of the Hague until 1567 In 1568 he fled to Germany, where he returned In 1573 He served for three months as Secretary of State of the Netherlands and Western Friesland and then had to flee again to Germany There he lived in exile for ten years, then returned to Haarlem, where he had practiced notaries for many years

Imprisoned at the Hague in 1568, he escaped to Cleves, where he maintained himself by his art Recalled in 1572, he was for a short time secretary of state in the Dutch Republic; his aversion to military violence led him to return to Cleves, where William continued to employ his services and his pen Possibly inspired by his time in jail, he wrote a book "Boeventucht" on the causes of crime with ideas for more humane methods of punishment and correction

His many writings in the field of theology, morals, criminal law and the public are written in Dutch instead of in Latin In this way Coornhert has contributed greatly to the enrichment and improvement of the Dutch language But for this reason it is less well-known internationally than Erasmus from Rotterdam, with which Coornhert can compete in importance

Coornhert can be considered an important, albeit understated, versatile, illuminated, tolerant humanist thinker and essayist He could work from 4 am to 10 pm on the huge amount of his publications (books, pamphlets, correspondence), all based on in-depth studies For him to sleep was just a necessary evil

Coornhert came from a Catholic family but strongly opposed the practices of heretics persecution He had to flee several times because of his anti-Catholic inclination He was also exiled by the Calvinist authorities and pastors Towards the end of his life he fled from Delft to Gouda, where there was a more tolerant government, resulting in freedom of the press and a very liberal preaching from the pulpit of the Sint-Janskerk church The Jasper Trounay book printer was perhaps why Coornhert chose Gouda, for Trounay had already printed some of his books During his stay at Gouda, Trounay printed all his books and all his publications Coornhert influenced Guglielmo d'Orange, who shared his ideas on religious tolerance and freedom of worship

Coornhert died at Gouda on October 29, 1590 and was buried in the Sint-Janskerk church On the facade of the town hall of Gouda there is a tombstone in his memory

Coornhert was also famous as a theologian At 30 years of age, having become interested in theology, and being desirous of consulting St Augustine, he commenced the study of Latin He entered into controversy alike with Catholics and Reformers, with both of whom he refused to communicate Reformers, he said, were sadly wanted, but those who called themselves such were not the kind that the church required; what was needed was apostles directly inspired from heaven Until such were sent, he advised all churches to join together in an undogmatic communion Coornhert wrote and strove in favor of tolerance, opposing capital punishment for heretics He had no party views; he criticized the Heidelberg Catechism, which was authoritative in the Dutch Republic Jacobus Arminius, employed to refute him, was won over by his arguments

Works:
In addition to the 1566 manifesto, Coornhert wrote a treatise against the capital punishment of heretics, a pamphlet defending the rebellion of the United Provinces, a preface to the Dutch grammar published by the Society of Rhetoricians of Amsterdam, and a number of poems, including, according to some, the popular song, Wilhelmus van Nassouwe Others, however, attributed it to Philip van Marnix In 1586 he produced his original masterpiece, the Zedekunst ("Art of Ethics")

On his death in 1590, his Dutch version of the New Testament, following the Latin of Erasmus, was never completed His collected works, in prose and verse, were published in 1630 in 3 volumes

Isaac D'Israeli calls him "one of the fathers of Dutch literature, and even of their arts"

Numerous prints, nearly seven hundred, come from the co-operation between Heermskerck and Coornhert with which he spread his message (1547-1559) He was then the engraver of Frans Floris, Lambert Lombard and Willem Tibaut and during his exile in Germany the engraver of Adrian de Weert and Hendrik Goltzius and many others His best known works are:

Warning against arrogance and honor undeserved (1549) after Heermskerck;
The danger of human ambition (1549) according to Heermskerck;
Heraclitus and Democritus: a sting to curb the passions (1557) after Heermskerck;
The fall (1548) after Heermskerck;
The birth of Isaac (1549) after Heermskerck;
The Good Samaritan (1549) after Heermskerck;
The guest who comes to the King's feast, without a wedding garment (1558/9) after Heermskerck;
The capture of Tunis by Charles V (1555) after Heermskerck;
The army of Charles V in America (1555) after Heermskerck;
The Judgment of Salomon (1556) after Frans Floris;
The madness of greed and avarice after Willem Thibaut;
The poet meets Theude (1571) after Monogrammist CKVS;
The poet found Olympe (1571) after Monogrammist CKVS;
The truth of the tricks of the world to find Christ after Adriaan de Weert;
The creation of the sun and the moon after Adriaan de Weert;
The death-bed of a rich man after Adriaan de Weert;
The world ruined by false belief after Hendrik Goltzius
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